Editorial Style Guide

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San José State University

The proper spelling of San José State University includes the accent over the "e" in José, when printing the name in both title case and in all capitals. First reference to the university should be its full name: San José State University. Accepted second references are "SJSU" and "university."

Use of the term "San José State" is typically reserved for references to SJSU Athletics teams and programs. This is typically seen in journalistic coverage of Athletics news, developments, games, teams or SJSU Intercollegiate Athletics as a whole.

Do not capitalize "university" when used alone as a second reference. The capitalized form of "University" is reserved solely when referring to the California State University as a shorthand for the CSU or the system as a whole, but not as a shorthand for either the Board of Trustees or the Office of the Chancellor. See University.

Examples:
San José State University
SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY

Abbreviations

Avoid abbreviations of schools, programs and organizations, except in tables, headlines and other situations where space is limited. Your copy will read better if you avoid abbreviations.

Due to the inconsistent application of initialisms for colleges and departments and the evolving nomenclature of our academic offerings, it is reccomended that colleges and departments use the full spelling of their name at first mention and a reasonable shorthand in all other mentions.

Examples

Acceptable: "Connie L. Lurie College of Education", then, "Lurie College"; "College of Health and Human Sciences", "the college".

Not recommended: "CoE", "CHHS"

When you do need to abbreviate, here are some reminders:

All-capital abbreviations or acronyms

All-capital abbreviations or acronyms do not take periods, except when referring to nations, states, cities or people.

Examples: 
SJSU, NFL, CBS, NSF

Abbreviate grade point average in all capitals with no spaces: GPA.

Names of organizations

Names of organizations should be spelled out on first reference. In general, do not follow an organization's name with an abbreviation or acronym in parentheses or set off by dashes (except legal documents). If an abbreviation or acronym would not be clear on second reference, do not use it.

Example: 
The National Collegiate Athletic Association recently certified the San José State University athletics program. The SJSU program was certified on its first participation in the NCAA review process.

Addressing envelopes

Capitalize a person's title.

Spell out one-digit addresses: One Washington Square.

Abbreviate and capitalize compass points; no period necessary: 200 E Santa Clara Street.

Capitalize and spell out First through Ninth when used as street names. Use numerals with two letters for 10th and above.

  • 100 First Street
  • 100 11th Street

Spell out Avenue, Street, Lane, etc., unless space does not permit.

Use the two-letter U.S. postal abbreviations for states, with no periods: CA, PA, MD and append the ZIP code with no preceding comma.

Example:
Mr. John Chambers
Chief Executive Officer
Cisco Systems
170 W Tasman Drive
San José, CA 95134

African American

No hyphen. Acceptable for an American Black person of African descent. The term "African American" is not interchangeable with the term "Black" and when referring to a group of Black people who may have mixed ancestry, in situations where it is not known or it would be to cumbersome to ask, it is preferable to use the term "Black". Some Black Americans are not of African descent. Americans of Caribbean heritage, for example, generally refer to themselves as Caribbean American. Follow a person’s preference. 

Ages/Years

Ages should always appear in numerical form, except when starting a sentence. Ages used as nouns or adjectives before a noun require hyphens. References to an age range for a decade require no apostrophes.

  • The student is 20 years old. 
  • Twenty-one students gathered outside the auditorium. 
  • The playground is for 3-year-olds. The 24-year-old student ran for office.
  • The instructor was in her 30s. Not 30's.
  • She grew up in the 1950s. Not 1950's.

Academic Terms

Academic years, terms and seasons are always lowercase:

  • "first-year", "first-year freshmen", "sophomore", "junior", "senior"
  • "fall semester", "fall 2027", "spring 2028". 

The use of seasons (fall, winter, spring, summer) when referring to academic terms are always lowercase, unless the season name begins a sentence.

 

All About Alum-

After graduation, former SJSU students may be referred to using the following terms.

Alumnus: singular male graduate or former student.

Alumna: singular female graduate or former student.

Alumnae: plural female graduates.

Alum(s): may be used as an inclusive term to refer to former student(s).

Alumni: plural graduates or former students, all or some of whom are male.

As an alternative to any of the above, the term "graduate(s)" may be used.

a.m., p.m.

Use "a.m." and "p.m." in lowercase with periods. The format of "am"/"pm" or "AM"/"PM" are not correct.

American Indian, Native American, Indigenous

American Indian and Native American are acceptable terms in general references for those in the U.S. when referring to two or more people of different tribal affiliations. Whenever possible use the specific name of the tribe; if that information is not immediately available, try to obtain it. 

Examples from AP Stylebook:
He is a Navajo commissioner. She is a member of the Nisqually Indian Tribe. He is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Some tribes and tribal nations use the term member; others use citizen. In Alaska, the Indigenous groups are collectively known as Alaska Natives.

First Nation is the preferred term for native tribes in Canada.

Indian is used to describe the peoples and cultures of the South Asian nation of India. Do not use the term as a shorthand for American Indians. Some members of Native American tribes may prefer to use the term "Indian" as a shorthand for "American Indian" when referring to themselves. If you are not sure of their preference and/or are not of Indigenous heritage yourself, use the terms "Native American" or "Indigenous".

Indigenous is used to refer to the original inhabitants of a place. Capitalize when referring to a specific group of people. 

Ampersand

Do not use "&" unless it is part of a company or institution's legal name, such as Procter & Gamble. Ampersands are not to be used ini university entity names.

  • "College of Health and Human Sciences"; not "College of Health & Human Sciences"
  • "Facilities Development and Operations" or "FDO"; not "Facilities Development & Operations"
  • "Student Conduct and Ethical Development" or "SCED"; not "SC&ED"

This applies to use in both printed products and digital communications. The ampersand may only be used in charts and lists where space is limited.

Asian American

The term should be used with no hyphen. Acceptable for an American of Asian descent. When possible, refer to a person’s country of origin or follow the person’s preference.

Examples:
Filipino American or Indian American.

Black(s), white(s)

Black(s), white(s) (n.)

Do not use either term as a singular noun. For plurals, phrasing such as Black people, white people, Black teachers, white students is often preferable when clearly relevant. 

Details and examples from AP Stylebook:
White officers account for 64% of the police force, Black officers 21% and Latinx/a/o officers 15%.  

Black (adj.)

"Black" and "white" are acceptable as adjectives when relevant and necessary. Use the capitalized term as an adjective in a racial, ethnic or cultural sense. Use of the capitalized "Black" recognizes that language has evolved, along with the common understanding that especially in the United States, the term reflects a shared identity and culture rather than a skin color alone.

Also use "Black" in racial, ethnic and cultural differences outside the U.S. to avoid equating a person with a skin color.

Black people, Black culture, Black literature, Black studies, Black colleges.

African American is not interchangeable with the term "Black" and when referring to a group of Black people who may have mixed ancestry, in situations where it is not known or it would be to cumbersome to ask, it is preferable to use the term "Black". Some Black Americans are not of African descent. Black Americans of Caribbean heritage, for example, generally refer to themselves as Caribbean American. Follow a person’s preference. 

Details and examples from AP Stylebook:
Minneapolis has a large Somali American population because of refugee resettlement. The author is Senegalese American.

Campus Locations and Addresses

Building names are abbreviated only in class schedules, on maps and in other formats where space is limited. To abbreviate, use the building's initials, as officially designated by Facilities Development and Operations capitalized without periods or spaces. These initialisms are two to four letters in length and may not be used outside these three applications. For all other uses, spell out the building name.

Special cases:

  • Buildings like Engineering are shortened to "ENG"; the initialism "ENGR" is reserved solely for course offerings in the class schedule/Academic Catalog.
  • The "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library" should be referred to as such on first mention. On all subsequent mentions, the preferred shorthand is "King Library" not "MLK Library".
  • Buildings with longer names like "the Art and Design Building" may be shortened with a reasonable term on subsequent mentions like "Art Building".

To describe campus locations, use the building name followed by the appropriate room number. There is no need to use "room" before the room number.

Acceptable: The Career Center is located in Clark Hall 140. The event will be held in King Library 225.

Not acceptable: The Carrer Center is located in CL140. The event will be held in MLK 225.

Capitalization

Academic degrees

Academic degrees are capitalized only in specific references. Degrees are not capitalized in general references, such as bachelor’s degree, master's, doctorate or when referenced alone.

  • Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature; Master of Arts in Kinesiology; Doctor of Philosophy

When paired with a program offered at San José State University, the degree program is capitalized. When the degree program is referred to separately, it is not capitalized.

  • "Bachelor of Arts in Speech Pathology"
  • "She earned her master of science from San José State University and her doctorate from another insititution. She studied mathematics at SJSU."

The word "degree" is not capitalized. Capitalize degrees when they are referred to by initials: B.S., M.A, PhD. When using the abbreviations with a name, follow the name with a comma and then the abbreviation.

  • The university offers several master's degree programs.
  • One of these is the Master of Public Administration.
  • Frederick A. Chin, PhD

When writing for external audiences, such as a media outlet, San José State does not use Dr. before a faculty member’s name. Instead, use their academic title either capitalized directly before their name or lowercase after their name. If you are using an academic degree in the title, do not use both Dr. and PhD.  Likewise, using Dr. and PhD is not necessary when a person's academic or administrative title implies these credentials. 

According to the AP Stylebook, use of "Doctor" or "Dr." preceding an individual's name is reserved only to degrees earned in six specific fields: medicine, dental surgery, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatric medicine or veterinary medicine. All individuals who earned doctorate degrees in all other fields may only be referred to with their degree as abbreviated following their name.

Acceptable:

  • Jane Koch, PhD or Cynthia Teniente-Matson, EdD
  • Professor Laura Hoola, doctor in philosophy

For degrees abbreviated with more than three letters, it is acceptable to omit periods from abbreviations on subsequent mentions: MFA, MBA, MPH, MPA, MPP, MLIS.

Building names

Building names are capitalized. The use of building initialisms (CL, YUH, KING) are reserved solely for class schedules, maps and select digital applications where space is limited. Names of buildings should always be spelled out on first mention then shortened to a sensible term on subsquent mentions.

  • "Yoshihiro Uchida Hall"; then "Uchida Hall"
  • "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library"; then "King Library"

Limited exceptions include inordinately long building names or buildings with naming sponsorship, unless the sponsorship requires full reference:

  • "Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center"; then "SRAC"
  • "Interdisciplinary Science Building"; then "ISB"
  • "CEFCU Event Center"; then "Event Center"
  • "Habbas Law Athletics Center"; then "Athletics Center"

There are some building names which cannot be referred to in a shortened term due to conflict with naming of another building: "Interdisciplinary Science Building" cannot be shortened to "Science Building" on second reference due to the existence of the Science Building; and "Industrial Studie Building" cannot be shortened to "ISB".

Class-level references

Class-level references are not capitalized.

  • A group of seniors provided tutoring for freshmen. The class of 2021 donated a gift of $50,000 to the university.

Colleges and departments

Colleges and departments are capitalized only when used as a formal title/name. The use of the word "department" is capitalized only when referring to a program by its full, formal title". In all other instances, "department" is not capitalized"

  • The Department of Chemistry is part of the College of Science.
  • The mechanical engineering department is a part of the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering.
  • Sammy Spartan, professor in the sociology department of the College of Health and Human Sciences

Directions and regions

Directions are not capitalized if they refer to a compass direction. They should be capitalized, however, if they refer to a region, are part of a proper name or denote a widely known section of a city or state. When in doubt, use lowercase.

Example: 
Professor Mendoza's move east took him as far as the Midwest, where his Northern California customs were the source of much amusement.

Disciplines, majors and programs

Disciplines, majors and programs such as art, accounting, geography and engineering are capitalized only when referring to a specific department or course. However, disciplines derived from proper nouns, such as "French", "German" and "Spanish", are always capitalized.

  • She is planning to major in geography.
  • He is studying Spanish.
  • The Department of Geography offers many courses. One of these is Geography 101.
  • Rory earned a bachelor’s degree in history.

Seasons and semesters

Seasons and semesters are not capitalized.

  • Acceptable: fall 2027; spring 2028; winter session
  • Not acceptable: Fall 2027; Spring 2028; Winter Session

State and Federal

"State" when used as a generic adjective or as a noun is not capitalized. "Federal" is capitalized as part of the formal names of corporate or government bodies. Use lowercase when it is used as an adjective to distinguish something from state, county, city, town or private entities.

Examples:
Inform the people of the state of California.

Professor John Jones received a federal grant.

The Federal Communications Commission has awarded several grants.

Titles

Titles are capitalized only when they precede a person's name. Degrees, if necessary to include, are to be appended after a person's name but only in instances where the title goes after the person's name.

  • President Cynthia Teniente-Matson
  • Cynthia Teniente-Matson, EdD president of the university
  • Dean Shannon Miller
  • Shannon Miller, PhD, dean of the College of Humanities and the Arts
  • Assistant Professor Shaun Fletcher
  • Shaun Fletcher, assistant professor, journalism and mass communications
  • The proposal presented by the college deans and department chairs is subject to approval by the president.

San José, the city

Do not capitalize "city" when used in conjunction with San José, except when referring to the city as a formal title and/or as the legally incorporated municipal entity.

  • Mayor Matt Mahan represented the city of San José at the library's celebration.
  • There are more than one million residents living in the city of San José.
  • The city of San José is the third largest in the state of California and referred to as the "Capital of Silicon Valley".
  • The city manager makes decisions as the executive of the City of San José.
  • San José State University executed a partnership with the City of San José to install student artwork along city streets.
  • She works for the parks and recreation department for the City of San José.

Chicanx/a/o (See also Latinx/a/o/e)

Chicanx/a/o is a legacy term used at SJSU for specific entities, organizations and events. Specifically, it refers to those of Mexican and/or Indigenous American (both contintental United States and Central American Indigenous) backgrounds residing in or descended from California and/or the southwestern United States. At SJSU, the terms "Latinx/a/o/e" are preferred to generally refer to persons or audiences of either Spanish-speaking backgrounds, Spanish-speaking ancestry, or descendance from Latin America.

The terms Chicano (male), Chicana (female), Chicanos (mixed male and female audience or group), Chicanx/Chicane (gender-inclusive) are sometimes used by Mexican Americans with Mexican and/or Indigenous ancestry in the U.S., and more specifically the state of California, to describe their heritage.

Chicanx, Chicana or Chicano can be used if requested by the individual, and should be accompanied by a short explanation. Chicanx/a/os can be used to represent more than one person.

  • Elena Hernandez prefers to be referred to as Chicana.  
  • The club represents Chicanx/a/os at SJSU.

The term is not interchangeable with the terms "Latinx/a/o/e" or "Hispanic". Latinx/a/o/e Americans are those with ancestry or immigration from Latin American countries from Central and South America. However, not all nations in Central or South America are Spanish-speaking, which is what the term "Hispanic" refers to. The preferable term for groups or audiences of mixed ancestry is "Latino" (or Latinx/Latine). See Latinx/a/o/e.

The term "Hispanic" is a legacy term is reserved for formal titles of specific entities, groups, or audiences or expressly indicated by persons or groups. "Hispanic" is not interchangeable with "Chicano" or "Latino".

Colleges

This is the list of the official names of colleges with preferred second references, where applicable.

Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering

  • Davidson College of Engineering; or
  • Davidson College; or
  • College of Engineering

Lucas College and Graduate School of Business

  • Lucas College; or
  • Lucas Graduate School of Business*
  • *note: the college refers to undergraduate programs and individual certificates or standalone programs and departments; "Graduate School" refers to master's level and above programs. When referring to the college as a whole, it is preferable to use the first term "Lucas College" on subsequent mentions
  • Not acceptable or correct: "CoB" or "COB" or "LCoB"
  • Note: the formal title of the college is "Lucas", with no preceding first name(s).

College of Graduate Studies

  • Not acceptable or correct: "CGS"

College of Health and Human Sciences

  • Not acceptable or correct: "CHHS" or "HHS"

College of Humanities and the Arts

  • Not acceptable or correct: "CHA" or "CH&A"
  • Informally used by the college, but neither preferred nor incorrect: "H&A"
  • Note: the formal title of the college includes "the" preceding "Arts".

College of Information, Data and Society

  • Not acceptable or correct: "CIDS"

College of Science

  • Not acceptable or correct: "COS" or "CoS" or "CoSCI"

College of Social Sciences

  • Not acceptable or correct: "CoSS" or "COSS" or "SoSci"

Connie L. Lurie College of Education

  • Lurie College of Education; or
  • Lurie College; or
  • College of Education

Commas

San José State does not use serial commas. Use commas to separate items in a simple series but not before the final conjunction. However, do use a comma to separate items in a complex series (before the conjunction) if there is a possibility of confusion without it.  When used with quotation marks, commas and periods are always enclosed within the quotation marks.

Examples: 
Simple series: The items on the dean's agenda included sabbaticals, collective bargaining and parking.

Complex series: Among those attending the conference were the deans of social sciences, health and human sciences, and humanities and the arts.

With quotation marks: "The parking lot is crowded," he said. "I should have taken a distance education course through the College of Professional and Global Education."

Company, corporate, product names

In general, follow the spelling and capitalization used by the company: LinkedIn, eBay, iPhone, Nvidia, MasterCard. Use ampersands as the official company or product name dictates. Abbreviate Co. and Corp., and delete references to Inc., unless doing so makes the name confusing.

Examples: Procter & Gamble, Microsoft Corp., Mercury News

To check the formal names of companies, consult the national stock exchanges: New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ or the American Stock Exchange.

Compound words

When two or more adjectives are used to express a single concept in modifying a noun, they become compound modifiers. Compound modifiers are linked with hyphens.

  • Long-term assignment
  • Full-scale investigation
  • Part-time or full-time worker

Computer, information technology terms

Do not capitalize the word "internet."

Accepted spellings of some computer- and internet-related words:

  • cyberspace
  • email
  • homepage
  • online
  • podcast
  • website
  • webcast

When writing website addresses and URLs, in most cases there is no need to prefix the web address with http:// or www. visually, in text form, on the front end, for the end user. If the text is hyperlinked, ensure the URL does have the 

Course work

Course work is two separate words. There are never hyphens and never spelled as one word.

cum laude

Written as cum laude, all italics and lowercase, in all instances and across all mediums. The term is Latin for "with honors."

Also, magna cum laude (with high honors) and summa cum laude (with highest honors).

Dashes

Dashes are longer than hyphens. Single hyphens should not be used in the place of dashes. 

Em-dashes (—) can be used to denote a change in thought or to add emphasis to a pause; to set off a list of items in place of commas because the extra punctuation would be confusing; or to set off the attribution of a quote. Use spaces around either side of an em dash.

Example:
The fall semester — starting in August — is the first semester of the academic year.

En-dashes (–) are used to denote a range. Do not use spaces around en dash. 

Examples:
8 a.m–9 a.m.

Pages 12–30

Hyphens (-) are joiners. Use them to avoid ambiguity or to form a single idea from two or more words.

Examples:
Mother-in-law

Open-minded

Play-by-play

Dates and times

For readability and clarity in text, express dates of events in the sequence of time, day, date and place. Abbreviate all months except March, April, May, June and July when used with a specific date. Spell out months when used alone or only with the year. When using a month, day and year, set off the year with commas.

  • The colloquium will be held at 4 p.m. 
  • Wednesday, Sept. 1, in Clark Hall 201.
  • My birthday is Jan. 15.
  • January 1989 was the coldest month on record.
  • June 6, 1944, was D-Day.

Emeritus

Emeritus is not a synonym for retired. The titles emeritus (male) or emerita (female) are bestowed on many, but not all, retiring faculty members. A group of men or both men and women is called emeriti and a group of women is called emeritae. Place the word emeritus after the formal title.

  • Professor emeritus of biology
  • Professor emerita of business management

Faculty

When referring to the faculty of the university, college or department as a unit, faculty is a singular noun and takes a singular verb. To refer to faculty members as individuals, add the word "members" and use a plural verb.

  • The faculty is represented by the Academic Senate.
  • Many faculty members are part of the volunteer group.
  • Several members of the geology faculty are among the presenters.
  • She is a faculty member in the English department.

Freshman

To avoid gender bias, the term first-year student is acceptable. As an adjective, use freshman, not freshmen, which is always a noun. 

The term "first-time, first-year" (and accompanying abbreviation FTFY) is used to refer to non-transfer undergraduate students. This is a technical term used only in specific enrollment and admissions-related context and is reserved only for those cases. In all other instances and uses, the term "first-year" is preferred.

Fundraising, fundraiser

It is one word in all forms and uses. Do not hyphenate.

Graduation year and major

Always note the graduation year and major of a San José State current undergraduate or graduate student and alum. (For current students, using the expected graduation date is acceptable.)

Follow the Spartan's name with the two-digit graduation year and major. San José State does not reference the type of undergraduate degree (e.g., BA, BS, BSBA).

When referring to graduates of advanced degree programs, include the degree abbreviation in addition to year and field of study without periods. Do not include an undergraduate year in this case, unless the individual also received their undergraduate degree from SJSU. 

If the individual received multiple degrees from SJSU in the same field of study, it is acceptable to omit the first reference to the subject area. 

  • Wanjiru Kamau, ’65 Social Sciences
  • David Chai, ’95 Graphic, ’00 Master of Art
  • Kenneth Habecker, ’63 bachelor of arts, ’71 Master of Arts in Spanish
  • Sammy Spartan, 1857 School Spirit

health care

Two words, no hyphen, unless when used as an adjective/modifier.

  • Health care is a benefit that is covered by my employer.
  • Child care is offered at the Associated Students Childhood Development Center at San José State University.
  • Health-care environments

Note, referring to government programs typically referred to as "-care" in popular nomenclature is not acceptable, unless that is the formal name/title.

  • "The Affordable Care Act"; not "Obamacare"
  • "Medicare"

Jr., Sr.

Abbreviate as Jr. and Sr. and do not precede by a comma. If it is the individual’s preference, use II or 2nd following their name also without a comma. However, II and 2nd are not necessarily the equivalent of junior.

Examples:
Jim Smith Jr. went to school.

Ryan Turtle III is watching television.

Latinx/a/oe and Hispanic 

These terms are not interchangeable with each other or the terms "Chicano", "Chicana", "Chicanx" or "Chicane". See Chicanx/a/o/e.

Latinx/a/o/e (Latinx, Latina, Latino, Latine) is the preferred term at SJSU.

Latina/o is a term sometimes used to refer to a person or persons from, or whose ancestors were from, a Spanish-speaking land/culture or from Latin America, as well as Indigenous and non-Spanish-speaking resident peoples from Latin American countries. Latinx, Latina or Latino can be used if requested by the individual, and should be accompanied by a short explanation. Latinx and Latine are gender-inclusive terms to refer to individuals or groups of people of all gender identities and expressions.

To the extent possible, use a more specific identification when possible, such as Cuban, Puerto Rican, Brazilian or Mexican American.

Latinx/a/os are terms used to refer to more than one person. 

  • Elena Hernandez prefers to be referred to as Latinx. 
  • The club represents Latinx/a/os at SJSU.
  • The president spoke to a group of Latina engineering students.
  • The workshop focused on how to elevate queer representation of Latine residents in civic engagement and government decision-making.

Hispanic

At SJSU, Hispanic is a legacy term only used to refer to a formal title of an entity or organization. "Hispanic" refers to persons or people who are or descended from Spanish-speaking backgrounds. Due to the existence of non-Spanish speaking countries in Latin America and non-Spanish speaking Latinos/Latinxs, the term "Hispanic" is not a preferred term at SJSU. The term is also not interchangeable with the terms "Chicanx/a/o/e".

When referring to Chicanx/a/o/e and Latinx/a/o/e individuals, even within the context of these organizations’ work and activities, “Hispanic” should not be used to refer to people. Use Latinx/a/o/e or, more specifically, Latino, Latina or Latinx or Latine, depending on an individual's or audience's preference. Latinx/a/o/e is the preferred term used at SJSU. Use a more specific identification when possible, such as Cuban, Puerto Rican, Brazilian or Mexican American.

Examples are limited to these terms:
Hispanic Heritage Month, Hispanic-Serving Institution, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley

Library, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library

First reference to the library should be its full name: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library. The only acceptable second reference is "King Library". The internal building shortened term is "KING". Do not capitalize "library" when used alone as a second reference. Do not use "MLK" as a standalone to refer to the building or entity.

To refer to room numbers, spell out the second reference:

  • The event will be at King Library 225.
  • The reading will be held at the Children's Room of the Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr. Library in downtown San José. Followed by a reception in King Library 225.

Main Campus (See also South Campus)

Capitalize Main Campus when referring to the central location of San José State’s campus at One Washington Square and as a proper noun. On all other mentions, lower case.

  • SJSU's Main Campus is located in downtown San José.
  • SJSU's 88-acre Main Campus anchors the central business district of the city of San José.
  • South Campus is located one and a half miles south of Main Campus.
  • As with other institutions, SJSU's core academics are focused on its main campus in downtown San José. Its athletics programs are mostly held off its main campus at a separate, satellite campus, called South Campus.

Names, Personal

Generally:

  • Names are proper nouns and must always be capitalized
  • Refer to a person by full name on first mention, then surname in all subsequent mentions

Middle initials: Do not use a middle initial unless the subject is commonly identified by the initial in normal usage (Michael B. Jordan, Michael J. Fox).

Degrees and Titles: see Degrees

Death: An obituary is a breaking-news report, typically published very shortly after an individual's death. SJSU does not publish obituaries. “In Memoriam” is the preferred format and is used for feature-style coverage, in a longer period after the death has been reported, and written as a remembrance. In "In Memoriam" features, the death may not be mentioned until after an introductory anecdote. Do not use “passed away” or other euphemisms for death.

Full guidance and the initiative to issue "In Memoriam" features are provided and issued first by University Marketing and Communications and University Advancement for all deaths, in consultation with other applicable university leadership, the suriviving family and/or estate and, when appropriate, coordination with the college or division.

Numbers and numerical references

As a general rule, numbers one to nine should be spelled out; numbers 10 and above should be left in numerical form, except when used at the beginning of a sentence. Use numerical figures, however, when referring to sections of a book, age, grade point average and scores. (See also “Ages”)

  • There were four people in our group.
  • Twenty cows crossed the road.
  • She has a GPA of 3.8.
  • The final score in Saturday’s football game was 7–21 in favor of the home team. 

Ordinal numbers

Spell out ordinal numbers (first, second, third) first through ninth. For the 10th ordinal and above, use figures with superscripts, as necessary.

Examples: 
First, second, 10th, 23rd, 31st

See addresses for guidance on referring to street names.

Money

When describing money, do not include the decimal places for whole dollars. For clarity and brevity, the use of currency symbols and numerical figures is preferable in most instances above spelling out (e.g., "tickets cost $1" vs. "tickets cost one dollar").

Example: 
Tickets cost $5 for general admission, $3 for students and $2.50 for children under 12.

Time

When describing time, do not use zeros with whole hours. Always use lowercase and periods with a.m. and p.m. Noon is also acceptable for 12 p.m. When referring to a range of time, use an en dash. 

  • The event will begin at 1 p.m.
  • The event goes from 2–3:30 p.m.
  • The event begins at 1 p.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m.

Percentages

Use the % sign when paired with a number, with no space, in most cases. Spell out “percentage” when referring to percentage points. For amounts less than 1%, precede the decimal with a zero. In casual uses, use words rather than figures and numbers.

  • Average hourly pay rose 3.1% from a year ago.
  • About 60% of students agreed.
  • His approval rating went up 4 percentage points.
  • The cost of living rose 0.6%.
  • She said he has a zero percent chance of winning.

Telephone numbers

When writing telephone numbers, use parantheses to separate the area code from the exchange which is separate by singular dashes and no spaces. Always include the area code even for campus phone numbers.

The international area code should not be used for domestic numbers (e.g., +1 (408)...).

Example: (408) 924-1000

People with disabilities

When writing about anyone with a disability — whether physical, intellectual or psychological/emotional — always strive to adopt people-first language. This means using words that put the person at the center of a description rather than a label, their status, or focusing on what the individual cannot do.

For example, you would refer to "a graduate student who has epilepsy" but not "a graduate student who is an epileptic". As with any other area of sensitivity like this, SJSU highly-encourages asking the individual how they prefer to be referred to and use this language as much as possible. Be sure if you are interviewing someone with a disability, whether visible or not, that they are aware of how much detail and information you will be sharing about their disability and/or ask them to review the content before it is published.

If the disability is not part of the story and there isn't a need to include it, do not include at all.

Don't refer to someone who does not have a disability as "able-bodied", "normal", "physically-typical", "neurotypical", especially not when the use of such terms provide no useful purpose or context. It is preferred to simply refer to those without disabilities as a person who does not have a disability only when it's necessary to distinguish that someone doesn't have one. 

Avoid sensationalizing a disability by using phrases like, but not limited to, "afflicted with," "suffers from," or "victim of."

Use accessible when describing a space, location or event that is modified to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

People with disabilities are typically not suffering from a disease or illness, therefore they should not be referred to as patients, unless under a health-care setting.

To show inclusiveness and sensitivity to students, you may want to refer to them as students who are receiving services, which may include physical or mental help, or students with a verified disability. Every CSU campus has services for students with disabilities and a wide variety of accommodations can be made if needed. The Accessible Education Center at SJSU is the authoritative resource for information about these accommodations.

Personal pronouns

Use a person’s self-identified pronouns whenever possible. Avoid using s(he) as generic third-person singular pronouns. This includes the use of pronouns of languages other than English (e.g., él/ella (Spanish) or "siya" (Tagalog). Do not presume maleness in constructing a sentence by defaulting to he/his/him. Usually it is possible, and always preferable, to reword the sentence to avoid gender.

In most cases, a plural pronoun such as they, them or their should agree in number with the antecedent: The children love the books their uncle gave them. 

When a person identifies as nonbinary or prefers gender-neutral pronouns, use their name and/or they/them/their. Introduce their preferred pronouns in parentheses following their name. Do not include pronouns for all other persons who do not specifically provide guidance to include this information.

  • Pat Smith (they/them), ’20 Interior Design, published a design study.

For more details and examples, see the AP Stylebook.

Publication and composition titles

For newspapers, magazines, journals and other regularly occurring publications, capitalize the initial letters of the name but do not place it in quotes or italicize. Lowercase magazine unless it is part of the publication's formal title. Capitalize only words that are part of the publication's formal name. Check the publication's masthead to confirm its formal name.

  • Mercury News
  • The San Francisco Chronicle
  • The New York Times
  • Harper's Magazine
  • Newsweek magazine
  • Time magazine

Composition titles

Apply these guidelines to the titles of books, movies, plays, poems, albums, songs, operas, radio and television programs, lectures, speeches, and works of art:

— Capitalize all words in a title except articles (a, an, the); prepositions of three or fewer letters (for, of, on, up, etc.); and conjunctions of three or fewer letters (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet, etc.) unless any of those start or end the title.

— Put quotation marks around the names of all such works except the Bible, the Quran and other holy books, and books that are primarily catalogs of reference material. In addition to catalogs, this category includes almanacs, directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers, handbooks and similar publications.

Quotation marks

Periods and commas always go within the quotation marks. Dashes, semicolons, question marks and exclamation points go within quotation marks only when they are directly part of the quoted matter.

  • The project is “long overdue,” said Angela.
  • Ask him, “How do you plan to implement the proposal?”
  • Have you read the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”?

South Campus (See also Main Campus)

Capitalize South Campus when referring to the satellite location of San José State’s campus located eight blocks from SJSU’s Main Campus in San José. South Campus includes CEFCU Stadium, Simpkins Athletics Building, Simpkins Center and Athletic playing fields.

Student-athlete

When referring to a student who is a member of an athletic team, use student-athlete with a hyphen.

Students from low-income backgrounds

The students served by the California State University (CSU) include many who come from low-income backgrounds. Recent research led by the CSU makes clear that many students — at the CSU and well beyond — struggle not only to pay for their college education, but to provide for even basic needs like housing and food. That said, it's important not to equate being low-income with struggling for basic needs. They are not synonymous and terms listed below are not interchangeable, but may be used, when correct, together.

The ways in which we talk and write about students who are low income should convey compassion, inclusion and sensitivity. Writing about poverty and those who do not have the money they need is a sensitive matter and sometimes a source of shame and stigma for the student.

Participation in programs targeted to students who are low-income or whose parents are low-income (e.g. Pell-eligible or receiving Pell) are common proxies for low income. Proxies are used primarily because measures related to students' economic well-being are often unobserved in the higher education context, as parental income/wealth is highly confidential.

While these categorizations or proxies can be helpful in demonstrating context, they are only proxies and not equivalent to low income. For example, only U.S. citizens and green card-holders are Pell-eligible, so this would not refer to undocumented students. Additionally, undocumented students are eligible for Cal Grants, which are subject to other eligibility criteria, such as minimum GPAs.

There are several terms that are often used in the context of discussing students of low-income backgrounds. These include:

Socioeconomic status (SES): Tends to refer to a combination of factors related to a student's social class. In the context of students, this typically includes family income, parental education (e.g., first-generation status), and parental occupation.

Underrepresented: Underrepresented refers to racial and ethnic populations that are represented at disproportionately low levels in higher education. Historically means that this is a 10-year or longer trend at a given school.

Underrepresented minorities (URMs) are African Americans and/or Black students, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and Latinx/a/os, who have historically comprised a minority of the U.S. population. The term is mostly used for reporting aggregate student data.

Underserved: Underserved students are defined as those who do not receive equitable resources as other students in the academic pipeline. Typically, these groups of students include low-income, racial/ethnic minorities (people of color or students of color are preferred terms, not minorities), and first-generation students, among others.

Races and ethnicities that are included: African American and Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Latinx/a/os, Indigineous and Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander.

Historically underserved students are defined as low-income students, those who are first in their families to attend college, and students of color. 

First-generation students refers to their parent's/parents' highest education level being a high school diploma or less.

There is no standard definition of what first-generation college student means, but it can be used to refer to students who are among the first in their family to go to college (e.g., their parents did not attend college) and/or students who are among the first in their family to graduate from college (e.g., their parents' highest level of education is some college).

TowerID

The identification card issued to all students, faculty and staff and used for identification and event and building entry is referred to as "TowerID", capitalized as such with no spaces.

No other formats are accepted: "Tower ID", "Tower Card/card", "ID card", "keycard".

University

Do not capitalize university, except when used in a proper name. The capitalized form "University" is specifically reserved when referring to the California State University as a formal, legal entity and not as a shorthand for either the Board of Trustees of the Office of the Chancellor.

  • Classes begin at San José State University in August. The university will be closed for Veterans Day.
  • The California State University Chancellor is implementing a new policy adopted by the Board of Trustees at the start of this academic year. This University policy applies to all CSU campuses.

Years (See also Ages)

For decades, use an "s" without an apostrophe. On first reference, use the full year.

  • 1960s and ’60s. (Not 1960’s and 60’s.)
  • For centuries, the preferred format is the 20th century, not the 1900s.