Universities and their academic programs present all kinds of writing challenges. Here are some guidelines pertaining to academic programs and titles:

Academic colleges and divisions

Capitalize all colleges, divisions, centers, laboratories, institutes and ROTC programs when using the full, proper name. “The college,” “the center,” “the division,” “the

institute,” etc., is acceptable on second and subsequent reference, but should not be capitalized. The same rule applies for “university” and “system.” In news releases, the informal departmental or divisional name (“electrical and computer engineering department” instead of “department of electrical and computer engineering,” or “marketing and communications department” instead of “Department of Marketing and Communications”) is preferred.

Offices are usually lowercase (“chancellor’s office” instead of “Chancellor’s Office” or “Office of the Chancellor”).

Centers and institutes are capitalized when the full name is used (“Center for Infrastructure Engineering Studies,” “Center for Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies,” etc.).

“Air Force ROTC” and “Army ROTC” are the preferred references for these academic programs. “ROTC” is acceptable in all references. Do not spell out “Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.”

Academic degrees

When spelled out or abbreviated, degree types are capitalized. In most cases, avoid abbreviations and instead use a phrase such as: “the student was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering” or “John Jones, who earned a Master of Science degree in civil engineering.”

In body copy, “bachelor’s degree,” “master’s degree,” etc. are preferred and are not capitalized.

• For news releases, use such abbreviations as B.S., M.S., Ph.D. and D.Eng. only when the need to identify many individuals by degree on first reference would make the preferred form cumbersome. Use these abbreviations only after a full name — never after just a last name.

• For alumni-focused publications (Missouri S&T Magazine, the OGS Shillelagh and departmental newsletters) the preferred form for academic degrees is the abbreviation of the department (see chart, at right) followed by an apostrophe and the two-digit abbreviation of the year of graduation. For example, write: The Havener Center is named for Texas entrepreneur Gary Havener, Math’62. When referring to alumni who graduated over a century ago, the abbreviation of the department is followed by the entire four-digit year (no apostrophe) to avoid confusion. For example, write: Daniel C. Jackling, MetE 1892.

When used after a name, degree abbreviations are set off by commas: “Fred Kummer, CE’55, founded HBE Corp.”

When an alumnus has earned more than one degree, list abbreviations in chronological order with the primary degree first. Additional degrees are separated by commas: “Suzanna Long, Hist’84, Phys’84, MS EMgt’04, PhD EMgt’07, was named S&T’s 2016 Woman of the Year.”

To avoid redundancy, do not precede a name with a courtesy title for an academic degree and follow it with the abbreviation for the degree in the same reference:

• Incorrect: “Dr. Sam Jones, Ph.D.”
• Correct: “Dr. Sam Jones, a chemist.”

Do not precede the name of a professor with both the title “Dr.” and “professor.” Use one or the other, but not both.

• Incorrect: “Speakers included Missouri S&T Curators’ Distinguished Professor Dr. Gregory Hilmas.”
• Correct: “Speakers included Missouri S&T Curators’ Distinguished Professor Gregory Hilmas.”
• Correct: “Dr. Gregory Hilmas, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of ceramic engineering, spoke.”

When in doubt about the proper abbreviation for a degree, follow the first listing in Webster’s New World College Dictionary.

Academic degrees, abbreviations

For alumni-focused writing such as Missouri S&T Magazine, The OGS Shillelagh and departmental newsletters, the abbreviations of academic degrees at right are used to identify an alumna or alumnus.

Department abbreviations