Saint Rose Style Guide

Updated March 2022

At The College of Saint Rose, we recognize that it is important to have consistency in our communications. We have created this style manual to assist our campus community in the creation of materials that reflect this consistency and are useful to the intended audience.

The College of Saint Rose will follow Associated Press style in all of its marketing and communications publications, including all digital marketing and communications. We ask that this style guide be followed by units on campus when producing materials or publishing on the web or social media on behalf of the College.

As with most publishers, there are times when the College’s style will deviate from the Associated Press style. Those exceptions are outlined in this guide. This guide also outlines AP style for common writing situations.

Addresses: Write addresses out in full unless sending a communication to the media. Example: 274 Main Street, Albany, New York 12203.

Alums/Alum/Alumni: A group of people who graduated from the College are referred to as “alums” or “alumni.” To avoid the use of gendered language, it is recommended that “alum” be used as a singular version rather than “alumna” and “alumnus.”

Black: Black should be capitalized when referring to race. Example: About 16 percent of the full-time undergraduate student population at Saint Rose is Black.

Board of Trustees: In referring to the board of trustees for the College, use either “Saint Rose Board of Trustees” or “The College of Saint Rose Board of Trustees” on first reference. After that, use lowercase “board” when referring to the body. See trustee for style on referring to members of the board.

Center for Art & Design: Note that the Center for Art & Design at Saint Rose includes an ampersand rather than the word “and.”

Certificate of Translation Spanish <> English: Please list the degree using the <>.

Class years: Class years should be listed after the name. If a graduate degree was also earned, it should also be listed following the undergraduate degree separated by a comma. Example: Jane Smith ’68, G’75. Note: Class years should not be listed this way in materials that are sent to a media. It should be explained in the text that the person graduated from the College in whatever their graduation year was.

Class years (for the Sisters): When listing a class year for an alum who is also a Sister, such as a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the religious order designation should follow the name first and should be listed with a comma between the name and order. Followed by the class year: Sister Diane Zigo, CSJ ’80. If the Sister also has a Ph.D. the doctorate should follow the religious order separated by a comma – Sr. Diane Zigo, CSJ, Ph.D. ’80.

Class of: Capitalize the word “Class” when speaking about a particular class year. Example: Jane Smith, Class of 1969

College: The word College will be uppercase when referring to The College of Saint Rose. College is not uppercase when using it to generally describe institutions of higher education.
Example: Saint Rose is known for its support of veterans and veteran-influenced students. In 2015, the College dedicated its Veteran Center. See also The College of Saint Rose

Commas: The College style is to use a serial comma. Example: The student is taking courses in communications, mathematics, social work, and art. Note: Writers should also be attuned to the use of commas in compound sentences.

Commencement: Commencement should not be capitalized on every reference.

Course names: Course names should be capitalized, no quotation marks. Example: the Psychology of Love.

Dates: Dates should be listed with numbers only. Do not add “nd, rd, th, st” after the number. If a year is listed with a date, the year should be followed by a comma. Example: The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on April 1, 2014, at the steps of the new building.

Decades: Decades should be written out as such: 1990s, 2000s, 1970s, 1840s, etc. There is no apostrophe between the year and the letter “s.” You may abbreviate decades using an apostrophe to replace the first two numbers in the year: ‘90s, ‘00s, ‘70s, etc.

Degrees: Use an apostrophe in bachelor’s degree and master’s degree, but not associate degree. There is no possessive in full degree names, such as Bachelor of Arts or Master of Science, and those titles should be capitalized. Proper style on degree abbreviations are: Ph.D., BA, BS, MA, MS, MSED, MSSW, BFA, MFA, JD, MBA. *Please note we have made this style change not to use periods between degrees such as BA, MS, etc., and we are incorporating this change as we update materials or create new ones.

Departments: Those may be capitalized when being formal: The Department of English at Saint Rose vs. our English department. See offices entry for more.

Department of Safety and Security: The formal name for the security staff on campus.

Dr.: Those holding a Ph.D. should be referred to as “Dr.” upon first reference, unless a title already proceeds their name. They should be listed by their last name only on second reference. The exception to this is when information is being sent to the media. AP style calls for only using Dr. when referring to a doctor of medicine. Example: Dr. Shai Butler is vice president for student development at The College of Saint Rose. Butler is also a member of several boards of directors. NOT Vice President Dr. Shai Butler will speak at the meeting.

Events and Athletics Center: The official name of the Events and Athletics Center includes both a plural “events” and a plural “athletics.” It may be called the “EAC” on second reference. If you plan on using EAC on second reference, then on the first reference you should write it as: Events and Athletics Center (EAC). Spaces inside the EAC should be capitalized: Main Lounge, President’s Dining Room, Standish Room A, or Standish Room B.

Freshman: The gendered term “freshman” or “freshmen” should not be used to refer to a first-year student or students. “First-year” is the correct term. Beyond first-year students, the terms “sophomore, junior, and senior” are acceptable. Exception: Athletics often uses the term freshman, as it is the widely accepted style in that area.

Headlines: Headlines should be sentence case with only proper nouns capitalized within the headline. Example: Author and scholar Naomi Zack to discuss inequity during pandemic at annual Vickery Lecture

Majors and programs: When referring to a degree name in its entirety, capitalize the entire name. Example: Bachelor of Arts in Communications or BA in Communications. Generic references are lowercase. Example: The student is a communications major. She is studying communications. She is a communications major. The exception is when programs are referred to in a bulleted list. In those cases, the entire program name should be capitalized. Example: Communication Sciences and Disorders

Do not capitalize names of majors and programs. Examples: Susan is studying cybersecurity at The College of Saint Rose. Bob earned his bachelor’s degree in English at The College of Saint Rose. Exception: Sometimes when using a program in a listing – like a menu of our degrees – it would be capitalized.

Midknight Eats: The gathering space in Centennial Hall.

Months: Months should be fully spelled out – January, February, March, etc.

Names: Per Associated Press style, use the last name of the person being referenced in stories, news releases, and other official publications upon second and subsequent references. Example: Jane Doe owns a series of ice cream shops across the Capital Region. Doe began her career in ice cream as a sales major at Saint Rose.

Offices, Divisions, and Departments: Names of College offices, divisions, and departments are capitalized. Example: Registrar’s Office, Office of Alumni Relations.

Phone numbers: Phone numbers should be listed with periods rather than hyphens. Area codes should not be contained with parenthesis. Example: 518.444.4444.

Pronouns: Use the person’s designated gender pronoun unless unsure. Instead of using he/she/him/her/his/hers it is acceptable to say they/them/their/theirs. We honor individual’s use of preferred pronouns.

Quotation marks: Per Associated Press style, when using quotation marks in headlines they should be single quotation marks. Example: Students to hold midnight reading of ‘Catcher in the Rye.’

Saint Joseph Hall Auditorium: The building many call “St. Joe’s” should be referred to as “Saint Joseph Hall.” The auditorium is to be referred to as “Saint Joseph Hall Auditorium.” The word “Saint” should not be abbreviated.

Schools: The College of Saint Rose has four schools. They are: Huether School of Business, Thelma P. Lally School of Education, School of Arts and Humanities, and School of Mathematics and Sciences.

Seasons: Seasons of the year will be lowercase, as is the rule with AP style, except when the season is used in conjunction with a year. Example: fall semester, spring semester, summer semester, Fall 2019, Spring 2018, etc.

Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet: The “saint” in Sisters of St. Joseph should always be abbreviated and “of Carondelet” should also always be used on first reference. If referring to a member of this order, please use “Sister” before the name on first reference. Do not use Sr., as that may not be a familiar abbreviation to those who are not in the Catholic community.

Sister: Do not use Sr. as an abbreviation for Sister as that may not be a familiar abbreviation to those who are not in the Catholic community. Capitalize Sister or Sisters on second reference. Example: The Sisters believed in the five founding values of the College.

States: State names should be spelled out in full. A comma must go after the name of the state. Example: Bethany went to Lincoln, Nebraska, on Wednesday.

Street names: Street, Avenue, Boulevard, Drive, Road, and other street names should be spelled out in full.

The College of Saint Rose: The name of the College should always be listed as The College of Saint Rose, with an uppercase “T” in “The,” on first reference. In subsequent references, it can be called Saint Rose or the College. Saint should not be abbreviated “St.” The name of the College should not be abbreviated “CSR.”

Times: Times should be listed without :00 if they are on the hour. When indicating time of day, periods should always be used (a.m. and p.m.), and a space should be used between the numeral and time of day. Noon and midnight should be written out, not listed as 12 p.m. or 12 a.m. If a timeframe is provided, where the hours listed fall exclusively within the morning or afternoon, there is no need to list a.m. or p.m. twice. Do not use a hyphen to write out a timeframe. Use the words “to, from, or between” instead. Example: The game will be played from 7 to 9 p.m.

Titles of professionals: Occupational titles are not capitalized if they follow a name. They are often not capitalized before a name with a few exceptions, including Dean, Vice President, President, Professor. These terms are not capitalized if used after the name. Do not use Dr. or other courtesy titles in conjunction with an occupational title before a name. Example: Vice President Shai Butler or Dr. Shai Butler, vice president of student development at The College of Saint Rose.

Titles of creative works: Titles of creative works should be listed inside of quotation marks. They are not italicized. This includes: book titles, song titles, movie titles, play titles, and titles for events and programs. Example: Have you read “The Temple of My Familiar” by Alice Walker?

Trustee: When it precedes a name as a title, capitalize trustee, as in Saint Rose Trustee Jane Doe. Otherwise, trustee should be lowercase when referring to a member of the Saint Rose Board of Trustees. Jane Doe is a trustee at the College.

Veteran buildings: We have two buildings designated specifically for veterans at Saint Rose. They are the Veteran Residence, a residence hall located at 971 Madison Avenue, and the Veteran Center, a gathering place located at 967 Madison Avenue. The names of the buildings should be capitalized, and the word “Veteran” is singular and not possessive.

Campus Buildings

Please use the following style for all campus buildings/spaces:

Carl E. Touhey Forum (may be referred to as Touhey Forum)
Carondelet Symposium
Center for Art & Design
Center for International Programs
Christian Plumeri Sports Complex (on second reference, Plumeri may be used)
Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium
Esther Massry Gallery
Events and Athletics Center
William Randolph Hearst Center for Communications and Interactive Media
Huether School of Business
Interfaith Sanctuary
Joy S. Emery Educational and Clinical Services Center
Massry Center for the Arts
Pauline K. Winkler Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic
Picotte Recital Hall
Picotte Hall (home of the Center for Art & Design)
Saint Joseph Hall (Saint Joseph Hall Auditorium)
Studio G3
Thelma P. Lally School of Education
Veteran Center
Veteran Residence