Capitalization

Academic Degrees

Capitalize academic degrees when used following a name.

BS; MS; PhD; MBA; BSE; EdD

Capitalize academic degrees and disciplines in full, complete use. Abbreviations are also capitalized when used with the full, complete degree.

Associate in Applied Science in Engineering;
Associate in Humanities; Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences;
BS in Mechanical Engineering; PhD in Physics;

Doctor of Arts abbreviated DA

Master of Engineering with an environmental engineering concentration
Abbr.: MEng

Note the full degree names: Master of Engineering; Master of Forestry
but: He is majoring in materials science and engineering; bachelor's in business administration; She has a master's in physics and an associate's in humanities.

Advisory Boards/Board of Control

Capitalize Board of Control and Board, also, Academy of Civil and Environmental Engineers, ME-EM External Advisory Board, and similar groups.

The State of Michigan cut back on its funding to higher education.

Alma Mater

Capitalize and italicize when referring to the song, Alma Mater; but lowercase and normal type when referring to Michigan Tech or another school from which you have graduated.

AM/PM

Use small capital letters when possible, otherwise: a.m./p.m.

College and School

The College and the School are capitalized when referring to the College of Engineering, College of Sciences and Arts, School of Business and Economics, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, and the School of Technology.

He was appointed dean of the College.
The School has seen significant enrollment increases.

Similarly: Office of Admissions, admissions office.

Co-op Program

Capitalize Cooperative Education Program but not co-op program.

Commencement

They are referred to as Spring Commencement and Midyear Commencement. Don't capitalize commencement in the general sense.

Course Titles

Course titles are capitalized with or without course numbers.

Introduction to Film; but, in a general sense, introductory film class; CM3230 Thermodynamics for Chemical Engineers

Committees

Capitalize committees and subcommittees.

Web Policy Subcommittee of the Web Oversight Committee

Department

Department is capitalized in the full, formal use: Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics but not ME-EM department or mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics department.

Headlines

We do Initial Caps in Headlines but Not Articles, Prepositions, or to be Verbs: John Gagnon Makes Trouble; The End is Near or What

Named professorships and chairs

He created the Jimi Hendrix Professorship in Music (not professor)
Jane Smith, Jimi Hendrix Professor and chair, music department.
She holds the Jimi Hendrix Professorship and is chair of the Department of Music.

PI and Co-PIs

PI and Co-PIs to start a sentence
co-PI in middle of a sentence

President

Capitalize when it precedes a name.

President Glenn D. Mroz; but, Martha Sloan, president of the Senate

Regions of the country

Midwest, but midwestern states

Student ID Number

Michigan Tech ID numbers are now referred to as the M number.

Social Security Number

Capitalize, also SSN.

Titles and Offices

Capitalize all academic titles when used before a name.

Professor Craig R. Friedrich; but: Craig Friedrich, professor of mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics;

Dean Tim Schulz; but: Tim Schulz, dean of the College of Engineering.

Do not capitalize if used in the general sense.

She had risen to the rank of professor.
He was appointed vice president.
and: She has a master's degree in physics.

Also, for readability, titles of two words or less can appear before the name, but more than two-word titles should appear after the name.

Titles of Airplanes, Ships, Trains

Italicize.

RV Aggasiz

Titles of works

Italicize the titles of books, plays, motion pictures, oratorios or operas, magazines, published documents, newspapers, periodicals, television series, and journals.

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail; The New Yorker; Field of Dreams; The Simpsons; ACS Chemical Biology

Use quotation marks for titles of unpublished matter, parts of published works, articles from journals, single episodes from radio and television series, and titles of short musical compositions when used in text.

Italicize and capitalize Newsletter when it appears as the name of the publication. Also italicize the Michigan Tech Magazine, and Michigan Tech Research Magazine. If italics are not available, use underlines. If underlines are not available, use initial capital letters.

Vice President, Vice Provost

Do not hyphenate. Capitalize before a name; otherwise leave them lowercase.

University

The University is capitalized when referring to Michigan Tech, but not university or universities in the general sense.

Wikipedia

ZIP Code

All capital letters, as it is an acronym.

ZIP Code