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acting, interim鈥擲omeone assuming the duties and responsibilities for an administrator temporarily on leave is acting. When someone has been appointed to fill a position while a permanent replacement is being sought, they are considered interim. Neither term is capitalized as part of the title (interim Associate Vice President Pat Smith).
a lot鈥擳wo words. A more specific term or quantity is preferred.
alumna, alumnus, alumnae, alumni鈥擴se alumna for a female who attended or graduated from a university and use alumnae in the plural form. The male form of the word is alumnus; alumni, the plural. Use alumni when referring to a combination of male and female graduates, or as a gender-neutral alternative. Use of alum should be avoided in formal writing. 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽
associate degree鈥攏ot associate鈥檚 degree.
bachelor鈥檚 degree鈥擳he general term for a four-year college degree. Use the possessive form when accompanied with "degree" (bachelor's degree). Abbreviated as BA, BS; do not use periods. Do not use the possessive form in the formal title, Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science.
biannual/biennial鈥擝iannual means 鈥渢wice a year鈥�; biennial means 鈥渆very two years.鈥�
The 好色先生鈥擳he is part of the official name of this system and should be included and capitalized on covers, title pages, contents, headings or whenever the official name of the organization is called for. However, it should be lowercased in textual matter. Lowercasing the in text will avoid such awkward situations as "the University of California, The 好色先生 and the California Community Colleges." Remember to use the before the abbreviation CSU when practical. (The CSU is increasing access, not "CSU is increasing access.") System is not part of the official name of the 好色先生 and should not be capitalized.
好色先生, Dominguez Hills鈥擶hen referring to this university, include the entire name in the first reference and include a comma between University and Dominguez. CSUDH is preferred for subsequent references. Other acceptable names in second reference are CSU Dominguez Hills (no comma) or Cal State Dominguez Hills; however, the latter is less formal and should be avoided in more formal writing. Use of university is acceptable only when it is clear you are referring to CSUDH. Note that 鈥渦niversity鈥� is not capitalized.
campuswide鈥擭o hyphen.
child care鈥擳wo words, no hyphen.
doctoral/doctorate鈥攄octoral is an adjective; doctorate is the degree received.
Dr.鈥� When referring to individuals who have doctorates, the preference is not to use Dr. before their name in running text, but instead to use the formal/professional title given them by the university. (Professor of Chemistry Kenneth Rodriguez). Dr. is acceptable before a name in programs and lists. However, do not use both Dr. before the name and PhD after the name in the same reference, and be consistent throughout the document.
email鈥擭o hyphen. Lowercase unless at the start of a sentence, in a title, or as part of an address.
emerita, emeritus, emeriti鈥擡merita refers to a woman, emeritus to a man, and emeriti in the plural form, or as a gender-neutral alternative. The designation follows the main title and is capitalized with the main title if it precedes the name: Professor Emeritus Don Hata.
esports鈥攐ne word, lowercase.
ex officio鈥擳he term, meaning 鈥渂y virtue of office or position,鈥� is two words, not hyphenated, italicized, or capitalized. However, if used with a person鈥檚 name in a list, capitalize both words.
faculty/faculty member鈥擣aculty refers to an institution鈥檚 entire instructional staff and typically takes singular verbs when referred to the whole. (The CSUDH faculty is dedicated.) In referring to an individual, use faculty member. For a group of individuals numbering less than the entire faculty, use faculty members. If referring to a distinct group, use of the plural verb is acceptable: The anthropology faculty are conducting a dig.
faculty titles鈥攁ssistant professor, associate professor, professor, professor emerita/us; For individuals hired on a part-time or full-time basis to teach in a department, use the titles of part-time lecturer or full-time lecturer.
FAQ鈥擠o not add an s; FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) already implies multiple questions.
first annual鈥擜n event cannot be considered annual until it has been taken place at least two consecutive years. Instead of using first annual, use inaugural.
蹿颈谤蝉迟-驳别苍别谤补迟颈辞苍鈥�Refers to a student who is the first (or one of the first) in their family to attend college or graduate from college (their parents or previous generations did not attend or graduate from college).
first-year student鈥擳he preferred term to freshman.
freshman/freshmen鈥擳he preferred term is first-year student. However, as a point of grammar, freshman not freshmen is used as a modifier (the freshman class); an easy way to remember is to ask would say 鈥渢he sophomore class鈥� or 鈥渢he sophomores class鈥�?
full-time/full time鈥擧yphenate when used as an adjective preceding a noun. Do not hyphenate when following a noun. (She has a full-time job. He attends school full time.)
gender鈥攇ender refers to a person鈥檚 social identity, while sex refers to biological characteristics. It is best to ask how a person would like to be referred. Unless the preferred gender is known, it is best to reword sentences to avoid gender pronouns.
GPA鈥擯reference is to spell out grade point average in the first reference and the acronym GPA in subsequent references. Use two digits after the decimal when expressing grade point average (3.50 GPA).
grade letters鈥擠o not use quotation marks or italics. Do capitalize. For plurals, add an s without the apostrophe (As and Bs)
graduate (verb)鈥擲tudents graduate from CSUDH; they do not graduate CSUDH.
health care鈥擳wo words, no hyphen.
Hispanic鈥擧ispanic generally refers to people living in the United States who have origins in Spanish-speaking countries. Hispanic and Latino/a/x are used interchangeably. Be consistent within a document. (See Latina/o/x)
historic/historical鈥擧istoric means important within the framework of history; historical concerns something that happened in the past. Both are preceded by the article a, not an.
interim, acting鈥擲omeone assuming the duties and responsibilities for an administrator temporarily on leave is acting. When someone has been appointed to fill a position while a permanent replacement is being sought, they are considered interim. Neither term is capitalized as part of the title (interim Associate Vice President Pat Smith).
Latina/o/x鈥擫atina/o/x generally refers to people living in the United States who have origins in Latin America and the Caribbean. Latinx is acceptable as a gender-inclusive neutral term. If referencing a person, ask how they wish to be referred. (See also Hispanic)
login/log in, logon/log on, logoff/log off鈥擮ne word if used as a noun or adjective, but two words in verb form. Note, log in, log off, log on are phrasal verbs; therefore when 鈥渢o鈥� is used after, the 鈥渢o鈥� stands along. (First, log in to myCSUDH with your campus login information)
Los Angeles鈥擴se periods in abbreviation: L.A., L.A. County.
low-income鈥擯referred to words such as 鈥減oor,鈥� 鈥渦nderprivileged,鈥� or 鈥渄isadvantaged.鈥� (See also Pell-eligible)
minority/minorities鈥擜void using. Instead, use people of color or students of color.
part time/part-time鈥擧yphenate when used as an adjective preceding a noun. Do not hyphenate when following a noun. (She has a part-time job. He attends school part time.)
Pell-eligible鈥擱efers to students who receive federal Pell Grant aid. Often used interchangeably to refer to 鈥渓ow-income students鈥� because the grant is given based on exceptional financial need. However, it does not refer to all low-income students because only U.S. citizens and citizens from another country with permanent resident status are Pell-eligible.
percent鈥擜lways spell out percent in text and use figures. (5 percent) Percent takes a singular verb if used alone (A 10 percent return is good.) or if a singular word is the object of of (Exactly 78 percent of the product is needed.). It takes a plural verb if a plural word is the object of of. (Almost 37 percent of baseball fans own a team cap.) The percent sign % is acceptable as part of graphics.
staff鈥擲taff, like faculty, refers to a body of people and takes a singular verb. (Our staff is here to help.) Use staff member (singular) or staff members (plural) to refer to individuals, and the verb should agree with the singular or plural member.
statewide鈥擭ot hyphenated
systemwide鈥擭ot hyphenated
time of day鈥擴se figures, except for noon and midnight. Do not use :00 to indicate the top of the hour. (We will meet at 1 p.m. (not 1:00 p.m.) to discuss the program.) Include a.m. or p.m. to indicate morning or afternoon times. However, avoid redundancies such as: We will meet at 10 a.m. this morning. Instead say: We will meet at 10 a.m. today. In running text, do not use a dash to indicate a duration of time (Not: The class went from 2:15-2:45 p.m.; Rather: The class went from 2:15 to 2:45 p.m.) 聽Dashes are acceptable in other forms to show duration.
theater鈥擴se this spelling unless a building, program, or department uses the 鈥榬e鈥� spelling (as in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance).
underrepresented鈥擱efers to racial and ethnic populations that are represented at disproportionately low levels in higher education.
underserved鈥擱efers to communities or students who do not receive equitable resources compared to others.
United States/U.S.鈥擲pell out when used as a noun; U.S. (periods, no spaces) is acceptable as an adjective or as part of an organization鈥檚 name.
university-wide鈥擧测辫丑别苍补迟别.
vice president, vice chancellor鈥擠o not hyphenate.