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Editorial Standards

House Style Word List

This list contains words within CSUF house style, including guidance on spelling, capitalization, hyphenation, compounds and some definitions. When specific guidance is not offered, the campus community should refer to the most recent edition of the Associated Press Stylebook. If neither these standards nor the AP Stylebook offer the needed guidance, writers should consult Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition.

  • accessible
  • accommodate
  • acknowledgeable
  • acknowledgment
  • admissible
  • adviser
  • affect (verb): to influence
  • alumna, alumnus, alumni 
  • biannual: twice a year
  • biennial: every two years
  • bilingual
  • bimonthly: every other month
  • biweekly: every two weeks
  • campuswide, (CSU) systemwide, universitywide
  • cancel
  • canceled
  • cancellation
  • class/course names: should appear in quotes, i.e., "History of Television"
  • co-ed
  • coeducational
  • commencement: lowercase, except when used in a formal event title, as in Commencement 2025
  • compatible
  • complement: implies something which completes
  • compliment: flattery or praise
  • comprised of: don't use this construction
  • cooperation
  • coursework
  • cross-cultural
  • daylong
  • daytime
  • decision-making
  • degrees: B.A., M.A., Ph.D.; bachelor's degree, master's degree or doctorate, but MBA
  • effect (verb): to accomplish; (noun) a result produced
  • email
  • emeritus/emerita: When used in a title, use Jane Smith, emeritus professor of history. Avoid the use of "emerita."
  • enforce/reinforce
  • ensure: to guarantee or make safe
  • entitled: use when referring to a right to do or have something
  • excel
  • extracurricular
  • faculty: per Webster's New World Dictionary, "all the teachers of a school, college or university." Hence, use with singular verbs. Example: The Cal State Fullerton faculty supports the measure. If plural verb is desired, add the word members. Example: Some Cal State Fullerton faculty members are opposed to the measure.
  • farther: refers to physical distance
  • fundraiser, fundraising: one word, no hyphen
  • further: refers to extension of time or degree
  • grant-in-aid
  • gray
  • healthcare
  • homepage
  • hometown
  • insure: to establish a contract for insurance
  • interdisciplinary
  • internet 
  • interrelationship
  • its: possessive form of the pronoun
  • it's: the contraction of "it is"
  • judgment
  • lifelong
  • manageable
  • memento
  • midsemester
  • midterm
  • minuscule
  • multicultural
  • multidisciplinary
  • multilingual
  • nonmajor
  • nonminority
  • nonprofit or not-for-profit
  • nonresident
  • ongoing
  • online
  • percent
  • PK-12 (meaning pre-kindergarten through grade 12)
  • preprofessional
  • preschool
  • raffle: do not use
  • re-entry
  • residence halls: the correct description of student housing on this campus; do not use "dorms"
  • roommate
  • rooms: Humanities-Social Sciences Building, Room 123; Titan Student Union Portola Pavilion
  • semimonthly: twice a month
  • semiweekly: twice a week
  • sizable
  • sociocultural
  • socioeconomic
  • springtime
  • state: lowercase as state of California in news copy. Spell out names of states in copy and use comma after state name unless ending a sentence: Fullerton, California, is in Orange County.
  • statewide
  • summertime
  • theater-goer
  • Theatre and Dance: Theatre is preferred spelling for department name; theater in other uses
  • titled: use when referring to the name of an article, book, etc.
  • toward
  • tuition fees: mandatory systemwide fees; accurately describes student costs. Note: students are also charged campus fees
  • university: captialize only when it refers to California State University, Fullerton
  • universitywide
  • vice president
  • web page
  • website
  • weeklong
  • winter session (formerly intersession and lower case)
  • workday
  • workforce
  • workload
  • workweek
  • World Wide Web
  • worldwide
  • year-end
  • yearlong

Terms such as "lower division," "upper division," "on campus" and "off campus" are hyphenated in the adjective forms but are not hyphenated in the noun forms.

Example: Students live off campus because there is limited on-campus housing.

It is generally unnecesary to precede URLs, phone numbers, and email addresses in lists with "website:", "telephone:", or "email:". Readers can generally recognize these and don't need a written prompt. 

ACADEMIC DEGREES

Academic degrees are to appear as Name Year (degree subject-concentration).
Example: Jane Doe ‘17 (B.A. business administration-information systems) or Jane Doe ‘17 (M.A. psychology) or Jane Doe ‘11, ‘13 (B.A. physical education, M.S. kinesiology). Also see Capitalization (below). Avoid using Ph.D. (or use Ph.D., as per AP Style as noted) when possible. Use of doctorate is preferred in news content.

Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Business Administration: Abbreviated M.A., M.S. but MBA. A master’s degree is acceptable in any reference. (Avoid using only master’s, or bachelor’s)

 

 

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