Writing Style Guide

We are Santa Fe College (SF).

Prior to 2009, we were Santa Fe Community College (SFCC). When we started offering Bachelor's degrees, that changed. At that point, we became Santa Fe College, and our official abbreviation became SF.

We are Santa Fe College or SF. We are not SFC, SFCC, Santa Fe or SF College.

• When posting on social media, it is acceptable to use the hashtag #SFCollege.
• SF Athletics occasionally uses Santa Fe Saints.

So unless you are using a hashtag or referring to an athletic team, stick with Santa Fe College or SF!

Publications that represent Santa Fe College (College News articles, web content, social media posts, brochures, press releases, etc.) should be written using the Associated Press Stylebook ("AP Style"), the Webster’s New World Dictionary, and the customized SF style that follows:

A

academic advisor: Lowercase.

academic degrees: Use an apostrophe in bachelor’s and master’s, but no apostrophe in associate or doctorate. Capitalize, without an apostrophe when referring to a specific degree such as, Bachelor of Science in nursing or an Associate in Arts. Lowercase when standing alone such as, an associate degree. Abbreviate with periods and no spaces for all degrees including: A.A., A.S., B.A.S., B.S., Ph.D., B.F.A., M.F.A. and M.B.A..

accredit, accredited, accreditation: Recognition that an educational institution maintains specific standards. Avoid saying fully accredited since partial accreditation is not possible.

advisor: Preferred spelling, though adviser is also correct.

administration: Lowercase and spelled out (not admin) when not part of a proper name.

alumnus: An alumnus (alumni in the plural) is a man who has attended SF. An alumna (alumnae in the plural) is a woman who attended SF. Alumni references men and women collectively. If uncertain of the correct term, just refer to the person as a graduate.

ampersand (&): Do not use in place of the word "and." The ampersand is only acceptable as part of a proper name. Marketing & Communications.

Andrews Center: SF’s educational center located in Starke, Florida.

annual: An event cannot be described as annual until it has been held in at least two successive years. Do not use the term first annual, use inaugural instead.

assistant/associate, vice president, director: Lowercase in most cases. Capitalize only when preceding a person’s name. Do not abbreviate. She is an associate vice president. Associate Vice President Jane Doe spoke to the faculty.

associate: When used to refer to the degree never use a possessive form. Lowercase when standing alone.

Associate in Applied Science: Abbreviate A.A.S. with periods after the letters. Capitalize Associate in Applied Science when spelled out. Note that science is singular, not plural.

Associate in Arts: Abbreviate A.A. with periods after the letters. Capitalize Associate in Arts when spelled out.

Associate in Science: Abbreviate A.S. with periods after the letters. Capitalize Associate in Science when spelled out. Note that science is singular, not plural.

B

baccalaureate: Due to multiple definitions, this term should be avoided so as not to confuse the reader. When referring to the degree, use bachelor’s degree.

Bachelor of Applied Science: Abbreviate B.A.S. with periods after the letters. Capitalize Bachelor of Applied Science when spelled out. Note that science is singular, not plural.

Bachelor of Science: Abbreviate B.S. with periods after the letters. Capitalize Bachelor of Science when spelled out. Note that science is singular, not plural.

bachelor’s degree: Use an apostrophe and the word degree or program when referring to degrees in general. Avoid using bachelor’s alone in a sentence. Always follow with degree when not part of a direct quote.

Bat Cave: The W. Harvey Sharron, Jr. Geological Studies Field Station. A geological site managed by Santa Fe College's Natural Sciences Department.

Blount Center: SF’s educational center located in downtown Gainesville. Refer to only by its proper name, Blount Center, not downtown center.

buildings: Always capitalize the names of buildings, such as the SF Fine Arts Hall, and use full name on first reference. When referring to SF buildings by letter, the letter comes last, as in Building P. Building and room combinations can be written as Building P, Room 238 or P-238. For certain publications, it may be important to note that all SF rooms numbers have three digits. But, sometimes 0 is silent. Like in R-001. (Pronounced ar-oh-one).

C

campus: The only SF location referred to as a campus is the Northwest Campus. All other locations are centers.

campus building names: there are several buildings on the Northwest Campus with names:

• Lawrence W. Tyree Library: Building Y
• Charles L. Perry Center Construction Institute: Building O
• James L. Wattenbarger Student Services Building: Building S
• Joseph W. Fordyce Building: Building R
• Alan R. Robertson Administration Building: Building F

capitalization: Do not capitalize words to emphasize their importance. Terms and seasons (spring, summer, winter and fall) are not capitalized. Names of languages are capitalized in all use. Refer to the AP Stylebook for specific instances not addressed here.

chair: Not chairman, chairwoman or chairperson.

college: Lowercase in all uses unless specifically Santa Fe College.

composition titles: Place magazine book titles in italics. Use quotation marks around magazine and newspaper articles, visual art, movie titles, play titles, song titles and titles of lectures and speeches. Do not use quotation marks or italicize event titles.

course number: No space after the letters, and the letters are capitalized, as in ENC1101 or ENC1102.

course work: Two words.

courtesy titles (Mr., Ms., Mrs., etc.): Do not use courtesy titles. Refer to both men and women by first and last name on first reference, and by last name only thereafter.

D

dash: Equivalent of two hyphens. Use to denote an abrupt change in thought or an emphatic pause. On Mac, type Shift-Option-Hyphen. On PC, type two hyphens.

dates: Use Arabic figures without st, nd, rd or th.

Davis Center: SF’s educational center located in Archer, Florida.

days: Day names should be spelled out completely: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. Never abbreviate unless they are used in tabular form. Use M-T-W-H-F-S-U for class schedules when necessary. When writing out a complete date for an event, it is always day, month date, year (Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017). The only exception to this rule is on X (fka Twitter) where characters are limited. See also entries for month, times

department, division or center: Capitalize as part of formal names. Lowercase when used alone to refer to a particular department.

E

educational centers: Andrews Center, Blount Center, Davis Center, Kirkpatrick Center, Open Campus, Perry Center for Emerging Technologies, Watson Center.

emeritus: Honorary title of someone retired from an office or position.

eSantaFe: Use a lowercase e.

exclamation marks: Don’t use exclamation marks, except to show extreme emotion. Try not to use them in headings or more than once on a page.

F

faculty: A collective noun that takes on the singular form. Correct usage: The faculty is meeting at 3 p.m. -or- The faculty members are meeting at 3 p.m.

fast track: Hyphenate when used as a verb. Fast-track your education at SF. As a noun, two words. She is on the fast track to promotion.

Fine Arts Hall: Known as FAH or the Santa Fe College Fine Arts Hall, do not use Santa Fe Fine Arts Hall.

FL: Postal code abbreviation used only in a mailing address. Spell out Florida in text, or abbreviate Fla. in datelines or when otherwise necessary.

flier, flyer: Flyer is the preferred term for a person flying in an aircraft, and for handbills: He used his frequent flyer miles; they put up flyers announcing the show. Use flier in the phrase take a flier, meaning to take a big risk.

foreign: Avoid using. For foreign language, just say language. For foreign students, say international students. Multicultural is also a useful descriptor.

full time: Hyphenate only when used as an adjective. He is a full-time teacher. Two words in all other uses. She goes to school full time -or- The job is full time.

G

GPA: Acceptable on all references. Capitalize and do not use periods.

H

hands-on: Hyphenate only when used as an adjective. Students get hands-on experience

health care: Two words unless part of a formal name.

honors: Lowercase unless part of a proper name. Also lowercase cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude.

I

inaugural: First in a projected series. Use inaugural when tempted to say first annual.

instructor: Lowercase in all usages.

intramural: Competitive units within the confines of a single community or institution.

internet: Lowercase.

J

junior, senior, II, III: A comma does not precede Jr., Sr., II, III, or any other such numerals following a person’s name.

juris doctor: Lowercase when referencing the degree. Capitalize with periods when abbreviating as J.D.

K

kickoff: As a noun, one word. The kickoff is at noon. As a verb, kick off is two words. We will kick off the campaign.

Kirkpatrick Center: SF’s educational center located in East Gainesville. The Kirkpatrick Center is home to SF’s Institute of Public Safety (IPS).

M

main campus: Do not use. Refer to SF’s main campus by name as the Northwest Campus.

manikin: Anatomical representations of the human form used for training in health sciences.

money/moneys/monies: Say funds instead of money or moneys. SF prefers monies as the plural spelling when necessary, though moneys is also correct.

months: When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. The months March, April, May, June and July are written out completely. See also entries for days, times

N

nonresident: One word, no hyphen.

North Central Florida: Each word is capitalized when used as a specific region.

Northwest Campus: Always capitalize.

numbers: One through nine are spelled out, 10 and above are Arabic numerals. Spell out a number that is at the beginning of a sentence unless it is a calendar year.

O

Open Campus: SF’s virtual educational center, offering online courses.

P

part time: Hyphenate only when used as an adjective. He is a part-time instructor. Two words in all other uses. She goes to school part time -or- The job is part time.

percent: One word, spelled out. Do not use the symbol.

Perry Center for Emerging Technologies: SF’s educational center located in Alachua, Florida. Programs offered at the Perry Center focus specifically on emerging technologies.

phone numbers: Place hyphens, not parentheses or periods, between number groups. Example: 352-395-5000 or 1-800-395-5000. For numbers with extensions use the format 352-395-5000, ext. 4.

podcast: One word. Lowercase.

post-secondary: Hyphenated, as in post-secondary education.

preprofessional: One word, no hyphen.

prerequisite: One word, no hyphen.

Q

quotation marks: Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks.

R

résumé: Two accent marks. Also may be used with no accent marks if necessary.

rooms: See buildings.

roundtable: One word when used as a conference or discussion.

S

SACSCOC: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, formerly SACS.

Saints: The college’s formal athletic name. Capitalize when referring to the SF Saints. Note there is no apostrophe in Saints Sports because Saints is not possessive.

Santa Fe: A city in New Mexico. For consistent branding, refer to the college as Santa Fe College, or by its acronym, SF. Exceptions are when Santa Fe is part of an already identified brand name: Santa Fe Singers, Sustainable Santa Fe, Dance Theatre of Santa Fe, Theatre Santa Fe.

Santa Fe College: Never abbreviate a single word or portions of the college’s name — always choose between Santa Fe College, SF or the college. Websites are written in lowercase, even when containing a title or an acronym such as sfcollege.edu.

school: School can be used to refer to SF, but limit use as college is the preferred term.

semester: Use term instead; fall, spring, summer, flexterm are lowercase.

SF: Use SF in place of Santa Fe College on second reference or for in-house publications on first reference. Always capitalize SF. Never separate or punctuate the letters. Use in text alternately with the full college name. Never refer to the college as SFC or Santa Fe.

SFID: The abbreviation for the Santa Fe College identification card or number for students, faculty and staff.

smartphone: One word.

spring break: Lowercase.

staff: A collective noun that takes on the singular form. The staff is meeting at 10 a.m. -or- The staff members are meeting at 10 a.m.

state names: In body copy, write out the full state name. Use the two-letter postal code abbreviations only with full addresses that include ZIP codes.

state: Capitalize the word state only when part of a name, such as State University System. Do not capitalize when referring to the state of Florida unless it’s part of a formal name.

state-of-the-art: Hyphenate as an adjective, such as state-of-the-art facility. Do not hyphenate when following the subject, as in our facility is state of the art.

T

term: Term is preferred over semester.

textbook: One word.

theatre and theater: Use the formal spelling for SF’s formal entities (Dance Theatre Santa Fe), but theater in all other references.

time of day: Use Arabic numerals except for noon and midnight, which are to be spelled out, lowercase, without numerals. Double zeroes are not necessary. Also, a.m. and p.m. should always be lowercase and include periods. Use 9 AM only when design would be compromised by lowercase, never in body copy. Correct: 11 a.m. Incorrect: 11:00am. See also entries for days, months

titles: Capitalize academic and business titles, such as provost or chair, when used immediately before a name. Lowercase formal titles when used after a name. Capitalize areas of study, but not stand-alone job titles.

toward: Never add an s. Same goes for backward, forward, upward and downward.

transfer, transferred, transferring: But transferable (with one "r" at the end).

T-shirt: Not tee shirt.

U

underserved: One word.

U.S.: The abbreviation is acceptable as a noun or adjective for United States. In headlines, it’s US (no periods).

USA: Has no periods.

V

versus: Spell it out in ordinary speech and writing. In short expressions, the abbreviation vs. is permitted. For references to court cases, use v.

viewbook: One word. A marketing publication usually with many images and little text.

W

Watson Center: SF’s educational center located in Keystone Heights, Florida.

Web: Web addresses: Do not capitalize, underline or italicize. At the end of a sentence, follow with a period. Reconstruct the sentence to avoid confusion if you prefer.

website: One word, lowercase.

wide: Usually hyphenated, as in wide-angle, wide-awake; exception: widespread.

work-study: Hyphenate when used as a noun.

Y

years: Do not use an apostrophe for spans of years such as decades–write 1950s, 1990s, etc. It is acceptable to start sentences with numerals for years (the only exception to starting a sentence with numerals).

year-to-date: Use hyphens.

Additional college vocabulary can be found in the Santa Fe College Student Handbook, located in the Academic Catalog.