Editorial Guidelines

Consider your audience when using abbreviations or acronyms. Whether you are writing internally or externally can determine what may be appropriate. Do not use abbreviations or acronyms on first reference if the reader will not quickly recognize them.

In the first reference, use an organization’s full name with an abbreviation or acronym in parentheses. Then, use only the acronym in subsequent references. Some widely-used acronyms, such as ROTC or HTML, are acceptable on first reference.

Commonly used acronyms

• BWC – Burns Wellness Commons
• CEA – Center for Equal Access
• CEL – Center for Experiential Learning
• CPTLL – Center for Professional Training and Lifelong Learning
• CTLA – Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
• FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid
• GEO – Graduate, Extended, and Online; acceptable for internal use only
• GPA – Grade point average; use GPA on first reference when used with figures
• HIPs – High-impact practices
• HSC – Health Science Center
• IACUC – Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
• IRB – Institutional Review Board
• MIAC – Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
• OP – Outdoor Pursuit
• POD Market – Provisions on Demand at Storm’s Den
• SAS – School of Arts and Sciences
• SHP – School of Health Professions
• CCNE – Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
• DMSc – Doctor of Medical Science
• DNP – Doctor of Nursing Practice
• DPT – Doctor of Physical Therapy
• MSOT – Master of Science in Occupational Therapy
• OTD – Doctor of Occupational Therapy
• PA Medicine — Master of Science in PA Medicine
• PBN – Post-Baccalaureate Nursing
• RN to BS
• tDPT – Transitional Doctor of Physical Therapy
• SSLBPS – Stender School of Leadership, Business, and Professional Studies
• CIS – Computer Information Systems
• CS – Computer Science
• EdD – Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership
• GTL – Graduate Teaching Licensure
• MEd – Master of Education
• UGB – Undergraduate Business
• TRIO – A group of outreach and student services programs
• TRIO SSS – TRIO Student Support Services
• UB – Upward Bound
• UBMS – Upward Bound Math and Science
• VRC – Veterans Resource Center

• Degrees should be abbreviated without periods and spaces.
  • Exception: Periods will be used when nursing faculty academic titles appear with others’ academic titles, for consistency.
• In a generic, informal setting, use the conversational form of the degree with an apostrophe and lowercase letters.
  • “Bachelor’s degree” or “bachelor’s” rather than “BA” or “BS”
  • Examples: I have a bachelor’s degree. She has a bachelor’s in English.
• “Master’s degree” or “master’s” rather than “MA” or “MS”
  • Examples: I have a master’s degree. She has a master’s in exercise physiology.
• “Doctoral degree” or “doctorate” rather than “PhD” or “EdD”
  • Examples: I have a doctoral degree. She has a doctorate in physical therapy.
• In more formal usages, write out and capitalize the degree and subject.
  • Examples: He received a Master of Business Administration. She received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry.
• Associate degree is neither possessive nor capitalized. Usage of AA is acceptable if there are space constraints.
• Doctorate is a noun; doctoral is an adjective. You may have a doctorate or a doctoral degree, but not a doctorate degree.
  • Exception: Our degree program is a “Doctor of Nursing Practice,” which is consistent with standards nationwide.

• Use lowercase for an academic subject when it is used as a general field of study.
  • Examples: She is interested in biology. St. Scholastica offers programs in physical therapy and exercise physiology.
• Capitalize an academic subject when used as a proper noun, especially in terms of a specific academic department at the College.
  • Examples: The Chemistry Department is housed in the Science Center. She is a professor of Health Information Management.
• Capitalize the name of a language or a specific course title.
  • Examples: She majored in math with a minor in French. He teaches Humanities 101.
• Department names – Use the name of the discipline first, and then “Department.”
  • Examples: Social Work Department, English Department, Marketing and Communications Department

It is important to ensure that content is accessible to all users, regardless of ability. Ensuring that all users can interact with content enriches the overall user experience.

• Alternative text (alt text) — Alt text provides context for images and should be concise, yet descriptive.
• Calls to action (CTA) — Ensure that your CTAs are straightforward and easy to understand, avoiding the use of jargon or complex terms.
• Emojis — While emojis can add personality to content, they should be used sparingly and thoughtfully. Avoid use in the middle of a sentence.
• Hashtags — CamelCase, the practice of capitalizing the first letter of each word, should be used for hashtags to improve overall readability.
• Links — Never use the phrase “click here.” Instead, you should hyperlink words in context; a link that reads “click here” offers the reader no idea what content they will be accessing. This also improves access for those who utilize adaptive technology, such as screen readers.
  • Example: “watch our latest video,” instead of “to watch the latest video, click here.”
  • All digital documents provided online must be made accessible before sharing with visitors.
  • Do not use http or www as a prefix. For instance, use css.edu rather than http://www.css.edu.

• Alum or alums is acceptable in all but the most formal contexts. The proper forms are:
  • Alumna – feminine singular
  • Alumnus – masculine singular
  • Alumni – plural, both masculine and feminine
  • Alumnae – plural, feminine only
• Use a St. Scholastica alum’s graduation year whenever possible, with at least two digits along with an outward-facing apostrophe. Undergraduate alumni are denoted with their graduation year; master’s-level and above include the degree. There should be no comma between the name and the year.
  • Examples: Michael Jones ’09; Joan Hanson (DPT ’24); Mary Smith ’74 (MBA ’01)
• Specific class – Use uppercase
  • Example: The Class of 2025
• General class – Use lowercase
  • Example: members of the junior class

Saints Athletics maintains four values to represent its brand. These values serve as the primary inspiration behind all athletic communications.

• Commitment
• Integrity
• Respect
• Sportsmanship

Acceptable brand names

• The College of St. Scholastica
• St. Scholastica
• St. Scholastica Athletics – Department name
• The Saints or Saints
• The St. Scholastica Saints
• CSS – As an abbreviation

Mascot

Storm is our beloved mascot and represents the determination and fighting spirit of St. Scholastica. Storm is intentionally:

• Not aggressive, but determined
• Not fierce, but focused
• Not intimidating, but proud
• Not vicious, but strong

Additional Athletics guidelines

• Team references – Maintain consistency with team references.
  • Capitalize only proper nouns (school names, specific team names), not general descriptors:
    • Lowercase “men’s” and “women’s”
    • Lowercase sport names (basketball, soccer, tennis)
    • Examples: St. Scholastica men’s basketball, Saints women’s soccer, the Saints women’s tennis team, Saints football, the St. Scholastica men’s hockey program
  • Capitalize the official team nickname (Saints)
  • As applicable, differentiate men’s and women’s teams. Use an apostrophe with an “s” for the possessive forms (men’s, women’s).
• Titles: Use uppercase when title precedes name and lowercase when name precedes title.
  • Examples: Head Coach Dan Szymczak; Dan Szymczak, head coach of Men’s Golf
    • In this instance, Men’s Golf is the equivalent of a department and should therefore be capitalized.

• Use “The College of St. Scholastica” upon first reference for outside publications. You can use “the College” or “St. Scholastica” in the second reference.
  • “St.” is not spelled out, and there is a period and space between the two words.
  • St. Scholastica, not “Scholastica”
• CSS – Not a preferred usage for identifying the College outside of athletics contexts. It is generic and could apply to many other institutions, eliminating our uniqueness in the marketplace and potentially causing confusion.
  • Exception: Give to CSS Day is correct as the official name of the College’s giving day.

The following boilerplate can be used in a variety of contexts. It can be shortened for space constraints or other specific contexts, but no additional content should be added. If you need additional guidance, contact Marketing and College Communications.

St. Scholastica is a private, independent college established in 1912 and founded in the Catholic Benedictine tradition. It is nationally recognized for quality and value. The U.S. News & World Report includes it on its Best National Universities and Top Performers on Social Mobility lists. The College is ranked on Money magazine’s “Best Colleges for your Money” list and Princeton Review’s list of Best Midwestern Colleges. A First Forward Institution, St. Scholastica, is recognized for developing new initiatives to support first-generation student success. The College’s six-year graduation rate is higher than the state, regional and national average, and Saints’ early post-graduation earnings are the highest in Minnesota, exceeding other graduates by over $11,000. Learn more at css.edu.

• “Campus” and “location” should not be used interchangeably due to federal and accreditation guideline definitions.
• St. Scholastica consists of:
  • Duluth – Kenwood is the main campus.
    • Examples: First-year students who attend the Duluth main campus live in Somers Hall. St. Scholastica’s Duluth main campus is situated on 80 acres.
  • Duluth Health Science Center – Woodland, an additional location.
    • The Health Science Center at BlueStone is considered an additional location.
  • St. Cloud is considered an additional location. (“Our location in St. Cloud…”)

Values

The following five values from the Catholic Benedictine tradition shape the community at St. Scholastica:

• Community
• Love of learning
• Hospitality
• Stewardship
• Respect

Note: “Values” is not capitalized in the phrase “Benedictine values;” individual values are not capitalized when used in sentences.

Abbreviations

• St. Scholastica Monastery (not “The St. Scholastica Monastery”)
• Sister – Use the Sister prefix, unabbreviated and capitalized, in all references, use first name only in second reference.
  • Examples: Sister Kathleen Del Monte; Sister Kathleen
• The Rev. – Use in first reference to a Catholic priest; second reference use is Father.
  • Examples: The Rev. Michael Schmitz; Father Michael Schmitz

• Alpha Chi (pronounced Alpha KI) – The green space between the ground floor entrance to Tower Hall and Somers Hall
• Anatomy Labs – Use “donor bodies” rather than “cadavers.”
• Arts + Ideas
• Benedictine Commons
• Board of Trustees – Upon first reference, use the full name and capitalize; second reference capped as “Board” or “Trustees.”
• Braegelman Program in Catholic Studies
• Buildings and residence halls (not “dormitories”)
  • Burns Wellness Commons
  • Cedar Hall
  • Health Science Center – Add the descriptor “at BlueStone” unless space or context makes it counterproductive.
  • Kerst Hall
  • Mitchell Auditorium
  • Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel
  • Pine, Maple, Willow, Birch Apartments
  • Scanlon Hall
  • Science Center
  • Somers Hall
  • Student Center
  • St. Scholastica Theatre – This refers both to the department and the building. Do not use “Little Theatre” in reference to the building.
  • Tower Hall
• Dean’s List – As a proper noun, this should always be capitalized.
• Dining
  • Beakers Café – Located in the Science Center
  • Greenview Dining Room – GDR acceptable in second reference
  • POD Market – Located on the ground floor of Tower Hall next to Storm’s Den
  • Seekers Café – Located in the Student Center
• Events
  • Advent Vespers
  • All Saints Alumni Reunion
  • August Adventures
    • CSO – Community Service Orientation
    • MLO – Multicultural Leadership Orientation
    • SOAR – Student Outdoor Adventure Retreat
  • Commencement
  • Community Day
  • Give to CSS Day
  • Homecoming
  • Lighting a Tradition
  • Welcome Weekend – Includes “Move-in Day”
• Fieldhouse
• Innovating Today for a Dynamic Tomorrow – The 2030 Strategic Plan
• IT Help Desk
• Kenny Harkins Field
• Manikin – A medical simulation device used for student training
• maurices Community Clinic (note the lower case “m” and lack of apostrophe on maurices)
• Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – MIAC acceptable in second reference
• my.CSS
• Nursing Simulation Center – May also be referred to as Nursing Sim Center; Simulation Center or Sim Center acceptable in second reference
• Nursing Simulation Lab – May also be referred to as Nursing Sim Lab; Simulation Lab or Sim Lab acceptable in second reference
• Physician Assistant/Associate (PA) — Physician Assistant is the legal name, whereas Physician Associate is used socially. It is best practice to use both titles together.
• P-Card
• Reif Gymnasium
• Saints Shop — No apostrophe (“Saint’s or Saints’) and should not be a “bookstore”
• Sandbulte Center for Ethical Leadership
• Science Lawn – Green space in front of the Science Center
• Somers Lounge
• Storm – The name of the College’s mascot
• Storm’s Den – The dining area in Tower Hall
• Storm’s Foyer – Seating area outside of Storm’s Den and the POD Market
• Student Union
• Campus and locations
  “Campus” and “location” should not be used interchangeably due to federal and accreditation guideline definitions.
• St. Scholastica consists of:
• Duluth – Kenwood is the main campus.
• Examples: First-year students who attend the Duluth main campus live in Somers Hall. St. Scholastica’s Duluth main campus is situated on 80 acres.
• Duluth Health Science Center – Woodland, an additional location.
• The Health Science Center at BlueStone is considered an additional location.
• St. Cloud is considered an additional location. (“Our location in St. Cloud…”)

• Preferred address format:
  The College of St. Scholastica
  1200 Kenwood Avenue
  Duluth, MN 55811
• Always use postal abbreviations, such as FL instead of Fla. This is a departure from AP style.
• Email signatures — The appropriate logo and step-by-step directions can be found online.
• Phone numbers should be formatted as 123-456-7890 (no parentheses for the area code).

Dates

• Dates — Use cardinal numbers, not ordinal; do not use letters.
  • Example: March 6 not March 6th, June 2 not June 2nd
• If the event is happening within the current calendar year, you don’t need to include the year.
• Short months that are never abbreviated are easy to remember since they are consecutive: March, April, May, June, July.
• When used without a specific date, spell out the month name
  • Examples: The training will be in January. Community Day is in October.
• Abbreviate long months only when a date is used.
  • Example: The training will be on Jan. 7.
• Do not abbreviate days of the week.

Time

• Times — Write out times of the day as numeral, space, and “a.m.” or p.m.”
• Don’t use double zeros – Use 1 p.m. instead of 1:00 p.m.
• Use “noon” instead of 12 p.m.; use “midnight” instead of 12 a.m.
• In situations where space is a concern, a hyphen without spaces (omitting the first “a.m.” or “p.m.” if both are the same) may be used instead of “to” to prevent confusing line breaks online.
  • Examples: 6-7 p.m.; 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
• If the event start and end times are both in the morning or afternoon, you don’t need to include a.m. or p.m. in both references.
  • Example: Refreshments will be served from 1 to 2 p.m.
• However, if the event does go from morning to the afternoon, a.m. and p.m. are needed for clarity.
  • Example: The conference will run from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
• Date and time formatting — Generally, use time-day-date sequence with flexibility depending on format or usage. For events, use the order time-date-location.
  • Examples: 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 22; 3 p.m. March 6 in the Benedictine Commons

The College of St. Scholastica is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer committed to creating an educational and work environment that is rich in diversity, inclusive and supportive of all students, faculty and staff. We recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, disability, veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law. To learn more about how St. Scholastica supports diversity and inclusion throughout the College, visit our Inclusive Excellence page.

• Headlines, subheads, and titles are generally written in sentence case, the practice of capitalizing only the first letter of the first word and any proper noun, instead of title case for ease of comprehension and legibility. Capitalize only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns.
  • Example: Students in the School of Arts and Sciences receive a well-rounded educational experience.
• In marketing and web contexts, short phrases that function as labels can be exceptions. Be guided by clarity and ease of comprehension.
  • Examples: For More Information or Meet Your Counselor
• Write compelling, specific headlines. A secondary headline can be helpful, especially one that clearly indicates the benefit of reading the content.
• In general, punctuation is not required at the end of a headline or subhead.

• Age – Always use a numeral
  • Examples: 5 days old, 100 years old
• Spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence: Two hundred fifty-two years. (Try to avoid starting a sentence with a number.) Otherwise, always use numerals rather than written-out numbers.
  • Exception: For nine and below, spell out the number except when using children’s ages
    • Examples: The course lasts eight weeks. The girl is 7 years old.
  • Exception two: For the website, use numerals in all cases except as the first word in a sentence.
    • Examples: The course lasts 8 weeks. Eight weeks is a standard online course term.
• Use a comma in numerals of one thousand and above (e.g., 1,000, 23,321) except for dates (the year 2020).
• In general, use numerals and the percent symbol instead of the word percent: “1%, 34%.”

The College adheres to Associated Press (AP) style guidelines, which differ from the American Psychological Association (APA) style used in academic contexts.

• Do not italicize or underline titles.
• Use quotation marks around the titles of books, movies, plays and other artistic creations.
  • Exception: the Bible and books that are primarily catalogs of reference material, such as almanacs, directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers, handbooks, and similar publications.
• For newspapers and magazines, capitalize the names but do not use quotes or italics.
• Ampersand (&) – Use an ampersand only when it is part of a company’s formal name or when space is a concern.
• Dashes and ellipses: Use an em dash (—) sparingly to separate and emphasize important information. With both dashes and ellipses, treat them like a word and include a space on either side.
• Serial (“Oxford”) comma – in a series of items, use a serial comma before the final “and” for increased clarity. This is a departure from AP style.
• Spaces – Each sentence should be followed by one space, never two.
• In general, don’t use periods at the end of short items in bulleted lists. Lists with longer entries can take the period — use your judgment and be consistent.

• Consider your audience. Much of our site is aimed at prospective students and visitors who are not familiar with our organizational structure, acronyms, or jargon. Help them feel included and guided through the site with accessible content.
  • Example: Instead of saying “The DPT program” upon first reference, say “The Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program.”
• All content should sound like it’s coming from The College of St. Scholastica.
  • Example: Instead of “Students in the social work program pursue four modes of intellectual inquiry” soften to “Our social work students focus on four main areas of study.”
• Your copy should motivate action, spark optimism, be articulate, and inspire pride.
• Utilize a call to action to invite more engagement with your content.
• Use contractions (it’s, you’re, we’re) to increase familiarity, develop connections, and feel inviting.
• Use active voice (“We are building the future” rather than “The future is being built by us”).
• Be direct and confident. Avoid filler or hesitation words like can, may, or might.
• Vary sentence length to ensure musicality of copy and to avoid sounding stiff or cold.
• Organize text with bullets and subheadings so readers who scan can find the information they want.

• Use uppercase when title precedes name and lowercase when name precedes title.
  • Examples: President Barbara McDonald; Professor Larry McGahey; Head Coach Dan Szymczak
  • Examples: Barbara McDonald, president of The College of St. Scholastica; Larry McGahey, professor of Chemistry; Dan Szymczak, head coach of Men’s Golf
• Academic titles are only used for a master’s degree or higher; use only a person’s highest degree attained. Other credentials, such as certifications, should not be used unless there is a compelling reason to do so.
  • Example: Elizabeth Jennings, PhD is correct; Elizabeth Jennings, MA, MBA, PhD is incorrect.
  • Dr. Larry Fenshue, PhD is redundant; use only PhD.
• Do not abbreviate titles unless space constraints force it (Prof., Assoc. Dir., etc.).
• Emeriti – Emeritus is singular; emeriti is plural. Capitalize if used before the name.
  • Examples: Larry Goodwin, president emeritus; Larry Goodwin and Bruce Stender, presidents emeriti; President Emeritus Bruce Stender
• President – Our president’s name and title are President Barbara McDonald, Ed.D. (Ed.D. is her preference and a singular exception)
  • Second reference can be President McDonald or Dr. McDonald.