Style Guide

S

sabbatical

  • Sabbatical is a leave from normal employment responsibilities. Sabbatical leave is redundant.

 Saint, St.

  • Abbreviate with place names: St. Andrews Church.
  • For personal names, follow the individual’s preference: Louise Saint-Laurent.

 SAT

  • Stands for Scholastic Achievement Test. Use SAT without periods on second reference.

 schedule of classes

  • Capitalize when referring to a specific one: the Fall 2003 Schedule of Classes.
  • Lowercase in generic use: The course was deleted from the class schedule. He needs the schedule of classes.

 scholarship, fellowship

  • See award, fellowship, scholarship.

 schools

  • See names, schools.

 scientific names

  • Specific names of plants and animals are set in italics. The genus name is capitalized, but the species name is lowercased: Sequoiadendron gigantem.
  • Common names of plants and animals are written lowercase, and only proper nouns and adjectives are capitalized: Rocky Mountain sheep, English ivy.
  • Do not capitalize the names of laws, theorems or principles except for proper nouns that are part of the name: theory of relativity, Kepler’s laws, Newton’s laws of motion.
  • Do not capitalize the spelled-out names of chemical elements and compounds: iron, sulfuric acid. However, symbols are capitalized: H20.
  • Capitalize the names of asteroids, planets, satellites, stars and constellations: Big Dipper, Mars, North Star.
  • Capitalize the names of special astronomical objects, but do not capitalize generic words or descriptive terms: the Milky Way, the rings of Saturn, Andromeda galaxy, Biela’s comet.
  • Do not capitalize sun or moon.
  • The word earth is generally lowercase. Capitalize when used as the proper name of the planet: He is down to earth. Mercury is the planet closest to the sun, followed by Venus and then Earth.
  • Capitalize the names of eras and periods, but do not capitalize the words era and period: Nasserist era.
  • Do not capitalize the names of glacial and interglacial stages: fourth glacial stage.
  • Capitalize the term Ice Age, but do not capitalize age as a generic term.

 seasons

  • Lowercase when referring to a season: He entered in the fall semester. It gets cold in the winter.
  • Capitalize when part of a formal, specific name: Spring 2006 AUCToday, Summer Olympics.

 semesters

  • Do not capitalize names of academic semesters or terms: fall semester, except when followed by a year: Fall 2004 semester (no comma preceding the year).

 semiannual

  • Not biannual.

 senate

  • See University Senate.

senior

  • See classification, student.

 senior thesis, senior project

  • Lowercase; no hyphen.

 September 11, 9/11

  • Write either as September 11 (spell out month) or 9/11. Both are acceptable on first and subsequent references: The September 11 attacks were a shock to the United States.

 sequence

  • A sequence is two or more courses which must be taken in sequence. Do not use sequence to mean an academic discipline or core courses.

 series

  • See appendix 2, punctuation.

 serve, service

  • Both words can be used as verbs, but serve applies better to people and service to machines: The university’s aim is serve its students better. The technician will service the photocopier.

 service learning (n.), service-learning (adj.)

  • The committee’s emphasis is on service learning (n.).The university is increasing its emphasis on service-learning courses (adj.).

 ships/spacecraft

  • Italicize the names of spacecraft, planes, ships and trains: Challenger space shuttle.

 since

  • Avoid using as a synonym for because. Use since for time purposes: Students have learned 10 new mathematical models since the semester started.

 singular/plural words

  • Always consult dictionary. Examples include:
    • Criterion, criteria
    • Phenomenon, phenomena
    • Medium, media
    • Memorandum, memorandums
    • Forum, fora
    • Symposium, symposia

 size

  • Not sized: a small-size class.

 slash

  • Use the slash to indicate alternatives, not combined ideas: drop/add, pass/fail.

 slogan

  • Academic departments and offices at AUC cannot adopt specific slogans.

 Social Security number

  • Capitalize Social Security only. Do not capitalize number, tax or office: American students have a Social Security number. I contacted the Social Security office to solve my problem.
  • Avoid SS# and the redundant SSN#.

 sophomore

  • See classification, student.

spacing

  • Leave one space after periods, commas, semicolons or any other punctuation.

 spelling

  • Consult The American Heritage Dictionary, fourth edition for spelling and word breaks. Use American English spelling.

 spokesman, spokeswoman

  • Use spokesperson instead.
  • See appendix 3, nondiscriminatory language.

 sports

  • Do not capitalize the names of sports such as soccer or volleyball, even when the sport is preceded by the name of the school: AUC volleyball team.
  • For sports in which both men and women compete, the gender of the team must always be specified on first reference: women’s basketball, men’s tennis.
  • When referring to varsity teams, do not identify gender when the university has only one gender represented in that varsity sport.
  • Do not use girls or ladies to refer to women’s teams; use women. Do not use boys to refer to men’s teams; use men.

 staff, staff members

  • Staff (singular) refers to a group. Staff members (plural) refers to individuals.
  • Staff members is preferred to staff.

 state names

  • Always spell out state names in running text, both when they stand alone or when used in conjunction with a city or town: He visited California in the summer. She was raised in Miami, Florida.
  • In running text, place a comma between the city and the state name. Spell out the state name: She traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, then to Nashville, Tennessee.
  • In U.S. addresses, abbreviate state names when used in conjunction with the name of a city, town, village, or military base: New York, NY. Consult The AP Stylebook for proper state abbreviations.
  • Do not capitalize the word state:
    • Incorrect: State of Oregon.
    Correct: state of Oregon.

 student club

  • See clubs.

 student employment

  • Not work study.

 student-faculty ratio

  • Always express as student-faculty ratio, not faculty-student ratio (Larger number stated first, then smaller number).

 student level

  • See classification, student.

 student teacher (n.), student-teacher (adj.)

  • Use student teacher (two words, no hyphen) as a noun; hyphenate when used as an adjective.  

Student Union

  • Capitalize Student Union.
  • Use SU on second reference.

 study abroad (n.), study-abroad (adj.)

  • Use study abroad, not overseas program. Study abroad (n.) is a useful experience. She is a study-abroad (adj.) student.

 sub-

  • No hyphen in sub-constructions: subdiscipline, subspecialty unless the word following sub- is a proper noun: sub-Saharan. Exception: sub-unit.

 subjects

  • Lowercase: history, biology, computer science. Capitalize when proper nouns: Middle East studies, English literature or when stating the full, formal name of the department: Department of History.

 suffixes

  • Consult The American Heritage Dictionary, fourth edition. If a word combination is not listed, use two words for the verb form. Hyphenate any noun or adjective forms.

 symposium, symposia

  • Symposium is singular; symposia is plural.