All writing should be consistent with the key messages, themes, and style guide of the University.
This section outlines how to do just that. Here, you will find more information about messaging and tone, editorial style, and examples of how our brand story translates across channels.
Learn more in the following subsections:
Messaging and tone: An overview of the three brand pillars and the tone of communications
Naming: A summary of acceptable uses of the University name and other University names in the UNC System
Storytelling: Examples of how the brand story translates across different channels, from a print ad campaign to a social media post
Editorial style: A list of key editorial style guidelines for communications across all channels, as well as a top-10 list of the most important AP Style guidelines
TELLING THE BRAND STORY
MESSAGE AND TONE
UNCG is uniquely welcoming, tenaciously bold, inventive, and intellectual. Our messaging and tone should show these personality traits. Built upon the three brand pillars of opportunity, excellence, and impact, we share the UNCG story by highlighting individual stories of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff. These stories are conveyed with a tone that is bold, vibrant, and reflective of a diverse array of Spartans.
Our brand personality is reflected in How UNCG students, faculty and staff deliver the University’s brand promise every day. It is the humanization of our brand and what sets our communications apart from other universities.
In advertisements such as print ads and billboards, headlines should be brief, attention-getting, and brand-focused. Article headlines should be short and succinct – less than 54 characters. This is where the headline can draw the reader in and tease the message delivered in the body copy. Headlines are preferred to be third-person, but may be first-person when appropriate.
These stories come to life in the body copy of our marketing and communications. Body copy should be kept to three to five brief sentences that support the associated imagery and headline. Body copy can be either first-person or third-person, with the preference being the latter.
Brand imagery showcases Spartans in-action: in the classroom, the community, the lab, and across the globe.
Infographics provide engaging consumption of complex topics. The University offers a bank of branded icons for print and digital use – separate from web icons.
NAMING AND SYSTEM NAMES
From our name to how campus rooms and buildings are referred to, UNCG Spartans are accustomed to receiving communications in specific form. Below is a list of processes and tips to help meet Spartans’ expectations of consistent communications.
In our external communications, we will use UNC Greensboro primarily.We will use UNCG in internal communications on campus, and where reasonable.
UNC Greensboro is used on first reference in communications directed to individuals off campus, such as admissions materials to prospective students, email updates for parents/family, messages to alumni, advertisements, news releases for local media, UNC Research Magazine, etc.
UNCG is used on second reference in most instances. It is used on first reference for communications solely directed to individuals on campus, such as Campus Weekly stories, departmental flyers, campus emails, as well as on social media (given character limitations).
When referring to UNCG, University should be uppercase.
The University will be closed on Friday.
We will not use “The University of North Carolina at Greensboro” except in isolated, required situations. We want to maintain our connection to one of the country’s most well-respected state university systems while also emphasizing our own identity, “Greensboro” and the “G.”
1891 – 1897 State Normal and Industrial School
1897 – 1919 State Normal and Industrial College
1919 – 1932 North Carolina College for Women
1932 – 1963 Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina (WC)
1963 – present The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
UNCG is a UNC System institution. “System” should always be capitalized.
The full names of other universities are spelled out on first reference if they would not be immediately recognized by the audience.
First Reference
Second Reference
Appalachian State University
Appalachian or ASU
East Carolina University
ECU
Elizabeth City State University
ECSU
Fayetteville State University
FSU
North Carolina A&T State University
N.C. A&T
North Carolina Central University
NCCU
UNC School of the Arts
UNCSA
North Carolina State University
NC State
University of North Carolina at Asheville
UNC Asheville
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
UNC-Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
UNC Charlotte
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
UNC Pembroke or UNCP
University of North Carolina Wilmington
UNC Wilmington or UNCW
Western Carolina University
Western Carolina or WCU
Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State or WSSU
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
NCSSM
AP STYLE AND UNCG EXCEPTIONS
Generally, UNC Greensboro follows the “Associated Press Stylebook,” which is used by journalists. Academic papers might follow MLA or the Chicago Manual of Style, but UNCG has chosen AP for our publications because the style is familiar to a broad audience. While the guide includes AP style, we also have entries that are unique to UNCG, below.
When referring to graduates of UNCG, use the following: alumnus (singular, masculine), alumna (singular, feminine), alumnae (plural, feminine), alumni (plural, masculine, group of graduates when gender is not known)
On first reference, the graduation year should follow the name of the alumnus.
John Green ’56 (Please note the direction of the apostrophe)
Degree abbreviations after the graduation year are added only for graduate degrees, not undergraduate degrees. These abbreviations do have periods.If the graduate holds more than one degree from UNCG, list all years of graduation and give the abbreviation of any advanced degrees. All graduation years should be listed after the graduate’s name and the years should be separated by commas.
Mary Green ’56 M.A. (M.B.A., M.F.A.) Joe Green ’56 Ph.D. James Smith ’77, ’79 M.B.A.
Express room numbers in the following way:
Ferguson Building, Room 250
Use a comma between an unnumbered room and its building:
Alderman Lounge, Elliott University Center
“B” in building is capitalized when used with the structure’s name.
Use “the” to precede the Alumni House.
Do not use “the” in front of Elliott University Center or EUC, Jackson Library and residence halls.
Abbreviate West and Street when referring to 1100 W. Market St. Spell out West Market Street when referring to the street and not a specific address or building.
Express room numbers in the following way: Ferguson Building, Room 250.
Kaplan Commons is the accepted name (on all references) for the lawn in front of the Elliott University Center. EUC lawn can be placed in parentheses after Kaplan Commons for clarification.
MHRA Building is accepted on first reference for the Beverly C. and Irene M. Moore Humanities and Research Administration Building.
UNCG’s Millennial Campus consists of two districts: the Visual and Performing Arts Millennial District and the Health and Wellness Millennial District.
Some rooms and auditoriums across campus are named for individuals. Room numbers should not be used when referring to these named spaces.
Fountain View is the name of the dining facility on the second floor of Moran Commons. Moran Commons and Plaza refers to the building and the fountain area in front of the facility.
Minerva statue is the name of the statue in between the Elliott University Center and College Avenue. Similar to the Charles Duncan McIver statue and Spartan statue on campus, “statue” is lowercase. The full name for the facility is the Leonard J. Kaplan Center for Wellness. An acceptable abbreviated name for the facility is the Kaplan Center.
Capitalize all terms used to reference racial and ethnic identities, including “Black,” “White,” “Indigenous,” and “Brown.”
Dr. Smith Lee’s project aims to tell the stories of traumatic loss, resilience, and quests for economic mobility of young Black men in Baltimore.
Groups of people based on racial, tribal, or religious backgrounds (e.g., Hispanic, Muslim)
The word “class” when referring to a specific graduating class (e.g., the Class of ’48)
Position titles are only capitalized when they precede a name.
Professor of Biology Amy Adamson; Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Bob Shea Dr. Amy Adamson, professor of biology; Bob Shea, vice chancellor for Business Affairs
University units: boards, centers, committees, departments, institutes, programs, and schools when referring to a specific unit.
Academic units
On first reference, use the official name of academic departments. For example, Department of History. On second reference, “history department” is acceptable.
The following are academic programs, not departments:
African American and African Diaspora Studies Program Women’s and Gender Studies Program Environmental and Sustainability Studies Program Gerontology Program Archaeology Program Genetic Counseling Program
Do not capitalize:
Seasons (unless followed by a year – e.g., Spring 2008)
Academic disciplines, unless they are derived from a proper noun (e.g., French or English)
Professional titles after a name or alone (e.g., Debbie Storrs, provost, or “the provost talked about…”)
School, program, or center when it stands alone (e.g., “the center provides expertise in…”)
Degree titles: bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, doctoral degree, bachelor of science, bachelor of (fine) arts, master of (fine) arts, etc.)
Dr. Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. should be used on first reference. If “Chancellor” precedes his name, remove the “Dr.”
Dr. Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. is the chancellor of UNC Greensboro.
Chancellor Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. will give the keynote address. Chancellor Gilliam should be used on second reference.
A) Use en dashes in the place of a number of punctuation marks. Its main use is to convey an abrupt change of topic or thought. There should be one space on each side of the dash.
She is interested in biology and environmental science – although many people in the program prefer chemistry – and plans to pursue a graduate degree next fall.
While University Communications uses en dashes in this instance, em dashes (which some consider very long) are also acceptable.
B) Use an em dash for attribution. There should be one space between the dash and the individual’s name.
“The faculty in the Department of Biology gave me opportunities to conduct undergraduate research.”
— Student XYZ
An en dash is approximately the width of a capital letter N in the typeface being used. An em dash is approximately the width of a capital letter M.
To create an en dash or em dash on your computer:
In a MS Word doc, select Insert, then select Symbols and “Special Characters,” to select an en dash or em dash.
How to create using a keyboard shortcut:
Macs and PCs have different keyboard shortcuts for creating dashes.
En dash for Mac: option + minus sign
En dash for PC: control + minus sign in numeric keypad
Em dash for Mac: option + shift + minus sign
Em dash: control + alt + minus sign in numeric keypad
C) Use a hyphen between two or more words when they come before a noun they modify and act as a single idea (e.g., “a student-led organization”).
Exception: Adverbs that end in “ly” (a beautifully written story)
Use hyphens to indicate range.
7:30-10:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday Jan. 1-4
In some instances, to enhance readability, an en dash may be preferred.
10 a.m. – 2 pm.
Use bachelor’s degree and master’s degree (with apostrophes).
Use doctoral degree or doctorate, not doctor’s degree.
When abbreviated, degree titles are to be capitalized and include periods. For example, Chemistry, B.S.; Psychology, Ph.D.
Use a person’s last name on second reference (Exception: UNCG Magazine for alumni)
“Dr. Jones and Dr. Smith” is preferred to “Drs. Jones and Smith.”
Faculty teach; however, they are not to be referred to as teachers. Use correct titles.
Do not use professor as a title unless the person is a full professor. (Prof. is the correct abbreviation.)
Instructor is a title and should only be used for those who hold that rank.
Faculty is a collective noun that uses a singular verb.
The word “emeritus” (male) or “emerita” (female) follows “professor” for those retired faculty members who hold the rank. (e.g., He is a professor emeritus of history.)
For more information about titles, see Capitalization.
Telephone numbers shall be reflected with periods such as 336.334.5000
Use quotation marks (not italics) around the titles of books, book chapters, songs, television programs, computer games, poems, stories, essays, lectures, academic articles, speeches, works of art (paintings, drawings, sculptures), plays, presentations, musical compositions, and movies. Do not use quotations or italics around the names of magazine, newspapers, journals, the Bible, or books that are catalogues of reference materials.
Use Oxford commas, also known as serial commas, before the conjunction in a series. She brought pie, milk, and cookies to the party. The icing was red, white, and blue.
Put periods and commas inside an end quote. “Here we are,” he said. She replied, “Yes, that’s true.”
Use only one space after a period.
Course titles: do not place them inside quotation marks. (e.g., She registered for Chemistry 101)
Spell out states in all cases (no longer use abbreviations). United States is used as a noun; U.S. is used as an adjective.
Indicate decades without an apostrophe (1890s, 1970s). Use an apostrophe if numerals are left out (’90s, ’70s).
Spell out a month when it is used with and without a date (January 1979, the event is January 12). Do not use a comma between the month and year.
Place a comma after the year if the sentence continues (The events of April 19, 1775, will be remembered).
Use cardinal numbers to reference days of the month (August 12, not August 12th)
Always lowercase and include periods for a.m./p.m.
Use numerals for time: 5 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. (not five p.m. or 5 o’clock)
Always use the words “noon” or “midnight” instead of expressing the time as numerals (12 a.m., 12 p.m.)
Abbreviations on webpages
Abbreviations on web pages can help convey a message quickly and efficiently.
However, they can also be confusing, especially for first-time visitors who may not be familiar with your program. Additionally, abbreviations can cause confusion for visitors who have different accessibility needs and may be using adaptive technology.
In consultation with Accessibility Resources at UNCG, the following guidelines should be followed to ensure online content is available to all users:
Organizations, departments, programs, etc. should be spelled out on first reference. For example, the College of Arts and Sciences should be spelled out on first reference, and then CAS can be used on subsequent references if necessary.
Avoid less common techniques such as adding periods between letters or spelling phonetically, as these are not the generally accepted style and will probably be more confusing than helpful.
Keep your audience in mind. If there is a chance for confusion, take the time to provide clarification within the sentence or paragraph. Make sure to consider adaptive technology and test with screen readers and braille readers if possible.
