Division of Advancement & Alumni Editorial Style Guide

*This guide is meant to supplement, not replace, existing style guides by addressing specific preferences and nuances related to fundraising and alumni engagement.

Effective communication is the lifeblood of the Division of Advancement and Alumni. Whether we are reaching out to donors, alumni, prospective students or other external audiences, the way we communicate speaks volumes about our university and its values. That’s why we must maintain consistent editorial standards in all our communications, from press releases to fundraising appeals to social media posts.

Adhere to the University of Houston editorial style guide when writing for the Division of Advancement and Alumni, reflecting the University's values and building trust with external audiences. Based on AP Style, it ensures all written communication is on-brand, concise and maintains editorial standards across various channels, contributing to a cohesive and trustworthy University image.

The dictionary of choice for writing is the Webster's New World College Dictionary. For more information about this guide or requested additions, please contact Jillian Holden in the Engagement Communications team at: jlholden@central.uh.edu.

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Avoid alphabet soup. Spell out the full name on first reference unless the acronym is well known (e.g., NCAA, SAT, NASA). Do not follow the full name of an entity with an abbreviation or acronym in parentheses or set off by dashes. If it is necessary to use an acronym, capitalize all the letters and spell without periods. Use periods in most two-letter abbreviations: U.S., U.K., B.A., M.A.

The acronym should be obvious to the reader, and when pluralized, only an “s” should be added (M.B.A.s). 

For more information, click here.

Academic Honors

Do not italicize summa cum laude, magna cum laude and cum laude.

Addresses

Abbreviate only the words Avenue, Boulevard and Street when used with a numbered address.

Ex: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., 12 Smith Road, Mars and Park avenues

Adviser

Use adviser unless naming an official job title. Tom went to a financial adviser for economic advice. Tom, undergraduate advisor, has worked at UH for 10 years. 

Affiliated Alumni Associations

Affiliated alumni associations are referred to as shared interest groups, not affinity groups.

Ages

Always use figures for ages, and use hyphens in age descriptions before the subject. Example: the 5-year-old student, but the student is 5 years old. 

If the context does not supply years or years old, the figure is presumed to be years. The woman is in her 30s (no apostrophe). The boy, 7, has a sister, 10 months old. Lucy celebrated her 6th birthday at the park.  

For more information, click here. 

Alumni

Alumnus / Alumna / Alumni / Alumnae

Use gendered and plural forms correctly:

• Alumnus - singular male

• Alumna - singular female

• Alumni - plural or gender-inclusive group

• Alumnae - plural female group

Do not use alum or alums in formal writing.

For more information, click here.

Alumni Designations

A UH alumnus/a is defined as someone who:

• Mike Pedé (’89) - Undergraduate degree from UH
• Joe Smith (M.B.A ’92) - Graduate degree with abbreviation
• Suzie Jones (’85 J.D. ’88) - Dual degrees from UH
• Barbara Collins (FS ’72) - Former student, no degree
• John May (C ’99) - Certificate recipient
• Carl Jones (UHD ’89, UHD M.B.A. ’94) - Dual degrees from UHD
• Sarah Hall (UHD ’89, UHCL M.A. ’94) - Degrees from multiple UH System universities
• Margarita Barcenas (UHD ’92, M.B.A. ’03) - Undergraduate from UHD, graduate from UH
• Sue (’85) and Pat Clark - Only one spouse is a UH graduate
• Patty (’92) and Bob (’92, Ph.D. ’98) Gibbs - Both are UH alumni

Quick Guidelines:

• List degrees in chronological order
• Use an apostrophe facing outward and two-digit year: (’92)
• Abbreviate graduate degrees and place them before the year: e.g., M.Ed. (’92), M.B.A. (’92), J.D. (’92), Ph.D. (’92)
• Place the alumni designation after the name and within parentheses
• Always capitalize "Former Student" and "Certificate Graduate" abbreviations (FS, C)

Always apply alumni year formatting in name tags, donor rolls, websites and formal publications. Avoid abbreviating "alumni" as alum or alums in any official or written materials.

Ampersand

Only use “&” when part of a proper name or a company’s official name. Otherwise, spell out the word "and." Example: AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, Division of Advancement and Alumni.

For more information, click here.

Annual

An event must take place two years in a row before it can be called annual. Do not use “first annual,” instead use “inaugural.”

Award

Only capitalize the word “award” when it is part of the official name of the award. 

Ex: The professor won the Esther Farfel Award. She won an NSF CAREER award.

Buildings

Buildings should be referenced by their official names:

• Albert and Mamie George Building
• Athletics/Alumni Center
• Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility
• Bert F. Winston Band Complex
• Blaffer Art Museum
• Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium
• Cougar Softball Stadium
• Dave Williams Golf Academy
• Don Sanders Field at Darryl & Lori Schroeder Park
• Durga D. and Sushila Agrawal Engineering Research Building
• Ezekiel W. Cullen Building
• Fertitta Center
• Football Operations Center (for second reference, use “the center” or “the facility”)
• Guy V. Lewis Development Facility (basketball)
• Houston Baseball Player Development Center
• Indoor Practice Facility (football)
• Isabel C. Cameron Building
• John M. O’Quinn Law Building
• LeRoy and Lucile Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting
• LeRoy and Lucile Melcher Hall
• Michael J. Cemo Hall
• Moores Opera Center
• Roy G. Cullen Building
• TDECU Stadium
• Tom Tellez Track at the Carl Lewis International Complex (soccer/track and field)
• Yeoman Fieldhouse (track and field)

Campus

The University of Houston has several instructional sites, such as UH at Sugar Land and UH at Katy; however, it should not be referred to as the Sugar Land campus. They are instructional sites. Do not refger to the University of Houston as the "main campus."

Chancellor/President

Refer to UH President Renu Khator as Chancellor of the University of Houston System and President of the University of Houston, including Chancellor only in UHS references or roles. If both titles are used, Chancellor is always first. Never refer to her as Dr. Khator or without a title.

Colleges, Schools and Departments

For information about the official names of colleges, schools and departments and how to reference them, click here. 

Commas

Do not use the Oxford comma. In a simple series, there is no comma before “and” and “or.” Example: red, green, orange and blue.

Use commas to separate degrees with “and” in the name to minimize confusion. Ex: They took exams in algebra, science, music theory and application, and psychology. 

For more information, click here.

Coog

The UH abbreviation for Cougar, the UH mascot. Generally, avoid use of the Coog abbreviation in external publications. It is likely most appropriate in external publications. It is likely most appropriate for social media and select internal or alumni communications. Popular social media hashtags using the abbreviation are #ForeverCoog, referring to a UH alumnus or alumni, and #GoCoogs.

Yes: Julia Garza is a proud Coog!

Yes: Go Coogs!

No: The coogs rallied to win the big game.

No: Go Cougs!

Couples

When listing alumni couples for donor lists, be sure to note only UH degrees. When listing same-sex and heterosexual couples, if both are alumni, start with the name of the person who graduated first. If only one member is a UH graduate, list that person’s name first. If neither person graduated from UH, use alphabetical order.

Currency

For dollar amounts, use the dollar sign and a figure, such as $4 and $400. For amounts totaling a million and above, follow these examples: $1 million, $200 million, $4.35 million (two digits), $10 billion. Abbreviate to $4M, $1.5B in headlines.

For more information, click here.

Degrees

Lowercase bachelor’s degree and master’s degree but capitalize a specific degree, such as Bachelor of Arts in English or Master of Science in chemical engineering. Also acceptable: He will receive his B.A. this fall.

Use the following to identify UH undergraduate alumni and the year they graduated in publications and lists: Bill Smith (’99). Note: The apostrophe faces outward. For those who earned a master’s degree at UH, use (M.S. ’99), and for those who received both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees at UH, use (’97, M.S. ’99). Be sure to list degree years in chronological order and to only list those received from UH System universities. Former UH students who did not graduate but have at least 30 credit hours are considered alumni and may be acknowledged with "F.S." and the year they last attended UH (F.S. ’94). To view the complete list of academic degree acronyms, visit the UH editorial standards webpage.

Use the term doctoral degree or doctorate, not doctorate degree. Use degree abbreviations after full names, such as Susan Ortega, Ph.D. Use Dr. in first reference as a formal title only before the name of an individual who is active as a doctor of dental surgery, doctor of medicine, doctor of optometry, doctor of osteopathic medicine, doctor of podiatric medicine or doctor of veterinary medicine. Do not use Dr. before the names of individuals who hold other types of medical or professional degrees. Instead: John Smith, who has a doctorate in science, was lead researcher.  

Division of Advancement and Alumni's Abbreviations and Departments

Division of Advancement and Alumni, for second reference use AA.

If you refer to the Division of Advancement and Alumni as "the Division" or "our Division," capitalize "Division."

The Division's departments:

• Advancement Business Operations Services
• Advancement Operations
• Alumni Relations
• Constituent Engagement
• Development
• Office of Vice Chancellor/Vice President for Division of Advancement and Alumni
• Strategic Initiatives and Leadership Gifts

Donor Societies

Ezekiel W. Cullen Society — Recognizes and celebrates UH’s most generous individual donors, those whose lifetime of giving reaches a minimum of $250,000

In Tempore Legacy Society — UH System’s community of planned giving donors, honoring those who have included UHS in their estate plans through a bequest, life income arrangement or other charitable provision

Email Addresses

When listing email addresses, use lowercase letters for the entire address. For example: johnsmith@central.uh.edu Be sure to use “central” in all addresses.

Email Formalities

When referring to two colleagues in an email, it is important to maintain a formal tone to show respect to both parties. This formality should be upheld in all forms of communication, including briefings and correspondence. Even if you have a formal relationship with one party and an informal one with the other, it is advisable to always choose the formal approach. For example, instead of saying “Dear Eloise and Dean Baynes,” it is more appropriate to say, “Dear Vice President Brice and Dean Baynes.”

It is always respectful to refer to donors and volunteers formally until you know them better or have been invited to address them informally.

Email Signatures

Your email signature should look like this:

The font type and size should be Trebuchet, 10 point. The color should be black, except for University of Houston.

Also include the confidentiality notice due to the information we work with: 

Confidentiality Notice: The information in this email may be confidential and/or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, any review, dissemination or copying of this email and its attachments, if any, or the information contained herein is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the sender by returning this email and deleting this email from your computer.

For more information about email signatures, click here.

You may also use the email signature generator that you can find here.

Endowed Faculty Titles

Capitalization:

Always capitalize formal titles of named professorships on all references: 

• Agnes Lee DeFranco, Ed.D., has been named the Conrad N. Hilton Endowed Chair.
• Renee Knake Jefferson, Larry and Joanne Doherty Endowed Chair in Legal Ethics, received the award.
• Andrew J. Kudless, Bill Kendall Memorial Endowed Professor in Architecture and Design, gave the lecture.

Capitalize the principal words in the endowed professor title. This includes nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Examples of principal words include "Endowed," "Professor" and any specific names or titles associated with the endowed chair or professorship.

Do not capitalize the terms endowed chair or endowed professor/professorship when used as a common noun in a sentence without referring to a specific endowed fund. Example: We are raising money to fund endowed professorships.

Do capitalize the terms endowed chair or endowed professor/professorship when used as a proper noun in a sentence referring to a specific endowed fund.

• Thank you for your generous donation to fund the Dr. Kenneth L. Lay Endowed Professorship in the Department of Economics.
• David Ashley White, DMA, C.W. Moores, Jr. Endowed Professor of Music, earned degrees from the University of Houston and The University of Texas at Austin.

Punctuation:

Follow a name with the abbreviation of the appropriate degree, set off by commas, and then their endowment title, set off by commas, then the remainder of the sentence:

• Theresa J. Rebeck, Ph.D., Lyndall Finley Wortham Endowed Chair in the Performing Arts, is a great American playwright, and she's actively working as a writer.
• Ruiwen Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., Robert L. Boblitt College Endowed Professor of Drug Discovery, conducts research on targeting tumor suppressors for cancer therapy and prevention.

Usage:

Always use full chair title after a person's name.

• Yes — David H. Papell, Ph.D., holder of the Joel W. Sailors Endowed Professorship in Economics
• Yes — David H. Papell, Ph.D., Joel W. Sailors Endowed Professor in Economics, is active at UH.
• No — Joel W. Sailors Endowed Professorship in Economics holder David H. Papell, Ph.D.
• No — Joel W. Sailors Endowed Professor in Economics David H. Papell, Ph.D.

• Prof., Endow. Chr., Pres. Priority

Always use full chair title on first reference.

On subsequent reference, you may refer to a professor by:

• Last Name: Smith rescheduled class for tomorrow.
• Professor Last Name: Professor Smith rescheduled class for tomorrow.
• Dr. Last Name (Only if a doctor of dental surgery, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatric medicine or veterinary medicine): Dr. Smith rescheduled class for tomorrow. Use the title Dr. only once in the reference of an individual when referring to a medical doctor.

• Yes — Theresa J. Rebeck, Ph.D., Lyndall Finley Wortham Endowed Chair in the Performing Arts
• No — Theresa J. Rebeck, Lyndall Finley Wortham Endowed Chair in the Performing Arts, Ph.D.
• No — Theresa J. Rebeck Lyndall Finley Wortham Endowed Chair in the Performing Arts, PhD

Endowed chairs or professorships should be listed before other titles in signature lines and biographies.

For a full list of Endowed Faculty and their titles, click here.

Events

Can be referred to as networking or gathering, not mixer. For additional information about such subjects as invitations and RSVPs, please visit this event style guide website.

Faculty

It is a singular noun for a collective group of people. Example: The UH faculty is large and diverse. For individuals, you may use faculty member or faculty members.

For chairs, use the terms chair, chairperson, chairman and chairwoman. In general, use terms such as chair or chairperson, unless the -man or -woman terms are specified by an organization.

For academic titles, capitalize before a name, lowercase after. Example: Professor of Mathematics Bob Smith and Bob Smith, professor of mathematics. 

For more information, click here.

Fellow

Use lowercase when used generically, capitalize if part of a name, such as Jessica Jones, Guggenheim Fellow.

For more information, click here.

Fundraiser

Use fundraiser, fundraising (do not hyphenate, such as fund-raiser or fund-raising).

For more information, click here.

Fundraising Terms

Preferred Terms for Fundraising Contexts

Use emotionally resonant, inclusive and impact-driven language in all external donor communications.

Lead with impact, not process: Instead of "Please consider a $100 donation," say "Your $100 could fund classroom technology for five students."

Use "you" and "we" frequently: Make the donor the hero of the story.

Greater Houston

Reference Greater Houston or Greater Houston Area (capitalize when referring to Houston metropolitan area).

For more information, click here.

Health Care

Health care is two words with no hyphenation.

For more information, click here.

Home Base

Home Base is the Division's internal resource hub and should always be capitalized.

Hyphens

Do not use if a description is placed after a noun or with words ending in -ly. Examples: She is a well-known judge, but the judge is well known. She went to a family friendly event. Avoid duplicated vowels and tripled consonants, such as anti-intellectual, shell-like. Double-e combinations usually aren't hyphenated: preempted, reelected, but hyphens are generally added when the last letter of the prefix and the following letter are the same or could prevent confusion: non-native, re-sent.

Words to look out for: email, biannual

For more information, click here.

Key Links

• UH Editorial Style Guide
• Associated Press 2023 Stylebook
• Punctuation Primer

Months

If used with a specific day, abbreviate months that have more than five letters. However, if the month stands alone or with a year, the full name is used. 

Example: January 2016 was a cold month. His birthday is Feb. 16, 1986, which was not the target date. Her family arrived on Nov. 23 for the holidays. 

Names

Do not precede name suffixes with a comma: Jr., Sr. or l, ll et al. Ex: John Smith Jr. and Paul Jones lV.
Do not precede a name with Mr., Ms., Miss etc. 
Do not put a space between a name that is only initials to avoid the breaking in typography. Ex: T.S. Eliot.

Numbers

In general, spell out numbers one through nine. However, addresses, rankings, dates and times, speeds, ages, sizes and dimensions, temperatures, monetary values and percentages will always use figures. If starting a sentence, spell out. Example: Thirty students decided to attend study hall. John placed No. 1 in the contest. Rose bought one apple, 10 tomatoes and four lemons at the store.

For more information, click here.

Percentages

For percentages, use figures and the % sign, with no space in most cases. Always put a zero before the decimal point in percentages, and spell out "zero percent" if used figuratively or casually. Ex: Tom had a zero percent chance of winning the game. Pay rose 0.5%. 

For a range, 12% to 15%, 12%-15% and between 12% and 15% are all acceptable.

For more information, click here.

Periods

Leave one space after a period when starting another sentence.

For more information, click here.

RSVP

RSVP — do not use periods.

For more information, click here.

Seasons

Lowercase, such as spring 2022 and fall semester, unless part of a proper name.

For more information, click here.

Senior Leadership Designations

Capitalize and spell out official academic or administrative titles when they precede a name or stand alone. Lowercase otherwise.

Use titles containing "president" for University of Houston duties and "chancellor" for entire University of Houston System work. Use last name only on the second reference. Ex: Khator is an artist.

Eloise Brice, Vice Chancellor and Vice President for Division of Advancement and Alumni 

Kristin Burch, Senior Assistant Vice President for Constituent Engagement

Ruth Cutting, Assistant Vice President for Advancement Operations

Russell Dunlavy, Senior Associate Vice President for University Development

Rebecca Gentry, Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiatives

Steve Mueller, Assistant Vice President for Advancement Business Operations

Mike Pedé, Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations

Benjamin Spofford, Chief of Staff to the Vice Chancellor/Vice President for Division of Advancement and Alumni, Senior Director of Advancement and Alumni Administration

State Names

State names should be spelled out when used in the body of a story, whether standing alone or in conjunction with a city, town, villiage or military base. Also lowercase "state of" constructions.

Ex: He has lived in the state of Texas his entire life. She was traveling to Austin, Texas. 

STEM, STEAM

STEM is acceptable on first reference for science, technology, engineering and math, but spell out the full phrase shortly thereafter.

STEAM is also acceptable on first reference for science, technology, engineering, arts and math, but spell out the full phrase shortly thereafter.

Stewardship Tone

Tone should be warm, grateful and forward-looking. Avoid institutional or bureaucratic phrasing.

• Yes: "Because of you, more students will walk across the graduation stage."
• No: "Your donation has been processed and applied."

Tier One

For more information, click here.

Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine

The Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine or the University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine should be referred to in full on first mention. For subsequent references, the terms Fertitta Family College of Medicine, UH Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine or College of Medicine are acceptable, with a preference for the former in specific contexts such as headlines and marketing materials.

Avoid using incorrect abbreviations or alternative names, including The Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, Fertitta College of Medicine, UH College of Medicine or acronyms like TFFCOM, FFCOM, COM or UHCOM.

Time

Use a.m. and p.m. when posting times for events. Example: The movie starts at 7 p.m.
Do not use the digit 12; replace with noon or midnight. For example: The event is from noon to 1 p.m.
Do not use the words yesterday or today. 

For more information, click here.

Titles 

Composition titles: Place quotation marks around titles of books, journal articles, radio and television programs, plays, poems, works of art, albums, lectures, speeches, courses, songs and operas. However, do not use quotation marks for sacred texts such as the Bible or Quran as well as reference materials such as almanacs, directories, dictionaries and encyclopedias.

For more information, click here.

Academic titles: Capitalize and spell out official academic or administrative titles when they precede a name or stand alone. Lowercase otherwise. Never abbreviate. Example: computer science professor Victoria Marr or Associate Professor of Computer Science Victoria Marr

The exception is a named professorship or chair which is capitalized before or after the name.

For more information, click here.

Refer to regents, vice chancellors/vice presidents by title and last name in writing or verbally. This applies on briefings, correspondence and other similar matters. If you have a formal relationship with one party and an informal relationship with another, always opt for formal.

UHlink

UHlink is the University of Houston's online networking platform for alumni, faculty, staff and students. Note: UHlink is written as one word, and the word "link" should always be lowercase.

University of Houston

On first reference, always use the University of Houston. On subsequent references, use UH or the University, never U of H. Only capitalize university when in specific reference to UH. 

Ex: Carl vistited UH Monday. Tom will visit a university soon. Susie represented the University at the event.

For more information, click here.

University of Houston Alumni Association

For first reference use University of Houston Alumni Association; for second reference use UH Alumni Association. Never use UHAA.

University of Houston System

For the System institutions, use University of Houston-Clear Lake, University of Houston-Downtown and University of Houston-Victoria. Subsequent references may be UHCL, UHD or UHV. University of Houston at Sugar Land and University of Houston at Katy are extensions of the University, not campuses.

For more information, click here.

Word Marks

Official word marks for organizations like the Division of Advancement and Alumni, UH Alumni Association, Ezekiel W. Cullen Society and UH Board of Visitors are available on the Constituent Engagement resources page on Home Base. For more information, contact the Division of Advancement and Alumni’s Constituent Engagement Marketing and Communications team. 

Existing logos also are covered by Marketing and Communications. Proposed new logos must be submitted to Branding for approval. For more information, click here. 

Wortham House

The official residence of the University of Houston System Chancellor, it should be referenced as University of Houston Wortham House or The Wortham House.

For more information, click here.

Years

Do not use an apostrophe to pluralize. Mark decades with an outward apostrophe if the first two digits are removed. Use a hyphen and no surrounding space to indicate a range. A figure can start the sentence (unlike with other numbers).

She was in an ’80s band. Floods were record high in the mid-1930s. She moved four times between 1920-27. 2013 was a great year.