Editorial Style Guide

A

Academic degrees: Lowercase bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctoral degree or doctorate. Capitalize Bachelor of Arts, Master of Science.

Use periods in the abbreviations of B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S., Ed.D. M.D. and Ph.D. (AP Stylebook). Omit periods from three-word degrees such as MFA, MBA, MPH. The abbreviation for a Doctorate of Humane Letters, an honorary degree, is LHD. 

Use Dr. as a title only for individuals who hold a degree as a doctor of medicine, dental surgery, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatric medicine or veterinary medicine (AP Stylebook). When it is necessary to identify someone as having a doctorate, it can be referenced in narrative form after their name (John Smith, who earned a doctorate in psychology at Stanford University in 2010…). See doctor listing in AP Stylebook for additional detail.

See also Names and Titles for additional information.

Academic years and terms: Lowercase words designating academic years and terms: first-year, sophomore, junior, senior, fall semester, fall 2025. Do not use “Fall 2025”, for example, in editorial copy. 

Acronyms: Spell out San Diego State University on the first reference and without (SDSU) in parentheses. San Diego State is an exception when referencing an athletics team.

If a subject is more widely known by its initials than the spelled-out name, such as STEM, it is acceptable in some cases to use the acronym first Put the full name in parentheses or spell it out later in the article. Smith was accepted into the MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement) Program.

The choice between using a or an with an acronym or abbreviation depends on how it is spoken rather than whether the first initial is a vowel or consonant (e.g., an SDSU student, a NASA scientist).

Advisor: Used as an SDSU job title. A spelling exception to the AP Stylebook. Use adviser when not citing a specific job title or a person holding the job.

African American, Asian American: No hyphen.

Ages: Do not identify subjects by age unless relevant to the subject. Examples would include a child participating in a research study, or someone earning a degree at a very advanced age. Except in special circumstances students’ ages are not used. Ages are appropriate for obituaries.

Alumni: 
Female: Alumna (singular), alumnae (plural)
Male: Alumnus (singular), alumni (plural)
Alumni may also be used as a gender-inclusive plural. 
Do not use alum, alums or alumnx. For non-binary individuals “graduate” can be used.

Used for individuals who have obtained a degree or certificate from the university. Those who did take courses but did not graduate may be said to have attended SDSU. The university also uses alumni in a broader, generic sense, including people who attended but did not graduate in its figure for total living alumni.

In alumni features, follow the convention of listing a two-digit graduation year (and sometimes degree) after the person’s name. Joe Smith (’79, B.S., biology) unless these details are to be used later in the article.

Ampersand (&): Do not use the & sign as a substitute for the word and unless it is part of the legal or official name of an organization or unit. At SDSU these include:

Analytic Studies & Institutional Research
Center for Communication, Health & the Public Good
Counseling & Psychological Services
Gus & Emma Thompson Black Resource Center
SDSU Well-being & Health Promotion
Student Life & Leadership

Do not use a + symbol in School of Art and Design.

Antisemitism, antisemitic: One word, lowercase.

APIDA: Shortened form of Asian Pacific Islander Desi American. APIDA Center is acceptable for first reference if the acronym is spelled out subsequently.

Associated Students: Spell out on first reference. Abbreviated as “A.S.,” with periods. SDSU’s student governance organization and an independent, student-directed corporation operating as a non-profit auxiliary of the CSU. Its full-time, professional staff is led by an executive director.

Aztec: The civilization known historically as the Aztecs were Nahua people; their language was Nahuatl. Nahuatl is still spoken today by Indigenous Mexicans.
See moniker.

B

Black: Capitalize Black as a racial, cultural or ethnic identifier. Black refers to those of the African diaspora and within Africa and is not synonymous with African American; which may be used per the subject’s preference. It reflects the shared cultures and experiences of Black people and is inclusive of recent immigrants.

Buildings: A building’s full name is necessary for people who may not frequent it, especially when identifying the location of an event. Adams Humanities, not AH. The word building is typically not part of the official name of SDSU buildings, so when it is necessary for context it should be lowercase, Professional Studies and Fine Arts building. Do not abbreviate the word building.

Room number (or name) precedes the location: 315 Adams Humanities, without the word “room.”

C

Campuswide, universitywide: One word, no hyphen.

California State University system: Spell it out on first reference. The abbreviated CSU is acceptable for second reference.

The CSU system has 22 institutions; it is led administratively by a chancellor and governed by a Board of Trustees. Effective 2025, the system has 22, not 23, universities. 

Mind the differences in campuses that go by CSU (location) vs. those that are (location) State University, and the use or nonuse of commas. Several campuses that are officially “California State University (location)” identify themselves in short form as“(location) State” and our stories follow their preference. “Cal Poly” is acceptable for the Humboldt, Pomona and San Luis Obispo campuses. San Marcos and two other campuses do not use commas.

The official names are:

• California State University, Bakersfield
• California State University Channel Islands
• California State University, Chico (campus preference: Chico State)
• California State University, Dominguez Hills
• California State University, East Bay (campus preference: Cal State East Bay)
• California State University, Fresno (campus preference: Fresno State)
• California State University, Fullerton
• California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (campus preference: Cal Poly Humboldt)
• California State University, Long Beach
• California State University, Los Angeles (campus preference: Cal State LA)
• Maritime Academy (campus preference: Cal Maritime, part of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)
• California State University, Monterey Bay
• California State University, Northridge
• California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
• California State University, Sacramento (campus preference: Sacramento State)
• California State University, San Bernardino
• San Francisco State University
• San José State University
• California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (campus preference: Cal Poly, but needs the geographic reference for clarity)
• California State University San Marcos
• Sonoma State University

The CSU style guide supports using “The CSU campuses of Bakersfield, Humboldt, San Francisco,” etc., when listing a large number of campuses with different name styles.

The CSU Style Guide is located online.

Campanile Foundation, The: An official 501(c)(3) auxiliary that accepts and administers all gifts to SDSU. The official name is “The Campanile Foundation", with “The” capitalized. The acronym TCF may be used on second reference.

Campus: The 2020-25 Strategic Plan identifies SDSU as a multi-campus university of equal parts. The university consists of SDSU, SDSU Imperial Valley, SDSU Georgia, SDSU Global Campus, SDSU Mission Valley, regional microsites at community colleges and other "programs around the globe and online." Under this concept there is no main campus, likewise do not refer to a San Diego, Mission Valley or Imperial Valley campus. To avoid confusion with San Diego Mesa College, do not refer to a Mesa campus. "The mesa" may be used sparingly in an offhand manner to reference the tract of land known as Montezuma Mesa; most suitably for athletics articles. Also, refer to SDSU Mission Valley as a site or location, not as a campus. 

Captions: Identify every recognizable person in the photograph accompanying a news story. Do not use generic references to “students” or any other group if they are posing for a photo, even if it is a large group. If there are too many names to fit in a conventional photo caption, refer readers to a footnote. Use (from left), not from left to right, to identify a row of people. When describing an action depicted in the photo, use past tense. Former astronaut Ellen Ochoa toured the EIS building.

Charles W. Lamden School of Accountancy: Use the full name for references subsequent to September 2008.

Commencement: Lowercase when  used as a common noun. Every spring we look forward to commencement. Uppercase when it is the formal title, or part of the formal title, of an SDSU event.

Composition titles: AP Style: Titles of magazines, newspapers and journals are in a regular typeface without quotation marks or italics. Titles of books, movies, plays, poems, albums, songs, tv shows, podcasts, lectures, speeches and works of art are in quotation marks without italics. 

Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union: Use the full name; student union is acceptable as a second reference.

Contemporaneous names: References to San Diego State University, the Fowler School of Business and specific programs that have changed their names over the years should match the appropriate era. See Fowler and History for dates.

Copyright: The format is © 2025 San Diego State University.

Course titles: General subjects are lowercase (algebra, chemistry). Capitalize course names (Introduction to Sociology) and add the department and catalog number in parentheses where needed. He teaches Principles of Astronomy (ASTR 101).

D

Dashes: This is an em dash: —. Use em dashes and not the narrower en dashes or hyphens to signal abrupt change or to set off a series within a phrase. Use spaces on both sides of the em dash, for example: She listed the qualities — intelligence, humor, independence — that she liked in an executive. Do not use em dashes as a substitute for commas or colons.

Dates: Identify upcoming events by time, day, date and location in that order. The program is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, in Montezuma Hall. When referring to a month and date within the current year, do not include the year.

For dates, use Arabic figures, without st, nd, rd or th. (July 2 not July 2nd).
Spell out month names when using alone or with a year alone. With a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. (Aug. 10, 2019)

Degree abbreviations: See academic degrees.

Departments: Capitalize the full, formal name (Department of History), but lowercase informal names (history department).

Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering: The comma after Construction is correct.

Disabilities:  Do not identify a subject as disabled unless it is relevant to the article, and do not use words that suggest pity, such as afflicted with, battling or suffers from any disability or illness, or that a person overcame her disability. A better approach is to identify them as having been diagnosed or treated for a specific condition. Do not use “living with” or “batting with” construction unless a person uses that phrase for themself.

Do not treat accomplishments of someone with a disability as something remarkable or out of the ordinary, or imply it was more difficult for them than it would have been for others.

The use of person-first and identity-first language is evolving and should be discussed with the subject to identify a preference. The AP Stylebook entry on disabilities (which should be consulted for additional guidance) permits both. For example, not everyone takes offense at being described as disabled or autistic.

Doctor: As noted in Academic degrees, the AP Stylebook limits the use of Dr. to individual holding degrees in six specific fields: medicine, dental surgery, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatric medicine or veterinary medicine.

E

Ellipsis: The three dots in the ellipsis should be separated by spaces on both sides.

Em dashes: See Dashes.

Emeritus: Goes after the position: professor emeritus, president emeritus. The titles are emeritus (for men) emerita (for women) and emeriti (for more than one professor, male or female) Emeritus is a status conferred by the University Senate. A retired president or faculty member is not automatically granted the title of emeritus. 

Eyay e’Hunn: A Kumeyaay expression for "My heart is good."

F

First/biggest/only: Do not accept claims like this unless they are obvious on their face (example: first female president) or can be substantiated beyond any doubt. It is the writer’s responsibility to be able to document any such claim.

Founder’s Day: March 13, 1897, marks SDSU’s founding. As of March 13, 2025, SDSU was 128 years old.

Fowler College of Business: Was renamed on October 26, 2016; previously the School of Business Administration. Use the contemporaneous name fitting the event or individual being described. Although the school was briefly known as the Fowler School of Business Administration (which still appears on permanent signage) it is not necessary to use this name..

Freshman, freshmen: Use first-year student(s) to be inclusive of women and gender-nonconforming students. This is an exception to the AP Stylebook which makes “freshman” acceptable under its otherwise gender-neutral guidelines. Redshirt freshman remains acceptable for athletics.

G

Global Campus: SDSU Global Campus is the unit formerly known as SDSU World Campus (and previously the College of Extended Studies).

GPA: GPA is acceptable in all references for grade-point average.

H

Health care: Two words (noun or adjective).

Hispanic-Serving Institution: Hyphenate Hispanic-Serving. SDSU is an HSI, defined by federal law as an accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit institution of higher education with 25% or more total undergraduate Hispanic full-time equivalent student enrollment. Present as “Hispanic-Serving Institution”, not “Hispanic-serving Institution”. 

History of SDSU: The institution now known as SDSU was established March 13, 1897, as the San Diego Normal School, and has operated under three other names since then. It is permissible to use SDSU in a sweeping historical context, such as “SDSU’s 127-year history.” In general, however, use the contemporaneous name with the moment in time being referenced. Jane Smith graduated from SDSU in 1970 is incorrect; use Jane Smith graduated in 1970 from San Diego State College or “…what was then…”

This also applies to departments that have changed their names over the years (see Fowler College of Business and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies).

These are the names and dates of SDSU through history:

1897 (founding): San Diego Normal School
July 28, 1921: San Diego State Teachers College
Sept. 15, 1935: San Diego State College.
June 1, 1972: California State University, San Diego. During the brief period in which this was the official name, San Diego State University was widely used and remains acceptable for historic references.
Jan. 1, 1974: San Diego State University (official name change).

I

Imperial Valley: Use SDSU Imperial Valley on first reference and wherever possible. There is no single Imperial Valley campus, it has sites both in Calexico (the principal site) and Brawley. Do not use IV, IVC, SDSU-Imperial Valley or SDSU-IV as an abbreviation for SDSU Imperial Valley. 

Indigenous: Capitalize Indigenous in reference to original inhabitants of a place.

In Memoriam: See obituary.

J

Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, The: Full name of the partner organization for Aztecs Rock Hunger. “The” and an ampersand are both parts of the complete name.

Job titles: Academic titles are capitalized before a personal name and lowercase when following a name: Vice President John Doe; or John Doe, assistant professor.

K

Kumeyaay: SDSU recognizes that the university resides on Kumeyaay land through a Land Acknowledgement formalized in 2019. A Land Acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous peoples as traditional stewards of a given geographic area and the enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their ancestral territories. Per AP guidelines do not use “Indian” in reference to American Indians, Indigenous or Native American peoples.

More information is available on the Land Acknowledgment page on the Student Affairs and Campus Diversity website.

L

Latinx: Gender-neutral, pan-ethnic term for people of Latin American descent which can be used in place of Latino, Latina, Hispanic, Chicano/a and Mexican-American unless the subject prefers otherwise. Plural form: Latinxs.

Lee & Frank Goldberg Courtyard: Use the full name; student union courtyard is acceptable on second reference.

LGBTQIA+: Acceptable for all references to the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer or questioning/intersex/asexual (or ally) community. The I, A, and + can be considered optional depending on source preference. The term 2SLGBTQIA+ (an expansion of the commonly used LGBT acronym to stand for Two-Spirit (a term that connects concepts of gender and sexuality in Native and Indigenous communities), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex and Asexual) community is also acceptable. 

Do not append 2S to the front unless this is the regular format or use of the subject of an article. 

Library: The San Diego State University Library consists of two buildings: the Malcolm A. Love Library, completed in 1970, and the Love Library Addition, the underground extension completed in 1997 and featuring a glass dome. SDSU Library or University Library are acceptable on second reference to the combined library facility. Use Love Library only in specific reference to the original structure, not the combined library facility. 

Logos: Consult Logos on Brand Central for information on the proper use of SDSU logos. The use of the Presidential Seal is reserved only for the Office of the President and for presidential programs, events and initiatives and should not be used for general purposes.

M

Majors, minors and courses: Lowercase all majors except those containing proper nouns. (His major is English; her major is engineering; she is majoring in Asian studies.) 

Mascot: SDSU has no mascot. The use of the Aztec Warrior as a mascot was retired in 2018 and as a Spirit Leader in 2021. The university community, including student-athletes and teams, are called the Aztecs, as this remains SDSU's moniker. Additional information is available on the Aztec Identity site. See also the entries for Moniker and Monty.

Middle initials: Do not use a middle initial unless the subject is commonly identified by the initial in normal usage (Michael J. Fox).

Minority: In higher education, underrepresented minority refers to racial and ethnic groups whose representation is smaller than their proportion in the general population, such as in STEM fields.

Mission Valley: See SDSU Mission Valley.

Moniker: The Aztecs moniker was chosen by students in 1925 and has been a strong identifier for the university community. The official name for all SDSU men’s and women’s athletics teams is Aztecs. Never refer to women's sports or members as “Lady Aztecs”. 

Monty: The use of this nickname for SDSU’s earlier mascot and for faculty and alumni awards ended in 2018 as part of a decision for a more dignified approach to Aztec identity. Do not reference awards given before 2018 as Montys, even if they were bestowed as such. They may be called faculty excellence awards. The same rule applies to the Zuma awards previously given to staff.

N

Named facilities: For facilities, buildings, programs and professorships (or dean positions) that have been named for a sponsor or donor, use the complete name. Fowler School of Business, Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union, the Lee & Frank Goldberg Courtyard, Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, Gus & Emma Thompson Black Resource Center. In second (and subsequent) references, a lowercase form without the proper names may be considered (the courtyard).

NCAA Division I: Uses a Roman numeral, the more casual D1 uses an Arabic numeral, no hyphen.

Noon, midnight: Standalone terms. Do not use 12 a.m. or 12 p.m, 12 noon or 12 midnight. See Time for further clarity.

O

Obituary/In Memoriam: An obituary is a breaking-news report, typically published within a day or two of a death. “In Memoriam” is more common and is used for a feature-style approach, often published several days to a week or more after the death has been reported, and written as a remembrance. In these articles the death may not be mentioned until after an introductory anecdote or scene-setting. Do not use “In Memoriam” as a headline for a breaking-news obituary. Do not use “passed away” or other euphemisms for death.

P

Pacific-12 Conference, Pac-12: Both use hyphens.

People of color, racial minority: Per AP Style, the terms "people of color" and "racial minority/minorities" are generally acceptable terms to describe people of races other than White in the United States as a whole. Do not use the acronyms POC or BICOP. Several style guides have opted to capitalize “White” when used as a racial or ethnic identifier. The use of “White” is acceptable. Do not refer to any individual as a minority.

Percent: Use the % sign for all numerals. There should not be a space following the numeral (e.g., 8%). 

Photo credits: In NewsCenter, the format is (Photo: Scott Hargrove) in parentheses as part of the caption. The magazine has a different format.

Pow Wow: The annual cultural and social event at SDSU is two words.

Professor: Should be used only for those appointed as such, not generically. Professor, associate professor (mid-level) and assistant professor (entry level) are different and distinct positions. Paraphrase or shorten quotes (sometimes from students) that use “professor” incorrectly.

Q

Q&A: For interviews presented in a Q&A (transcript) format, write the questions in bold and the answers in a regular typeface. It is not necessary to begin entries in the text with the letters Q. and A. or to number the questions, nor to use quotation marks for either section.

Where appropriate the Q&A should end with: Interview lightly edited for length and clarity.

R

Race: Capitalize all major racial and ethnic identifiers, including Black, White, Asian, Latino, Native and Indigenous, for example. The capitalization practice ensures consistency, equity and clarity across racial and ethnic designations. 

Rankings: To identify a spot in a list of rankings, use No. 7, No. 8, etc., and not the # symbol, ordinals or 7th, 8th, etc.

RedID: No spaces. Can refer either to the personal identification number assigned to all SDSU students and employees or the physical identification card itself.

Reserve Officers’ Training Corps: ROTC is acceptable in all references. When the service is specified, use Army ROTC, Navy ROTC or Air Force ROTC, not the abbreviations.

Residence hall: The preferred term for living spaces, do not use dorm or dormitory. SDSU’s Nahuatl names should not be referenced by their nicknames or colloquial names, even in quotes,  as they are disparaging to Aztec identity.

River park: The SDSU Mission Valley river park should be identified in lowercase.

S

Said/says: For news writing, use “said.” For SDSU Magazine  writing, use “says.” In general, do not use substitutes as “admitted,” “explained,” “or “remarked,” although “added” is a good way to continue a long quote into a second paragraph. 

San Diego communities: Where possible, identify off-campus locations within the City of San Diego by community. As a community, Downtown is capitalized. A map of the city’s official planning district boundaries can be found on the city’s Community Profiles site.

The College Area may be referred to as “near SDSU.”

San Diego State University: Spell out San Diego State University on first reference and without putting (SDSU) in parentheses. SDSU or “the university” (no capitalization) is acceptable for all SDSU subsequent references. Do not shorten to San Diego State except in athletics.

San Diego State University Police Department: University Police should be referenced as the “San Diego State University Police Department,” not merely University Police. Use “UPD” on subsequent references.

San Marcos: A North County satellite campus of SDSU opened at a middle school in Vista in 1979 and moved to an office building in San Marcos in 1982. California State University San Marcos, was established by legislation signed in 1989 and began operating from the former SDSU satellite location in 1990. The permanent location opened in 1992. To learn more, visit the CSU San Marcos Campus History pages.

School of Theatre, Television, and Film: The comma after Television is correct.

SDSU Mission Valley: The expansion of SDSU under development in and around the Mission Valley stadium site. "SDSU Mission Valley Innovation District" is correct for the first reference and "SDSU Innovation District" for second reference. Do not abbreviate “SDSU-MV”, “MV” or “Innovation District” in any reference to SDSU Mission Valley or the SDSU Mission Valley Innovation District. 

Seasons: Use lowercase fall, spring, etc. in conjunction with the particular semester, season or year.

Student-athlete: With a hyphen to conform to NCAA style. Can be used generically to refer to any student participating in an NCAA sport. At SDSU, “scholar-athlete” is an award bestowed upon individuals who have maintained a specified GPA. Neither student-athlete or scholar-athlete should be capitalized.

T

Telephone numbers: Use the form 619-594-5200 without parentheses for the area code. (AP Stylebook) Do not use periods instead of hyphens. Include the area code, even for SDSU telephones.

Theater, theatre: Use the American spelling of theater unless Theatre is part of a proper name or program. At SDSU this includes the School of Theatre, Television, and Film, the Main Stage Theatre, the Bernstein Theatre, the Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union Theatre and all of the undergraduate and graduate theatre degree programs.

They/them/their: It is not necessary to explain that someone uses they/them pronouns. Just use them. 

Time: Use lowercase a.m. and p.m. with periods. Use figures, with a space between the time and the a.m. or p.m. Also, when referring to an exact hour do not include the “:00”, use “11 p.m.” For time ranges, use a hyphen with no spaces: 9-11 a.m.

Titles: See Composition titles; Course titles; Job titles; Names and titles.

Trademarks: Do not use the symbols © or ™ in running text.

U

University of California San Diego: University of California San Diego  does not have a comma after “California.” Spell out on first reference. Use “UCSD” on subsequent references.

University of California: Use full name on first reference, “University of California, Campus Name” ("University of California, Davis"; "University of California, Santa Barbara"). Use the following short forms in subsequent references:

• UC Berkeley
• UC Davis
• UC Irvine
• UCLA
• UC Merced
• UC Riverside
• UC San Francisco, UCSF
• UC Santa Barbara
• UC Santa Cruz

University Police: See San Diego State University Police Department.

University Senate: The University Senate is a delegate assembly at SDSU that represents university faculty, administration, students and staff, sets educational policy and advises the president. It is headed by a chair. Do not use “Faculty Senate,” given the broad representation.

For a more detailed description, consult the Senate Constitution, known as the policy file. The corresponding CSU body is the Academic Senate.

V

W

Wallace, Shatsky, Blackburn, Courage Through Cancer Fund: The commas are part of the official and legal name of the fund, established in September 2018 by Tammy Blackburn to aid students and their families.

Website addresses: Use simple internet addresses such as “sdsu.edu” within the story or body copy, or list sites for additional information at the end of the written piece. More complicated URLs should be referenced with a hyperlink. In the interest of accessibility do not use “click here” in the hyperlink. An alternative is, additional information can be found online, with a hyperlink embedded in all or part of the sentence.

We Rise We Defy: The main title of SDSU's strategic plan does not have a comma. The full name is "We Rise We Defy: Transcending Borders, Transforming Lives."

White: Capitalize references to “White”. This is an exception to AP style. See Race.
 
Wicker, JD: The current Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. This is the format for SDSU news articles despite variations, even at SDSU, employing periods, spacing and full names.

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: The comma after Gender is correct. References prior to fall 2024 should use Women’s Studies and note the name change.

X

Y

Years: To express a range of more than one year, use  2019-20 with the second year as two digits.An exception would be any range that crosses the year 2000 (1999-2000).
When abbreviating a decade span (1960s), do not put an apostrophe before the number.

Z

Zuma: Retired name of the Presidential Staff Excellence award; do not use. See Monty.