College name

The full name should be used on first reference. For subsequent references, use CPCC or the College. Capitalize college when it refers specifically to CPCC

The College experienced record enrollment this term.

Capitalize campus only when it is preceded by a name

Levine Campus is located at the intersection of Hwy. 74 and I-485.
Each campus will be hosting staff development activities.

Offices/departments

College offices are capitalized.

The Financial Aid office will hold an orientation next week.

Academic departments and divisions are capitalized

The Public Safety division is headquartered at the North Campus.

Job titles for president and campus deans

When referring to the College president, the title should precede the name and always be capitalized.

CPCC President Dr. Tony Zeiss addressed the graduates.

When referring to a campus dean, the title should be capitalized when in front of the person's name. Campus should always be used.

Harris Campus Dean Mary Vickers-Koch spoke to the group.

Mary Vickers-Koch, Harris Campus dean, spoke to the group.

Programs/courses

The names of specific academic programs should be capitalized.

Mike is in the Heavy Equipment and Transport Technology program.
Susan enrolled in the Cardiovascular Technology program.

Name of specific courses should be capitalized.

Jennifer registered for Introduction to Internet Programming.

General courses of study, with the exception of languages, are not capitalized.

David is studying math and business.
Kathy is studying French.

Dates and numbers

Dates written as ordinals should be avoided. (1st, 2nd, 23rd, 54th)

Time of day

Use numbers for all times except noon and midnight. Include a.m. and p.m., lowercase with periods. One space should appear between time and p.m. or a.m.

The Performance Development Plans workshop will be held at noon and 3:30 p.m.

Use zeros when there is no distinction for minutes.

The concert starts promptly at 8:00 p.m.

Do not use 12 and noon simultaneously. Do not capitalize noon.

The lunch begins at 12:00 p.m.
The workshop is held from noon to 2:00 p.m.

Show start and end times as follows:

8:00-9:00 a.m.
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
6:30-8:30 p.m.

Titles/names

When referring to an individual's academic degree, it should follow the name and be set off with commas.

John Smith, Ph.D., has been named department head.

Phone numbers

Phone numbers should always include the respective area code, and groups of numbers should be separated by periods (.)

For general information, call 704.330.2722.

College facilities

College facilities must be referred to in all communications using their official name. Refer to the College Lexicon Guide and the Facilities Services web site for correct facility names.

Official college definitions

All College communications must adhere to the official definitions as defined in the College Lexicon.

Headline style

The preferred style for headlines is downstyle, which treats a headline as if it were a sentence but without end punctuation; that is, the first word of the headline is capitalized and other words, except proper nouns, are all lowercase. If a headline were in question form, then an ending question mark would be proper. For example, on this page headlines are downstyle. Course names and program names are titles, which are proper nouns.

Miscellaneous

DO capitalize Term when referring to a specific term, such as Spring Term 2002

DO NOT capitalize:

• forms (ex. admissions application, financial aid application)

• generic College publications (ex. catalog, calendar, schedule)

• seasons (winter, spring, summer or fall, unless part of a formal title)