Web and Print Style Guide
These styles and guidelines apply to both print and web publications unless otherwise noted.
Please use the spell-check function on Spinternet when entering any text on the website. If you're unsure of a spelling and would like a second source, please use the Merriam Webster Dictionary.
For other questions not addressed here, please contact the Public Relations and Marketing office or refer to the Gregg Reference Manual, 10th edition.
Also see the RedTail Athletics Style Guide.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
abbreviations and acronyms: Avoid abbreviations and acronyms the user will not recognize. Spell out an organization's title or building's name. Use common abbreviations such as St., Ave. and Blvd. with addresses, otherwise spell out. Also see states.
academic courses: See course names
academic degrees: If mentioning a degree is helpful to establish credentials, use abbreviations set off by commas: John Jones, M.A., addressed the audience. Jane Jones, Ph.D., spoke to the faculty. There is no need to use Dr. before a name if you follow the name with Ph.D.
Writing out the degree is also acceptable. Do not capitalize the degree or area of study. Bachelor's and master's are possessive; associate and doctorate are not possessive. John Jones, who has a master's degree in psychology, addressed the audience. John Jones, who has an associate degree in nursing, addressed the audience.
Capitalize the degree and area of study if using the full degree name. Jane Jones earned her Bachelor of Arts in Education. John Jones has his Associate of Applied Arts in Graphic Communications.
See degrees awarded by Hawkeye.
academic departments: See department.
academic programs: Capitalize the program name, do not capitalize the word program. There are 13 students in the Welding program this semester. See Programs / Majors.
addresses: Abbreviate directions with an address (N, S, E, W). Post office box is abbreviated P.O. Write out state name if the address does not have a zip code. Class will be held at the Cedar Falls Center, 5330 Nordic Dr., Cedar Falls, Iowa. Use state postal abbreviations when listing zip code. Mail your payment to Hawkeye Community College, P.O. Box 8015, Waterloo, IA 50704. Also see states.
advisor: Advisor, not adviser.
aid, aide: Use “aid” for providing assistance. Use “aide” for the person who provides the assistance. Nurse Aide. First Aid.
alumni: One male Hawkeye graduate is an alumnus. Two or more male graduates are alumni. One female graduate is an alumna. Two or more female graduates are alumnae. Several people of mixed or indeterminate sexes are alumni.
A student who attended Hawkeye but didn’t graduate is a former student.
and: Can use the ampersand (&) in headers, left navigation, or right column. Spell out “and” in the page copy.
Board of Trustees: Board of Trustees is always capitalized. District is capitalized and identified by roman numerals. Hawkeye Community College Board of Trustees chair, Jay Nardini, District VIII, represented Hawkeye at the event. Also see titles, chair, Board of Trustees web page.
BodyViz: One word.
buildings: Use approved names as listed below. Do not use acronyms. Centers and main campus buildings of Hawkeye include:
- Cedar Falls Center (not Cedar Falls Center for Business and Industry, not CBI)
- Farm Lab
- Independence Center
- Main Campus
- Automation and Robotics Center (not ARC, not ARC Center)
- Black Hawk Hall
- Bremer Hall
- Center for Learning and Academic Success (not CLAS)
- Student Tutoring and Computer Lab (not STC Lab)
- Buchanan Hall
- Advanced Technology and Business Center
- Brock Student Center (not Student Center, BCS, or Brock)
- Butler Hall
- Chickasaw Hall
- Fayette Hall
- Grundy Hall
- Dental Clinic
- Van Gerpen Patient Simulator Lab (also Patient Simulator Lab. Not Virtual Hospital)
- Hawkeye Center
- Health and Education Services Center (not HESC)
- Student Health Clinic (not Student Health Center)
- Library and Classroom Building (also Library)
- Physical Plant
- Regional Transportation Training Center (not RTTC)
- Tama Hall
- Brobst Center for Teaching and Learning Services (also Teaching and Learning Services. Not Brobst Center)
- Hawse Auditorium (also Hawse Auditorium in Tama Hall, not Tama Hall Auditorium)
- Van G. Miller Adult Learning Center (not ALC, VGM Adult Learning Center, VGM Center, or VGM ALC)
- Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center
- Western Outreach Center
Also see locations.
cancel: Also cancelled, cancelling, cancellation.
capitalization: Avoid unnecessary capitalization, but always capitalize proper nouns. Academic departments, specific classes, and college offices are considered proper nouns: Department of Mathematics, a mathematics class, Mathematics 201, Counseling and Career Advising. Also see titles, see office, see department.
chair: Use chair instead of chairman or chairperson. Also see titles.
child care: Child care is two words.
class standing: Students are first-year or second-year: The first-year class, three second-year students.
class vs. course: Use course when referring to the name of the course. John is getting an A in his accounting course. Use class when referring to a specific, scheduled class. John registered for the Tuesday morning accounting class. Also see course names.
comma (,): Use commas to separate parts of a series. You have your choice of strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla ice cream. If you take the last comma out, you might not be sure if there are three or four flavors: cherry nut, strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla; or cherry nut, strawberry, and chocolate and vanilla (twist).
contact information: WEB ONLY: In the copy use job titles instead of a person’s name. Don’t put contact information in the web page copy. Contact information will be in the either the left or right column of the web page. Also see addresses, department, email, office, phone numbers, times, titles.
course names: If it’s an actual course name, capitalize the course name. George is taking Fundamentals of Oral Communications. If it’s a reference to the course subject, do not capitalize unless the subject is a proper noun. English, French, etc. George is taking three communications classes. Also see class vs. course.
course work: Two words, not coursework.
dashes (–): WEB ONLY: When using an en dash (–) or em dash (—) do not use a space before or after the dash. 1:00–2:00pm. My neighbor Joe—he lives in the grey house down the street—and I are training for a 5K together. Also see times, special characters, ThePunctuationGuide.com Hyphen and Dashes.
dates: Avoid abbreviations in sentences. If a date is in the middle of the sentence, use a comma after the year. The event was Tuesday, February 22, 2017, at the Brock Student Center. Do not use ordinals such as “st”, “rd”, "th", and "nd" with dates. The event was held on September 4. Do not use a comma between the month and year alone. Please return your application by the February 2017 deadline.
days: Spell out days of the week in sentences, do not abbreviate them. When a range of days is needed, the preferred format is: Monday–Friday, Monday to Wednesday, or Monday and Wednesday. Use M, T, W, R, F, S, N when referring to a legend.
Dean's List: Capitalize Dean’s List. Joe is on the Dean’s List.
department: Use with academic departments. Do not capitalize department unless it is a part of the official name. The Health department is located in Grundy Hall. Programs in the department of Agriculture and Natural Resources include: Ag Business Management, Animal Science, and Natural Resources Management. For department names, see Programs / Majors and click on the Filter by: dropdown. Also see office.
doctorate: Dr. John Smith or John Smith, Ph.D., not Dr. John Smith, Ph.D. Also see titles.
email: Email is one word and lowercase unless it’s the first word of a sentence. WEB ONLY: When linking to someone’s email address, use the person’s name, email us, or email me as the link text instead of the email address.
faculty: See titles.
first-year: Not freshman. See class standing.
firefighter: One word. Also firefighting, firemen, fireman. If referring to a woman, use firefighter.
flier: Paper handouts. Not flyer.
Food Court: Food Court located in the Brock Student Center. Use Food Court, not café, cafeteria, food service.
fundraising: One word. Also fundraiser. Use raise funds, not fundraise.
GPA: Grade point average. Use GPA, not G.P.A. Use cumulative GPA not cGPA or CGPA.
Hawkeye Community College: Use Hawkeye Community College, Hawkeye, or the College. Do not use HCC, Hawkeye College, Hawkeye CC, Hawkeye Tech, or the college. HCC can refer to many colleges and businesses; it doesn’t clearly identify Hawkeye Community College.
headings: WEB ONLY: Use title case for the page heading and left hand navigation links. Can use either title or sentence case for headings within the content area of the page. Headings cannot be links. Headings show hierarchy. Also see and.
- H2 and H3 are more commonly used headings. Use H4, H5, and H6 tags to continue to break up topics within a like topic.
- Headings must be used in order. Do not skip headings. (H2 Main Topic, then H3 Sub Topic) (Not H2 Main Topic, then H4 Sub Topic)
- Heading hierarchy:
- H2: Main Topic
- H3: Sub topic
- H3: Another sub topic
- H4:Sub topic of this sub topic
- H3: Yet another sub topic
- H2: Another Main Topic
healthcare: One word. Not health care.
homepage: One word.
ID: No periods: Please show your student ID, she lost her ID.
Internet: Internet is a proper noun and is capitalized.
links: WEB ONLY: If linking to a site outside of hawkeyecollege.edu or a PDF, click on the Target tab in the Link editor and select "New Window (_blank)". This will open a new window. This is important so users can easily return to our site and navigation. Also see pdf.
links in print materials:
- Remove the https:// from the beginning of web addresses.
- Remove default.aspx if applicable.
- Vanity URLS: To help make it easier for users to type in specific web addresses they see in print publications, Marketing can create a shortened link called a vanity URL. If you are including a link in an email or other electronic communication, shortened links are not necessary. Users will be clicking on the link instead of typing in the address. To request a vanity URL, contact Marketing. Please include the web address you want people to go to and the publication or promotion you are using it in.
login, logout, check in, check out, etc.: Hyphenate when used as a noun: Stop by the check-in table to get you name badge. No hyphen when used as a verb: Remember to login to your email daily. Don't forget to check in at the front desk.
Minimesters: One word, capitalize. Not mini-mester or minimester. If referring to one class use Minimester. She took a Minimester class. If referring to the group of classes being offered, use Minimesters. Hawkeye is offering the following Minimesters.
months: See dates.
My Hawkeye: Two words, title case.
names: The first reference to a person should use his or her full name and title: Jane Smith, professor of economics, or professor Jane Smith. After that, his or her last name only may be used. Also see titles.
office: Use with administration offices. Do not capitalize the word office unless it is a part of the official name. The Financial Aid office is located in Hawkeye Center. The office of Public Relations and Marketing sent the press release. See locations for office names. Also see department.
online: Also offline. Not on-line or off-line.
over vs. more than: When referencing over a number, use more than. Hawkeye has more than 45 programs.
PDF: WEB ONLY: If indicating a link is a PDF use [pdf] in the linked text. Complete the registration form [pdf] and return it to our office. If PDF is within a sentence, capitalize all letters. Please complete the PDF form and return to our office. Also see links.
phone numbers: Always use a 10-digit phone number, even if the number is on campus. Include the area code, no parentheses: 319-296-2329. If the extension begins with the number four, write 319-296-4444 (extensions that begin with four are direct dial numbers). With phone extensions use Hawkeye number 319-296-2329 and extension. To add an extension, use ext. with a space between the period and the extension: 319-296-2329 ext. 5555.
president: Capitalize president only as a formal title before one or more names. President Todd Holcomb, Ed.D., spoke to the students today. Lowercase in all other uses. Dr. Todd Holcomb, president of Hawkeye Community College, spoke about the success of a Hawkeye education. Also see titles.
President’s Cabinet: Always capitalize. President’s is possessive.
Self-Service: Two words hyphenated, title case (not Self Service).
semesters: Fall semester, spring semester, summer term. Fall [year] Semester, Spring [year] Semester, Summer [year] Term. Minimesters and eight-week classes are a length of class and are part of a semester or term. Fall 2024 Semester classes begin August 21. I will start classes in the fall. Fall Fest will be held at the beginning of the fall semester. Also see Minimester.
Skid Monster: Two words. Not SkidMonster.
spaces: WEB ONLY: Use only one space at the end of sentences, not two.
special characters: WEB ONLY: Certain special characters don’t translate well on a web page and can result in strange characters appearing on your page. To use special characters, click on the Special Characters button in the formatting toolbar. Some special characters are accented letters (é) , copyright symbols (©), dashes (–), trademarks (™), and registered trademarks ®. Also see dashes.
states: Always spell out the state name unless providing a full postal address. Mail your payment to Hawkeye Community College, P.O. Box 8015, Waterloo, IA 50704. John Smith is from Minneapolis, Minnesota. State names and postal abbreviations. Also see address.
times: WEB ONLY: Use a colon to separate hours and minutes. Use numerals for times. No space between am/pm and no periods with am/pm: 8:00am, 11:15am, 5:30pm, 9:00pm. For time ranges, use a dash without spaces: We'll be there from 8:00–10:00am. He worked 10:00am–1:30pm. See special characters. PRINT ONLY: 8:00 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 5:30 p.m., 9:00 p.m. Use numerals for times. For time ranges, use a dash with a space on each side: We'll be there from 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. He worked 10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
titles: Professional titles are not capitalized. I am taking a class from professor John Smith. John Smith, professor of biology, is teaching class. President is the exception to this rule. See president and doctorate.
Titles such as Mr., Miss, Ms., or Mrs. should not be used. Use “the” before Reverend to denote a member of the clergy: The Reverend Joseph Miller.
Legislative and governmental titles should be written as: Senator Eric Giddens or U.S. Senator Eric Giddens, Representative Pat Grassley or U.S. Representative Pat Grassley, or Governor Kim Reynolds.
Do not assume a member of the faculty is a professor. At Hawkeye there are five titles for faculty:
- Professor
- Associate professor
- Assistant professor
- Instructor
- Adjunct instructor: a description for teaching employees who are not full-time faculty members at Hawkeye.
Refer to the Faculty and Staff Directory for official titles.
Also see Board of Trustees, class standing, and names. Refer to Gregg Reference Manual, 10th edition for more information.
web: Web is not capitalized.
website: Website as one word, also web page, web design, web search.
workforce: One word.
workplace: One word.