Greenville Technical College
Use Greenville Technical College in the first reference then you may use the abbreviated form, GTC. Never use the abbreviation “Greenville Tec.”
Capitalize campus only when it is preceded by a name.
Brashier Campus is located on Georgia Road in Simpsonville.
Each campus will be hosting staff development activities.
Except when using the full name, lowercase the word college when referring to Greenville Technical College.
Correct: The college is located on South Pleasantburg Drive.
When referring to the college president, the title should be capitalized if it precedes the name.
Greenville Technical College President Dr. Keith Miller addressed the graduates.
Capitalize titles when they appear before a name, but not when they appear after a name.
Capitalize the name of the department and the word “department” only when used as the full official department name.
Correct: The Business Department wins “Simulation Competition,” the first such event for the department.
Capitalize formal names of courses and lowercase informal names.
Correct: She is taking Machine Design and Hydraulics & Pneumatics.
Correct: She is taking several accounting courses.
Capitalize the name of the school only when it appears as part of a full name. Do not capitalize the word “school” unless it, too, appears as part of a full name.
Correct: School of Business and Computer Technology
Correct: The entire school will be represented.
Correct: She wants to enter a computer career.
The names of specific academic programs should be capitalized.
Mike is in the Diesel Equipment Technology program.
Susan enrolled in the Human Services program.
General courses of study, with the exception of languages, are not capitalized.
David is studying math and business.
Kathy is studying French.
Academic degrees should be abbreviated as follows:
B.A. (no space between period and next letter) = Bachelor of Arts
M.S. = Master of Science
M.A. = Master of Arts
Ph.D. = Doctor of Philosophy
Use abbreviations for academic degrees only after a name. Otherwise, write out the degree. These abbreviations should be used only after a full name and never after just the last name. The word degree should not follow a degree abbreviation.
Correct: He has a bachelor’s degree in English.
Correct: Jim Jones, Ph.D., will address the group.
Incorrect: He has a B.A. degree in English.
When referring to someone who has a Ph.D., use Dr. before the name or Ph.D. after the name – never both.
Correct: Dr. Tom Smith
Correct: Tom Smith, Ph.D.
Incorrect: Dr. Tom Smith, Ph.D.
Capitalize formal names of academic and honorary degrees and the major that follows. Lowercase informal names of degrees and the major that follows.
Correct: She has a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics.
Correct: She has a master’s degree in mathematics.
List multiple degrees in order of scholastic achievement, beginning with greatest achievement.
Correct: The speaker will be Sally Smith, M.S.N., B.S.N.
College offices are capitalized.
Correct: The Financial Aid office will hold an orientation next week.
Capitalize room names when referring to a particular classroom, but not when used alone. Also, always place a comma between the building name and room number when referring to a specific room.
Correct: The conference will be held in the Engineering Technologies Building, Room 122.
Correct: The room was no longer available for use.
Correct: She was asked to go to Room 112 after completing the application.
The college's campuses should be referred to as
Greenville Technical College’s Barton Campus
Greenville Technical College’s Brashier Campus
Greenville Technical College’s Benson Campus
Greenville Technical College’s Northwest Campus
The Brashier, Benson and Northwest Campuses may also be referred to as satellite campuses. Do not refer to them as branch campuses.
Buildings on campus including the Child Development Center and the Student Success Center should be spelled out whenever possible. If it is necessary to abbreviate, spell out on first reference and abbreviate thereafter. When abbreviated, do not place periods between acronyms, unless it is more than four letters. Do not abbreviate the word building unless necessary for space purposes.
Correct: The Student Success Center (SSC) is located on Greenville Technical College’s Barton Campus. A community room, an auditorium, and offices that welcome students are all housed in the SSC.
Capitalize the official names of campus buildings. When not using a proper name, use lowercase.
Correct: His office is in the Engineering Technologies Building.
Correct: The building is across from the Administration Building.
Use periods with a.m. and p.m. and do not capitalize. One space should appear between time and p.m. or a.m.
Correct: The meeting began at 8 a.m.
Show start and end times as follows:
Correct: 8-9 a.m.
Correct: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
When writing a time that falls on the hour, omit :00.
Correct: The meeting actually began at 8:30 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. as scheduled.
When referring to 12 a.m. or 12 p.m., use the term noon or midnight. Never refer to as 12 noon or 12 midnight.
Correct: Lunch will be served at noon.
Days of the week should be abbreviated only when necessary to save space and only when used as part of a date.
Correct: The meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 10.
Correct: Mon., June 10
Do not use “on” before a date unless needed for clarity.
Correct: The quarter began March 4, 1991.
Incorrect: The quarter began on March 4, 1991.
Do not use a comma between a month and year.
Correct: The program began in January 1995.
Months may be abbreviated only when used with a date. Do not abbreviate months when used alone or with the year unless necessary because of a space problem. Never abbreviate March, April, May, June or July.
Correct: Today’s date is April 16, 2009.
Correct: Nov. 22, 2008
Correct: The meeting was held last November.
Use the abbreviations Ave., Blvd., and St. only with a numbered address. Otherwise, spell them out. Lowercase and spell out when used alone or with more than one street name.
Correct: The student lives at 12 Main St.
Correct: The student lives on Main Street.
Correct: The student lives at the intersection of Main and North streets.
Abbreviate compass points used to indicate directional ends of a street or quadrants of a city when used in a numbered address, but do not abbreviate if the number is omitted.
Correct: Greenville Technical College’s address is 506 S. Pleasantburg Drive.
Correct: Greenville Technical College is located on South Pleasantburg Drive.
Correct: The association is located at 2200 K St., NW.
Correct: The association is located on K Street, Northwest.
Use periods in the abbreviation for post office with no space in between.
Correct: P.O. Box 5616
Spell out the names of states when they stand alone. Abbreviate as follows when listed with a city:
ALABAMA AL
ALASKA AK
ARIZONA AZ
ARKANSAS AR
CALIFORNIA CA
COLORADO CO
CONNECTICUT CT
DELAWARE DE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DC
FLORIDA FL
GEORGIA GA
HAWAII HI
IDAHO ID
ILLINOIS IL
INDIANA IN
IOWA IA
KANSAS KS
KENTUCKY KY
LOUISIANA LA
MAINE ME
MARYLAND MD
MASSACHUSETTS MA
MICHIGAN MI
MINNESOTA MN
MISSISSIPPI MS
MISSOURI MO
MONTANA MT
NEBRASKA NE
NEVADA NV
NEW HAMPSHIRE NH
NEW JERSEY NJ
NEW MEXICO NM
NEW YORK NY
NORTH CAROLINA NC
NORTH DAKOTA ND
OHIO OH
OKLAHOMA OK
OREGON OR
PENNSYLVANIA PA
RHODE ISLAND RI
SOUTH CAROLINA SC
SOUTH DAKOTA SD
TENNESSEE TN
TEXAS TX
UTAH UT
VERMONT VT
VIRGINIA VA
WASHINGTON WA
WEST VIRGINIA WV
WISCONSIN WI
WYOMING WY
Capitalize semester only when part of a specific semester name. Lowercase when used alone.
Correct: She enrolled for classes during Spring Semester.
Correct: The semester begins June 3.
Do not capitalize seasons of the year when they stand alone, but do capitalize a season as part of the academic year.
Correct: Spring Semester begins March 4.
Correct: Construction is scheduled to begin this spring.
Former students should be identified as
alumna – feminine
alumnae – feminine plural
alumnus – masculine
alumni – male plural or both male and female plural
Correct: Alumni of Greenville Technical College include many distinguished members of the community.
Correct: He is an alumnus of the college.
The plural form of faculty is faculties. Greenville Technical College’s entire faculty is a singular entity.
Correct: The faculties of Greenville Technical College and Piedmont Tech will meet today.
Correct: The faculty of Greenville Technical College will meet tomorrow.
The plural form of staff is staffs. Greenville Technical College’s entire staff is a singular entity.
Correct: The staff consists of 38 men and 39 women.
Correct: The staffs of the two colleges sometimes disagree on that issue.
Hyphenate the abbreviation, co-op, but do not hyphenate the full word, cooperative.
Correct: She is a student in the Co-op Scholar Program.
DO NOT capitalize forms (ex. admissions application, financial aid application)
DO NOT capitalize generic college publications (ex. catalog, calendar, schedule)
Do not use a decimal point and two zeros for even dollar amounts. Always use the number when referring to a dollar amount. Do not spell the number, even if it’s less than 10. For dollar amounts of one million and above, use the dollar sign, number and word. Use a comma for amounts of 1,000 and above.
Correct: $15.01
Correct: The total cost was $1.2 million.
Correct: $10
Correct: $1,000
Spell out whole numbers one through nine. Use numerals for 10 and above. Spell out numerical designations first through ninth. Starting with 10th use figures. When a sentence begins with a number, spell it out. Large numbers should use a hyphen to connect a word ending in “y” to another word; do not use commas between other separate words that are part of one number.
Correct: There are nine people in the department.
Correct: Twenty people enrolled in the class.
Correct: Of the 20 people enrolled, 10 are men.
Correct: This is the 14th annual competition.
Correct: One hundred forty-three students are enrolled.
Area codes are enclosed in parentheses. There is a space between the closing parentheses around the area code and the number which follows:
Correct: (864) 250-8000
Campus extensions are preceded by the abbreviation, Ext.
Correct: Ext. 8000
Capitalize Area Commission, but not commission when it stands alone.
Correct: The Area Commission met last week.
Correct: She is a member of the commission.
Capitalize names of specific committees and lowercase second references.
Correct: She is on the Professional Development Committee.Correct: The committee meets monthly.
Capitalize names of races (African American, Caucasian) but do not capitalize black and white when referring to race.
Do not capitalize directions.
Correct: The student is from western South Carolina.
When referring to a specific area and not just a direction, capitalize the area.
Correct: The college is located in the Upstate and draws students from the South.
Capitalize school district when accompanied by county name but not when used alone.
Correct: The money is part of a state grant.
Correct: The State Development Board publishes a newsletter.
In outlines, agendas and other similar sections of publications, capitalize all principal words.
curricula (rather than curriculums)
media
memoranda
theses
Form plurals of family names that end in “s” by adding “es.”
Correct: The Joneses live down the street.
The following expressions can be pluralized without an apostrophe:
don’ts
thank-you-ma’ams
please and thank yous
in threes and fours
multiple letter combinations including ABCs, VIPs, 1980s, the ‘70s
M.A.’s
Ph.D.’s
do’s
single letters such as x’s and y’s
With plural nouns ending in “s,” add an apostrophe only.
Correct: the churches’ needs
Correct: the VIPs’ entrance
Nouns the same in singular and plural should be treated the same as plurals, even if the meaning is singular.
Correct: one corps’ location
When identifying current and former students by class year, use an apostrophe before the year and a comma after the year.
Correct: John J. Smith ’90, attended the meeting.
When using class year in a non-academic context, the year should be preceded by “class of.”
When referring to a decade as a period of time, do not use an apostrophe between the decade and “s.”
Correct: the roaring ’20s
Correct: the 1990s
Hyphenate when used as a compound modifier (two or more words that express a single concept).
Correct: He works full time.
Correct: He works a full-time job.
Divide the name of the college between words only. Never hyphenate the words.
Correct: Greenville Technical
College
Incorrect: Greenville Tech-
nical College
Jr. and other suffixes following a name should be set off by commas.
Correct: John Smith, Jr.
Correct: John Smith, III
Place the period inside the parentheses when the matter enclosed is an independent sentence. Otherwise, place it outside.
Correct: Most students are from South Carolina. (There are, of course, some exceptions.)
Correct: The committee members are from Marketing and Communications (with the exception of Jim).
Follow these guidelines:
Singular nouns not ending in “s” – add an apostrophe and “s.”
Correct: the church’s needs
Singular common nouns ending in “s” – add an apostrophe and “s” unless the modified word begins with “s.”
Correct: the hostess’s invitation; the hostess’ seat
Singular proper names ending in “s” – use only an apostrophe.
Correct: Achilles’ heel
Plural nouns ending in “s” add only an apostrophe.
Correct: The girls’ toys
Nouns plural in form, singular in meaning, add only an apostrophe.
Correct: mathematics’ rules
Nouns the same in singular and plural – treat them the same as plurals, even if the meaning is singular.
Correct: one corp’s location
Descriptive phrases – Do not add an apostrophe to a word ending in “s” when it is used primarily in a descriptive sense.
Correct: a teachers college, a writers guide
Quasi possessives – Follow the rules in composing the possessive form of words that occur in such phrases as a days’ pay, two weeks’ vacation, your money’s worth
When a quotation consists of several paragraphs, use a set of quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph. Use closing quotation marks only when the quote is complete. Therefore, not every paragraph will have closing quotation marks.
Commas and periods always go inside the closing quotation mark, while colons and semi-colons always go outside. Question marks and exclamation points go inside if they are part of the quoted material and outside if they refer to the sentence as a whole.
Book titles, movie titles, opera titles, play titles, poem titles, song titles, magazine titles, newspaper titles and titles of lectures, speeches and works of art should be treated as follows:
Correct: Moby Dick, Dances with Wolves, The Raven, The American Heritage Dictionary, the Bible
Lowercase the before newspaper names if a story mentions several papers, some of which use the as part of the name and some of which do not.
Where location is needed but is not part of the official name, use parentheses: The Huntsville (Ala.) Times. Use quotes for section titles: The “Style” section of The Greenville News.
Preferred spellings include
Use the article a before consonant sounds. Use the article an before vowel sounds.
Correct: a historic event
Correct: a one-year period
Correct: a united front
Correct: an annual event
Correct: an NBA record
Correct: an 1890s celebration
Affect is most commonly used in the sense of “to influence.” Effect means to bring about or execute. Affect is always a verb; effect, in most instances, is a noun.
Use afterward, not afterwards.
Always use figures. Ages expressed as adjectives before a noun or as substitutes for a noun use hyphens.
Correct: The child, 5, is a boy.
Correct: a 5-year-old boy
Use amid, not amidst.
Use only when an event has been held for more than two years. Do not refer to an event as first or second annual.
Use one word for an indefinite reference. Use two words when the emphasis is on singling out one element of a group.
Correct: Anyone can do that.
Correct: Any one of them may speak up.
Use associate degree, never associate’s or associates degree.
Use backward, not backwards.
Use these terms as follows:
biweekly – every other week
semiweekly – twice a week
bimonthly – every other month
semimonthly – twice a month
biannual – twice a year
biennial – every other year
A calendar is a system of defining time. A calender is a machine in which paper or cloth is made smooth.
Use ensure to mean guarantee. Use insure for references to insurance.
Correct: Steps were taken to ensure accuracy.
Correct: The policy insures his life.
The expression first-come, first-served should be hyphenated.
Do not hyphenate fund raiser whether it refers to an individual or a social function.
Correct: She is a fund raiser for the organization.
Correct: They hold a fund raiser every year.
Hyphenate fund-raising when used as an adjective, but not when used as a noun.
Correct: Fund raising is difficult.
Correct: They planned a fund-raising campaign.
Regard should be singular in the phrase in (or with) regard to, not in regards to.
The word of is usually unnecessary.
Correct: He fell off the bed.
Incorrect: He fell off of the bed.
Use the word percent in text. Use the symbol % in charts graphs, etc.
The term postsecondary should not be hyphenated.
Principal is a noun or adjective meaning someone or something first in rank, authority, importance or degree.
Principle is a noun meaning a fundamental truth, law, doctrine or motivating force.
Use proved as the participle of prove and proven as an adjective.
Correct: He has proved his point.
Correct: The product delivers proven quality.
To stand still is to be stationary. Writing paper is stationery.
One moves toward something, not towards it.