CIU Communications

The Associated Press Stylebook is the main guide for writing. Other style guidance exclusive to CIU follows.

Columbia International University

• Use Columbia International University on first reference. After the first reference, CIU can be used for brevity and variety.
• When referring to the seminary use: Columbia Biblical Seminary on first reference. After the first reference, CBS is acceptable. If necessary, to identify the seminary with CIU, “Columbia Biblical Seminary of Columbia International University” is acceptable.
• Use the ampersand (&) in the seminary name – not the word “and”.​

Capitalization
When in doubt, don’t capitalize.

Capitalize:

• All conferred, educational, occupational and business titles when used specifically in front of a name; do not capitalize these titles when they follow the name. (Ex: CIU President Mark Smith; Mark Smith, president of CIU) Note: In tabular matter and addresses, these titles may be capitalized regardless of location. Exception: When a word such as former is used in conjunction with a title and name, the title does not get capitalized, as it is considered part of a compound adjective. (Ex: former president George Murray).
• The words association, building, center, club, conference, department, division, hall, office, program, senate, street etc., when used as part of a title; thereafter, do not capitalize the words when used alone to refer to that specific place or group. (Ex: Student Senate is the senate on second reference.)
• The words offices, colleges and departments, (Ex: Admissions Office, College of Education, The Office of Marketing and Corporate Communications)
• The CIU Board of Trustees; the trustees on second reference
• A specific course or subject (Ex: ARM 4110 Biblical Aramaic)
• Names of athletic teams and clubs (Ex: the CIU Rams)
• The word room when used to designate a particular room (Ex: Room 110 of The Fisher Building)
• Official college degrees when spelled out. (Bachelor of Arts, but bachelor’s degree; Master of Philosophy, but master’s degree)
• The words Bible and Scripture, but not when used as adjectives (biblical, scriptural).
• Chapel when referring to the daily convocation of students

Do not Capitalize:

• Words such as college, school, department, office, division, association and conference when they stand alone, even if they refer to a specific, previously identified entity.
• Titles standing alone or in apposition. (Ex: The dean of the College of Education must approve the assignments. Contact the registrar for details. David Cashin, professor of Intercultural Studies, will speak in Chapel.)
• Names of school or college studies, fields of study, options, curricula, major areas, or major subjects, except languages, unless a specific course is being referred to. (Ex: He is studying philosophy and English. The university offers a curriculum in photography.)
• Organized groups or classes of students in a university or high school, or the words freshman, sophomore, junior, senior or graduate. (Ex: John Smith is a junior in the College of Education. The senior class will hold its annual election tomorrow.) However, when referring to a class according to its year of graduation, capitalize Class. (Ex: Homecoming will feature a reunion of the Class of 1988. The Class of 2004 initiated Prayer for the Nations Week.)
• gospel

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Abbreviation
When in doubt, spell it out.

• Complimentary titles, such as Mr., Mrs., and Dr., but do not use them in combination with any other title or with abbreviations indicating scholastic or academic degrees. These and similar titles are typically not used in running text after first reference. (Ex: Larry Dixon, Ph.D., not Dr. Larry Dixon, Ph.D.)
• The degrees Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Master of Divinity, Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Ministry, Doctor of Education, Associate in Science to B.S., B.A., M.A., M.Div., Ph.D., D.Min., Ed.D. and AS, respectively.
• Use GPA in caps without periods

​Spelling

• African American is not hyphenated.
• Use an apostrophe in bachelor’s degree, a master’s, etc., but there is no possessive in Bachelor of Arts or Master of Science. Also: an associate degree (no possessive).
• Alumnus is the singular reference for a male graduate; alumna, the singular reference for a female graduate; alumni, the plural reference to a mixed group of male and female graduates or male graduates only; alumnae, the plural reference for female graduates only.
• catalog, not catalogue
• course work, not coursework
• credit-hour (adjective), credit hour (noun)
• on-campus (Hyphenated when used as a compound modifier. The professors will be on campus today. He lives in an on-campus apartment.)
• off-campus (Hyphenate when used as a compound modifier. The event will be held off campus. He has an off-campus address.)
• part-time (Hyphenated when used as a compound modifier. She works part time. She has a part-time job.)
• fundraising (noun), fundraising (adjective), fundraiser (noun)
• grade point average, not grade-point average
• online, not on-line
• work-study, not workstudy
• toward, not towards
• yearlong, not year long

For answers to other questions of spelling, consult Webster’s New World College Dictionary and the AP Stylebook.

​Usage

• Omit S.C. in conjunction with Columbia only when the piece is aimed at a local audience
• Doctorate is a noun, and doctoral is an adjective.
• freshman (adj.): the freshman enrollment (never the freshmen enrollment)
• international students, not foreign students

Equal Opportunity Statement

For lengthy university publications, especially those used for recruitment:

Columbia International University admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs and complies with Title IX regulations.

For smaller recruitment booklets and brochures:

Columbia International University admits students of any race, color, and national or ethnic origin and complies with Title IX regulations.

​Internet, Web, Email

• Internet, Web and email addresses should be written all lowercase, unless the address is case sensitive. (When a web address begins with www. or similar, it is not necessary to include [http://]http://.)
• World Wide Web and internet are treated as proper nouns.
• Accepted spellings of electronic terms: online, not on-line; homepage (lowercased in text); CD-ROM (all uppercase)
• A long URL or email address may be broken and continued on a second line. Do not add a hyphen where the break appears; instead, make sure the break is after a slash or period in the Web address. Adding a hyphen leads to confusion about whether or not the hyphen itself is part of the address.
• Please follow the official CIU email signature template posted here.

Time Spans

• When writing any span of time that mixes 20th- and 21st-century dates, the full year must be given for both. 1998-2002, not 1998-02.
• When citing class designations, if classes from the 20th and 21st centuries are listed, the full year must be given for all classes mentioned. (Ex: Representatives of the Class of 1999 and the Class of 2009 will make presentations at Homecoming.)
• Do not attach the phrase the year to 2000 or beyond. Treat such references as any other year noted. (Ex: CIU celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2013.)