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University Terms

Academic Semester
Capitalize Fall, Spring and Summer when used with a year: Fall 2012, Spring 2013. Lowercase when used alone: The fall semester.

Advisor
Not adviser.

Alumni
To be considered a UWF alumnus or alumna a person must have completed 12 hours of coursework. Alumnus is not the same as graduate. A graduate must have earned a degree from UWF.

Alumnus, alumni, alumna, alumnae
A male is an alumnus. A group of men are alumni.
A female is an alumna. A group of females are alumnae.
Use alumni when referring to a group of men and women.
Use double alumnus or double alumna when referring to a male or female who received both their bachelor's and master's degrees from the same institution.

Baars-Firestone Wildlife Sanctuary
Refers to the trails comprising 146 acres on east campus. Use Baars-Firestone Wildlife Sanctuary on first reference, wildlife sanctuary on second reference and beyond. The wildlife sanctuary should never be referred to as a nature preserve, nor should the term be used to describe the entirety of main campus.

Board of Trustees
Capitalize in all uses when referring to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees: The Board of Trustees met on Friday, July 5. The Board met on Friday, July 5. Never use BOT. A member is to be referred to as a trustee, lowercased, except when trustee is used before a name: The trustee spoke at the Board meeting on Friday. Trustee Bob Smith is the current chair of the Board.

Cannon Green
Should not be referred to as Cannon Greens. The lawn between the University Commons and the John C. Pace Library gets its name from the cannon at its northeast end. UWF student Robert Annin retrieved the cannon, now called Annin's Cannon, from the Pensacola Pass. It is an 18th-century, British, 32-pound garrison gun thought to have been part of a battery that guarded the entrance to Pensacola Bay.

Campuswide
Do not hyphenate campuswide, citywide, statewide, nationwide or worldwide. University-wide requires a hyphen.

Catalog
Preferred spelling, although catalogue is also correct.

Chair
Not chairman, chairwoman or chairperson.

Cooperative education programs
High-impact practice that provides students with multiple semesters of paid, career-related work experience for which the student’s earns academic credit. Use "co-op" rather than "Co-Op" as an abbreviated reference.

Distinguished University Professor
Capitalize in all uses.

Edward Ball Nature Trail
Refers to half-mile boardwalk with an entrance located behind Buildings 10 and 11. This should always be referred to as the Edward Ball Nature Trail. It should never be referred to as a nature preserve. 

Faculty
Lowercase when not part of a title: Faculty Senate; the faculty met to discuss…

High-Impact
Refers to high-impact practices. Use a hyphen in all references.

Homecoming
Capitalize when referring to the annual event at UWF.

Luna settlement
When referencing the Spanish settlement by Tristán de Luna y Arellano from 1559 to 1561, identified by the UWF archaeology program in Fall 2015, please adhere to the following style guidelines:

  • Use "Luna" rather than "de Luna" as an abbreviated reference.
  • Always include “multi-year” in the description of the historical significance of the Luna settlement, as it was the first multi-year European settlement in the United States (1559-1561). Two earlier Spanish colonial settlements are documented but remain to be found archaeologically. Both earlier settlements lasted only a matter of weeks.
  • Terms
    • Sherds is the correct spelling when referencing archaeological fragments of pottery.
    • Emanuel Point I, with one "m," is the correct spelling of the shipwreck.
    • Archaeology is the correct spelling of the discipline.
  • UWF identified the site, archaeologists discovered it.

Résumé
The preferred spelling includes the diacritical marks and helps avoid confusion with resume.

SACSCOC
When referencing the University's Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges accreditation, the full statement as administered by SACSCOC must be used and cannot be shortened or altered in any way. The most up-to-date version of the SACSCOC accreditation statement can be found on the Institutional Effectiveness website.

Student Ambassador
Refers to a student member of the UWF Student Ambassador Program. Capitalize when referring to the program. Lowercase when referring to the individual: Susie is involved in the Student Ambassador Program as a student ambassador.

Students
When referring to students, include their year and major, set off by commas: Susie Smith, a senior mathematics major.

University
Capitalize when part of a proper name and when it stands alone if it is referencing the University of West Florida. Lowercase university when it is not referencing the University of West Florida.
Students at Harvard University launched a new social media site this week.
The University will be closed on Veterans Day, President Martha Smith said.
He attends a university in Florida.

University of West Florida Name & Description
On first reference, use University of West Florida. The acronym UWF can be used on second reference.