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UTEXAS.EDU | Office of the President
University Marketing and Communications

Editorial Style Guide

Best Practices for Writing

Consistent style reflects professionalism and unity. This guide helps UT communicators maintain consistency in punctuation, capitalization and references to the University and its components.

AP Style

The AP Stylebook is our primary guide (with specific exceptions for UT), as much of our writing targets external audiences — prospective students and parents, donors, government officials, business leaders, media and the public.

  • Use one space after a period.
  • Avoid the serial (Oxford) comma in simple lists (e.g., red, white and blue). Use it in complex lists or when needed for clarity.
  • Use spaces around em dashes. AP style does not use en dashes.
  • Use quotation marks for titles of books, exhibits, movies, plays, poems, albums, songs, artworks, radio and TV shows, podcasts and videos. Capitalize magazine and newspaper names without quotation marks.
  • In bulleted lists, capitalize the first letter of each item and end with a period, regardless of sentence completeness. Avoid commas or semicolons at the end of items. Ensure parallel construction.
  • Treat an ellipsis as three periods with no spaces between. Insert spaces before or after as needed to separate from other words.
  • Use Capitalize My Title to determine correct capitalization in headlines. Verify the output for accuracy.
  • Use numerals for numbers greater than nine. Include commas in numbers 1,000 and above.
  • Time and date format: 7 a.m., 7:30 p.m., noon–4 p.m., 10 a.m.–noon. Use hyphens (not en dashes). Write dates as June 20 (not 20th).
  • Abbreviate Ave., Blvd. and St. with numbered addresses only (e.g., “1000 Michigan Ave.”). Spell out and capitalize “First” through “Ninth” for street names; use figures with two-letter ordinals for streets above nine (e.g., 103rd St.).
  • Outside of addresses, spell out state names; do not use postal abbreviations like TX.
  • Abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. when used with specific dates. Spell out all months when standing alone or with a year (e.g., “January 2022”).
  • Follow AP style for degrees and specialties. Use periods in degrees like B.A. and Ph.D. Omit periods in abbreviations with more than two letters (except Ph.D.): MBA, BBA, MSTC, MFA.
  • Capitalize formal degree names (e.g., Master of Science) without possessive forms. Lowercase degree specialties/majors.
  • Prefer using full years with degrees (e.g., “Class of 2021”). If using two-digit years, ensure the apostrophe points down and to the left (e.g., Class of ’28, B.A. ’28).
  • Use full names (first and last) on first reference; use last names on second reference. For students, first names may be used on second reference for a casual tone.
  • Capitalize formal titles used directly before a name without commas (e.g., President Jane Doe). For clarity, place lengthy titles after the name, set off by commas (e.g., Jane Doe, UT’s executive vice president and provost).
  • Do not use “Dr.” even on first reference, and avoid accreditation abbreviations after names, except for medical doctors (e.g., M.D.).
  • Lowercase titles set off by commas, titles not used with a name and occupational titles (e.g., professor Lopez, associate professor Gwen Lopez).
  • Capitalize titles with honorific modifiers (e.g., Professor Emeritus Joshua Ball, Regents Professor Natalia Mbewe).
  • Capitalize endowed professorships fully (e.g., Robert Elliott Professor of Dance).
  • In non-copy contexts (e.g., programs, name tags), capitalize titles like Assistant Professor.

University Name & Brand Language

Use “The University of Texas at Austin” on first reference; thereafter, use “UT.”

On second reference, acceptable uses include:

  • “the University” (capitalize when referring to UT).
  • “UT” (when not confused with the UT System).
  • “Texas” (when unlikely to be confused with the state).
  • “UT Austin” (no hyphen), used sparingly to distinguish from other UT System universities.

Tagline: UT’s tagline is “What starts here changes the world.” Do not refer to it as a motto.

  • In copy, treat the tagline as a standard sentence — no italics, boldface, all caps, exclamation points or embellishments.
  • When used outside of copy, it may be styled in all caps or title case without a period.

Motto: UT’s official motto, approved in 1905, is “Disciplina Praesidium Civitatis,” a Latin rendering of President Mirabeau B. Lamar’s saying: “Cultivated mind is the guardian genius of democracy.”

Core Purpose: “To transform lives for the benefit of society.”

Mission: “The mission of The University of Texas at Austin is to achieve excellence in the interrelated areas of undergraduate education, graduate education, research, and public service. The University provides superior and comprehensive educational opportunities at the baccalaureate through doctoral and special professional educational levels. The University contributes to the advancement of society through research, creative activity, scholarly inquiry, and the development and dissemination of new knowledge, including the commercialization of University discoveries. The University preserves and promotes the arts, benefits the state’s economy, serves the citizens through public programs, and provides other public service.”

  • Use “Longhorn Nation” (capitalized), not “the Longhorn Nation.”
  • Use “Longhorn” for UT-specific references; “longhorn” for the cattle breed.
  • “Hook ’em!” (note space after “Hook” and correct apostrophe direction).
  • Costumed mascot: Hook ’Em (note capitalization); live mascot: Bevo.
  • “Hook ’em Horns!” (no comma).

Academic & Campus Style

Lowercase disciplines and majors (e.g., “She teaches history”; “She is an electrical and computer engineering senior”).

These are the formal names of UT’s 19 colleges and schools:

Beware of common mistakes: It’s the College of Natural Sciences (plural) but the Moody College of Communication (singular).

Named schools:

  • Note that of the seven schools that are named after people, only two include the first name of the honoree: the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. These should not be shortened to “the Johnson School” or “the Hicks School.”
  • Conversely, first names should not be added to school names if they do not appear in the list above, such as the Red McCombs School or the Michael Dell Medical School.
  • When using the proper name of a school, do not omit the donor’s name (e.g., McCombs School of Business, Moody College of Communication).

First and second reference:

  • On first reference, use the full college or school name. On second reference, shorthand is acceptable if clear from context (e.g., “She has appointments in Liberal Arts, Fine Arts and Engineering”).
  • Confirm preferred shorthand for colleges or schools (e.g., Texas Law, Cockrell School).
  • Do not use the abbreviation “CSU” (college, school or unit) in public-facing communication.
  • Spell out “Forty Acres” (not “40,” despite AP style on numbers).
  • Capitalize “Tower” when referring to UT’s Main Building. Use “UT Tower” if externally facing or ambiguous.
  • Capitalize the following:
    • Main Building.
    • Main Mall (plaza in front of the Main Building).
    • South Mall (grassy area south of Inner Campus Drive).
    • West Mall.
    • East Mall.
  • Use J.J. Pickle Research Campus on first reference so it does not sound like a place that researches pickles. Note that the name has been updated from the former J.J. Pickle Research Center.
  • Use quotation marks around the names of courses.
  • Capitalize specific semesters, as in “Fall 2022 semester” or “Spring 2023.” When not attached to a year, “fall” and “spring” should be lowercase even if referring to a semester, as in, “The fall semester will begin in August.” Likewise, write “the winter term,” but “Winter 2024,” and “May term” generically but “May Term 2024.”
  • Lowercase “commencement” when used as a common noun. “We’re looking forward to commencement.” Uppercase when referring to a specific ceremony: “Winter Commencement,” “UT’s 145th Spring Commencement.”

An alumnus is anyone who attended a given school; they need not have earned a degree to be an alumnus. These are loanwords from Latin, and it is proper English to observe the Latin plural and singular forms:

  • Alumnus: Singular, general or male.
  • Alumna: Singular, female.
  • Alumni: Plural, general or males. The word “alumni” is always plural.
  • Alumnae: Plural, females.
  • Alum/alums: Slang. Avoid unless quoting.

Texas Exes:

  • “Texas Ex” and “Texas Exes” are acceptable terms for alumni of UT Austin on second reference, bearing in mind the audience. UT’s alumni association is the Texas Exes. Correct: “… the Texas Exes alumni association …” or “the Texas Exes, UT’s alumni association, is sponsoring …”
  • The title Distinguished Alumnus is capitalized only if referring to a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award, given by the Texas Exes.

Use the term “student-athlete,” which is hyphenated.

The names Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium and DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium are both acceptable on first reference. When using the full name, do not place a period after the K. (Coach Royal had a middle initial but not a middle name. His middle initial was in honor of his mother, Katy, who died when Darrell was an infant.)

Communication with or on behalf of the UT System should adhere to the UT System’s own guidelines.