CPUT Style Guide

CPUT

Style Guide

Version: May 2022

Contents

1. Quick Reference Guide to CPUT House Style

2. Spelling and Grammar

2.1 Capital letters

2.2 Abbreviations

2.3 Frequently confused/ misused words; Tricky words/ phrases

3. Punctuation

3.1 And; Ampersand (&)

3.2 Apostrophe

3.3 Brackets

3.4 Comma

3.5 Forward slash or oblique stroke or solidus

3.6 Hyphen/n-dash

3.7 Lists: Bulleted; Numbered

3.8 Quotation marks

3.9 Colon; Semicolon

3.10 Ellipsis

3.11 Exclamation mark; Question mark; Full stop

4. Numbers

4.1 Dates

4.2 Time

4.3 Fractions

4.4 Percentages

4.5 Measurements

4.6 Telephone numbers

4.7 Units of currency

5. Formatting Documents

6. CPUT Communication Resources

6.1 Letterhead templates

6.2 MS PowerPoint templates

7. Academic Qualifications

8. CPUT-specific Nomenclature

8.1 CPUT Address

8.2 CPUT Buildings

8.3 CPUT Campuses

8.4 CPUT Faculties

8.5 CPUT Residences

9. POPI Act

10. Acronyms Common to CPUT and Higher Education References and Further Reading

Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) Style Guide

A brand has a defined way of communicating in words, as well as imagery and design. The purpose of this Style Guide is to assist our University users to produce written communication that “speaks with one voice” and creates a consistent, “house style” with a distinctive tone that ties in with the brand. This Guide belongs to all those invested in the vision of CPUT, and therefore remains open to comments and suggestions from our staff and students regarding its content. This Guide is meant to be used electronically, as this allows users to look up items easily by doing a simple search in the PDF. However, it may also be printed if preferred.

The following information gives the basic points to follow when writing.

1. Quick Reference Guide to CPUT House Style

Language/ spelling: UK/ British English, not American, spelling (e.g. analyse not analyze; organisation not organization). Set your computer to “English (UK)” in your operating system, Windows or MacOS, and in all the software applications you use, e.g. Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

CPUT initialism: Initialisms that refer to tertiary institutions do not take a definite article, e.g. CPUT and not the CPUT; all references to CPUT as the University or the Institution (in reference to the academic institution, not the bricks and mortar building) take the upper case.

CPUT campuses: When referring to the various CPUT campuses by name, “campus” is spelt with a capital letter, e.g. “Bellville Campus”, if not specific, use lower case “campus”. The accompanying preposition is “on”, e.g. “on the District Six Campus”.

Full stops: Do not include full stops in the following:

• Titles (Prof, Dr, Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss, Rev, Profs, Revs)

• Initials of names (C Nhlapo, JI Kioko, etc.) Also note no spaces after or between initials

• Qualifications (ND, BEd, BSc, MEd, PhD, DPhil, etc.)

Quotation marks: Double quotation marks should be used throughout, except when referring to titles of papers, workshops and conferences.

Date: Follow the format day/ month/ year

Either write 09/02/2021 with a zero preceding the number if less than ten; or 9 February 2021 (not 09 February; or the 9th of February; or February 9th, etc.) without a zero preceding the day, if less than ten

Time: Follow the numerical, 24-hour clock format, i.e. 08:30; 21:45

• Do not insert AM/ am/ a.m.; or PM/ pm/ p.m. as these are superfluous

• Any time earlier than 10:00 should have a “0” preceding the number, e.g. 05:45; 07:00; 09:59; the preference is for a colon as the separator between hour and minute, not “h” or “H”

Telephone numbers: Use the format 021 959 6767; or if an international publication +27 21 959 6767 or +27 83 000 0000 (without brackets or hyphens, but note spaces)

• insert non-breaking spaces by typing Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar to prevent the number from being able to split up over two lines

2. Spelling and Grammar

2.1 Capital letters

As a rule, all proper nouns must be capitalised – these include given first names and surnames of persons; place names like countries, cities and towns and the proper adjectives of these, e.g. South African, Capetonian; book, magazine or newspaper titles; names of organisations and companies; days and months; street names; given names of planets, oceans, mountains and other natural phenomena; religions, sects and tribe names; etc.

Avoid capitalising words with a clear general meaning. A test to see if the reference is general is whether the indefinite article (a or an) or plural form is used. Examples of these include: those faculties, a faculty member, a departmental issue, other universities, committees of Council, a dean, all heads of department.

We also capitalise CPUT-specific words that have direct or specific reference. A test to see if the reference is specific is whether the definite article (the) is used.

Shortened forms of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, i.e. the University; the Institution

Words followed by a number indicating a sequence: Chapter 14, Figure 3.1, Grade 1, Level 5; Question 2.3, Regulation No. 2, Room 3.1b, Rule 6.1, Section 2, Table 23; Term 4.

Names of fields of study, subjects or disciplines: Agriculture; Business Management; Education; Electrical Engineering; Opticianry; Photography; etc.

All specific strategies, plans, reports, forums, frameworks, charters, codes and policies: the Risk Management Framework; the Institutional Forum; the Code of Conduct; the Annual Report, the Memorandum of Agreement; the IT Strategy; the Student Feedback System; the Terms of Reference; the Statute; etc.

All job titles with specific reference (no matter at what organisational level): Again, the test to determine specificity is whether the definite article (the) is used: Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Executive Dean, Manager; Mentor; Tutor; Director; Dean; Chairperson of Council; Convocation Executive; Auditor; Internal/External Auditor; Convocation Representative; Secretary; Assistant Cleaner. This also holds for references to titles of persons outside the University, e.g. Investment Specialist; Public Protector; etc.

All names of organisational units and shorter forms referring to them: the Council, the Senate, the Faculty of Applied Sciences (or the Faculty), the Office of the VC, the Marketing and Communication Department (or the Department – in relation to the immediately preceding); as well as the organisational units of other external bodies (the letter from the Asset Department).

Names of plans, committees, groups or teams: the Strategic Plan Vision 2030, the Audit and Risk Oversight Committee of Council, the Nanomaterials Group, the Council Task Team, the Language Unit. (Once a committee or work group or unit has been named in a document, and if there are no other committees or work groups or units with which it can be confused, it may be referred to as the Committee, or the Work Group, or Group, or the Unit.)

Racial terminology: When there is a need to specify the “race” of persons, use “black”, “white” and “coloured” in relation to population groups, do not use capital letters; do not refer to people as “blacks”, “whites” and “coloureds”; rather say “the black person/s”, etc.; but for Indian person/s (proper noun) use upper case.

2.2 Abbreviations

An abbreviation is a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent the whole, such as Dr for Doctor; DHET for Department of Higher Education and Training; mm for millimetre.

Initialisms are abbreviations that are pronounced one letter at a time, such as CPUT; UN; kg

Acronyms are abbreviations formed from the initials or sometimes syllables of the longer name or phrase, usually pronounced as words, such as UNESCO; NASA; AIDS

Contractions are abbreviations that include the first and last letter of the singular, such as Mr = mister

Where abbreviations are used in text, unless for those used commonly, abbreviations must be written out in full on first appearance, followed directly by the abbreviation in brackets, e.g. the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). It should be assumed that the reader may not be familiar with all acronyms used, so as a courtesy and to prevent confusion, they should be expanded at first mention.

In British style, contractions should have no full stops (Mr, St, Jr, Revd, edn), and for the most part, full stops and spaces have been omitted in the CPUT Style Guide.

Exceptions include ordinary small-letter abbreviations like: e.g.; etc.; no.; et al.

No full stops in titles like Prof, Dr, Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss, Rev, Profs, Revs; etc.; For “Professor” the preference at CPUT is for it to be abbreviated throughout as “Prof”.

Qualifications should be written without full stops or spaces: BA, BSc, MEd, PhD, DLitt, MPhil, etc.

Abbreviations, including those that are pronounced as words, should not be written with an apostrophe to denote the plural, e.g. VCs, MOUs, NGOs, etc.

Common Latin abbreviations are not written in italic, such as i.e., e.g., but et al. is italicised.

Note that when abbreviations that take a full stop are used to end a sentence, do not add another full stop to the end of the sentence.

Symbols are also sometimes used to denote words, like # for “number”, but preferably use “no.” as the abbreviated form; nos. for the plural.

Note that the choice of using “a” or “an” before an abbreviation is determined by the pronunciation and not the spelling of the word following the indefinite article. Use “an” before abbreviations beginning with a vowel sound, e.g. an MA; and an unaspirated “h”, e.g. an honours degree.

For abbreviations commonly used in the higher education environment, see pages 46–49 of this Guide.

2.3 Frequently confused/ misused words; Tricky words/ phrases

Definitions of words come from or are paraphrased from the Oxford Dictionary of English (2005); the Oxford University Style Guide; UFS English Style Guide; the COD (2006) or Collins English Dictionary [Online] (2013). The following words are often confused or misspelt.

a lot

Meaning a large amount or number of people or things; two words accept, except “Accept” means “to agree to receive something that is offered”

“Except” usually occurs in the sense of “not including” access, assess “Access” means “a way of approaching or reaching or entering”

“Assess” means to “estimate the size or quality of” accessary, accessory

“Accessary” is used in criminal law and describes someone who helps another person commit a crime

“Accessory” describes something that can be added to a machine or to clothing, which has a useful or decorative purpose accommodation Note spelling

act, bill

A bill is a draft that has to be approved before it becomes an act (and thus the law). Use in upper case when in reference to a specific act or bill. e.g. Higher Education Act, (Act No. 101 of 1997) (the Act). Here, any subsequent mentions of this act also take the capital.

ad hoc No hyphen; no italics adverse, averse

“Adverse” means “opposed or unfavourable to”

“Averse” means “unwilling or reluctant to” advice, advise “Advice”, noun, e.g. “I asked the committee for advice.”

“Advise”, verb, e.g. “The committee advised me to reapply next year.”

adviser, advisory e.g. “He is the main subject adviser.”

e.g. “She is employed in an advisory capacity.”

affect, effect

“Affect”, verb, means “cause a change in, has an influence on”: e.g. “Some plants are easily affected by cold.” More often than not, “effect” occurs as a noun, meaning “result, outcome”, e.g. “The disastrous effect of acid rain on the environment is clear.”

In formal English, “effect” can also be used as a verb meaning “to bring about” or “to accomplish”: e.g. “The new monetary policy has effected great improvements in the economy.”

affidavit Note spelling

AIDS

Acronym for acquired immune deficiency syndrome; takes capitals, e.g. HIV/AIDS

allude, elude “Allude”, verb, means to refer to something indirectly

“Elude”, verb, means to not be caught by or to avoid someone or something; or a thought that you cannot remember; or something that you do not succeed in achieving alternate, alternative “Alternate”, verb, means to happen or exist one after the other repeatedly

“Alternate”, adjective, means with first one thing, then another thing, and then the first thing again

“Alternative”, adjective, means a second or further choice all together, altogether

alumna

alumnae

alumni

alumnus

“All together”, adverb, means to be together in a single group

“Altogether”, adverb, means “completely” or “in total”

Female former member (of college, etc.); not italicised

Plural form for female-only former members (of college, etc.); not italicised

Plural form for either male-only or mixed-gender former members (of college, etc.); not italicised

Male former member (of college, etc.); not italicised among, between “Among” means “surrounded by and associated with”, e.g. “Children among the crowd were the most taken with the story.”

“Between” refers to the position of something in relation to two other points, both literally and figuratively, e.g. “The child walked between her two brothers.”; and “There is a fine balance between freedom of speech and libel.” (OED)

any one, anyone “Any one” means any single person or thing out of a group of people or things

“Anyone” means “any person”. It is always written as one word. apart, a part “Apart”, adverb, means to be separated by distance or time

“A part”, noun, means a piece of something that forms the whole of that thing

apparatus Plural is “apparatus” or “apparatuses”

appendix In reference to matter added to books or documents; plural is “appendices” appraise, apprise “Appraise”, verb, means “to value or to assess”

“Apprise”, verb, means “to inform” artefact Note spelling

artificial intelligence (AI)

Lower case when used within a sentence award, confer We “award” diplomas and certificates; and “confer” degrees bachelor’s degree

Use the apostrophe -s, even if the word “degree” is omitted; when used in conjunction with the actual degree conferred, use capitals, e.g. Bachelor of Paralegal Studies belief, believe “Belief”, noun, means “mental conviction”

To “believe”, verb, means to “accept the truth or accuracy of (a statement, doctrine, etc.)” or “to have confidence or faith in (a person, God, etc.)” (OED) benefited Note spelling; one “t” beside, besides “Beside” means “at the side of”

“Besides” means “in addition to” biannual/biannually, biennially “Biannual/biannually” means happening or appearing twice a year (same as “twice a year”, “twice-yearly” or “every six months”)

“Biennially” means “lasting two years” or “recurring or taking place once every two years” (same as “every two years”)

biased Note spelling

big data

Lower case when used in a sentence

billion

One thousand million

Blackboard Proper noun, starts with upper case in reference to the online teaching resource

If in reference to the classroom writing aid, “blackboard” is written in lower case

bored, boring “Bored”, adjective, means to feel weary and impatient because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one’s current activity. The normal construction for bored is “bored by” or “bored with”.

“Boring”, adjective, means something or someone is not interesting or exciting borrow, lend You borrow from a person

You lend to a person

bullet point

A bullet point is a punctuation mark that is used to create bulleted lists. Note spelling of “bulleted”.

See 3.7 Lists: Bulleted; Numbered burnt “Burnt”, verb, past tense of “burn”, used in British English, as opposed to “burned” (American English) bus Plural is “buses”

calendar Note spelling campus Plural is “campuses”

See also note to CPUT campuses on page 3 of this Guide can, may “Can” is a statement of a person’s innate/physical ability, e.g. “I can write the exam today.”

“May” means that permission has been granted for something to be done, e.g. “I may write the exam because I have completed all the required modules.”

“May” is also used to express possibility, e.g. “They may write the exam on Tuesday if the lecturer is back from leave by then.”

cause, course

cellphone

“Cause”, noun, a person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon, or condition, e.g. “The cause of the accident is not clear.”; or a principle, aim, or movement to which one is committed and which one is prepared to defend or advocate, e.g. “She devoted her whole adult life to the cause of deaf people.”

“Cause”, verb, make (something, especially something bad) happen, e.g. “This disease can cause blindness.”

“Course”, noun, a route or direction; a procedure adopted to deal with a situation, e.g. a course of action; a dish, or a set of dishes served together, e.g. a three course meal; an area of land set aside for sports; a series of lectures or lessons in a particular subject, leading to an examination or qualification; a series of repeated treatments or doses of medication.

“Course”, verb, (of liquid) to move without obstruction; flow

The phrase “of course” is used to introduce an idea or action as being obvious or to be expected. From OED.

The phrase is not: “off course” or “of cause” or “off cause”

One word; preferred to “cell” or “mobile” or “cellular telephone”

century Lower case; in text, centuries may be written out, e.g. eighteenth century or abbreviated, e.g. 18th century, but be consistent chairperson, chair Do not use “chairman” to avoid gender bias

Christian name Prefer to use “first name” to avoid religious bias

cloud, the

In reference to software and services that run and can be accessed on the Internet, instead of locally on your computer.

Lower case when used in sentence; if used as a noun, couple with “the”; when used as an adjective, omit “the”.

co-

Compound words that start with “co” are most often not hyphenated, even if the other part of the word begins with a vowel, but consult a dictionary if unsure about specific usage, e.g. cooperate; cooperative; cooperation; coordinate; coordination; coordinator colloquium Note spelling

commence

Very formal; prefer to avoid; rather use “begin” or “start” committee Note spelling

compare, comparison with Always “compare/ in comparison with” (infers the existence of similarities and differences)

“Compare to” means “to liken to” competence Meaning the ability to do something well. Plural is “competences”. competency Meaning an important skill that is needed to do a specific job. Plural is “competencies”. complement, compliment “Complement” means “to add to, or to provide a matching component”

“Compliment” means to “praise” confer A degree/diploma is conferred on a student consensus Note spelling consist/s of, comprise

e.g. “The department consists of five units.”

e.g. “The department comprises five units.” (Not comprises of…) contractions Contractions commonly used in speech lend an informal, personal tone to writing, e.g. those that shorten the word “not” (can’t, shouldn’t) and forms of “be” (she’s, they’re) and “have” (you’ve, they’ve, could’ve, what’s, who’s, what’ve)

In emails, the use of contractions makes communication sound more personal and natural, but in academic and business writing, avoiding contractions lends a more formal tone to the document convenor British form of “convener” (American English)

Council, the

Always upper case “C”. In internal correspondence, Council may be written without “the” when referring to the CPUT Council, e.g. “our Council”, “Council”.

Note, it is preferable to use “the Council of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT)” at first mention, and “Council”, “the Council”, or “the CPUT Council” after that

The same principle applies to Senate (with or without “the”)

The University Council is the governing body of CPUT. It consists of members appointed by the Minister of Education, as well as representatives from Senate, the SRC, the Convocation, and academic and non-academic CPUT staff.

Council is, amongst others, responsible for making rules for the Institution, determining the admission policy, and determining, with the approval of Senate, the entrance requirements of the Institution. councillor Note spelling. Noun, elected person who represents others and makes decisions on behalf of them. Avoid councilman or councilwoman for gender bias.

counsel, counsellor “Counsel”, verb, meaning to give advice

“Counsel”, noun, meaning a legal adviser conducting a case

“Counsellor”, noun, meaning a person who gives advice coursework

One word

creditors’ clerk

Note the position of the apostrophe criteria

Plural of “criterion” so takes the plural verb: “Criteria are…” cum laude

From Latin, meaning “with praise”, e.g. “More than half the class graduated cum laude.”; “He received a cum laude qualification.” Italicise.

curriculum

Plural of “curricula”; not italicised data

The plural of “datum”, but takes the singular verb, e.g. “Data is costly.”

day by day

No hypens. Adjective, meaning “gradually over many days”. day-to-day

Hypenated. Adjective, meaning occurrences happening every day as a regular part of work or life, e.g. “He is responsible for the day-to-day running of the IT Centre”; “Lecturers, in their day-to-day work, are also called on to be counsellors to students.”

Dean Use lower case in general reference, but upper case in reference to a specific job title, e.g. the Dean of Applied Sciences.

Deans of faculties are responsible for the day-to-day management of their faculty and its academic programme. decent, descent “Decent”, adjective, means socially acceptable or good “Descent”, noun, means a movement downwards, or in reference to one’s ancestry decision maker (noun), decision making (noun), decision-making (adjective)

When used as a noun, no hyphen, e.g. “His decision making was often unpredictable.”

When used as an adjective, use the hyphen, e.g. “His decisionmaking ability was often poor.” department/ Department

Lower case when used in general terms, but when coupled with a specific department, use upper case, e.g. the Department of Chemical Engineering

Note that “Department” must take “of” in e.g., “the Department of Chemical Engineering” (not the Department Chemical Engineering) dependant Noun. Always a person or thing; supported by someone or something.

dependent

Adjective, meaning “needing the support of someone or something” desperate, disparate “Desperate”, adjective, means “a sense of hopelessness that something is very bad or impossible”, or “having a great need or want”

“Disparate”, adjective, means “different in every way” diagram

Adjective: diagrammatic did “Did”, verb, past tense of “do”, e.g. “Faiza did the work.” This sentence implies that sometime in the past, Faiza did the work.

Sometimes we want to emphasise or confirm who exactly did the work, or if the work was indeed done, in which case we may be inclined to say, “Faiza did do the work”, which is correct.

However, if this emphasis or confirmation is not required, it is not necessary to add “do” to the sentence, e.g. “She did do the report yesterday.” It is sufficient to say, “She did the report yesterday”. different “Different from” not “different to”

diplomate, diploma candidate

After receiving their diplomas at a diploma or graduation ceremony, they become “diplomates” (not diplomats)

Students who have passed their final diploma examinations and are about to receive their diplomas, are called “diploma candidates” directions (of the compass)

Use lower case; north, south, east, west Also, southbound, southerly, southern, southerner, southernmost, southward, southeast, southeasterly, southeastward, etc.

Use lower case when referring to places in general in reference to direction, e.g. “southern African countries”; “He lives in the east of the city.”

disc, disk

Use “disc” for all references

discreet, discrete “Discreet”, adjective, means to be careful or modest, and not to cause embarrassment or attract too much attention, especially by keeping something secret

“Discrete”, adjective, means something is distinct and separate, or has a clear independent shape or form

doctoral degree, doctorate

dreamt

Either form of “a doctorate” or “a doctoral degree” may be used, but not “a doctorate degree”

Verb, past tense of “dream”, used in British English, as opposed to “dreamed” (American English)

e- Compound words that use the prefix “e” where “e” means “electronic” are most often lower case, unless used to start a sentence, e.g. e-books; e-commerce; e-learning (Note: Not e.g. e-Commerce or eCommerce or E-Commerce)

each of This phrase always takes the singular verb since “each” infers “one”, e.g. “Each of the departments is represented here.” each other, one another

Prefer to use “each other” when talking about two people or things; and “one another” when talking about more than two Eastern, the East Use upper case when referring to the region of Asia and values traditionally imbued with people or places from this region; when referring to the compass direction, use lower case.

The same applies to “the West”. See Western, the West. economic, economical “Economic”, adjective, is used in reference to trade, industry, and money/wealth

“Economical”, adjective, is used in reference to avoiding waste, and using resources sparingly

e.g. From Latin, “exempli gratia” means “for example”; abbreviated using full stops

e-learning

Hyphenated. See “e-”

email No hyphen; lower case; unless used at the beginning of a sentence embarrass, embarrassed Note spelling enquire, enquiry Preferred to inquire/inquiry enrol, enrolment Note spelling, but “enrolled”; “enrolling” ensure, insure “Ensure” means “to make sure”

“Insure” means “to guarantee against loss” erratum Plural of “errata”; not italicised etc.

From Latin, “et” means “and” and “cetera” means “the rest”; used to indicate that a list is not complete; and that there are other items in the list besides the ones explicitly mentioned; include full stop etiquette

Note spelling everybody, everyone, everything

All use the singular verb “is” every day, everyday “Every day” means “each day without exception”

“Everyday”, adjective, means “ordinary, unremarkable” evoke, invoke “Evoke” means to “bring to mind”

“Invoke” means “to call upon solemnly” exam Must be written out in full as “examination” in formal writing Executive Management Noun, always upper case when used in reference to the collective senior leadership of CPUT; takes the singular verb “has”, e.g “Executive Management has announced an increase in research grant funding from next year.”

The Executive Management is responsible for the management of the university. The Executive Management at CPUT consists of the Vice-Chancellor, three Deputy Vice-Chancellors, the Registrar, the Executive Directors of Finance, Human Capital, Infrastructure Development and Facilities Management, Office of the ViceChancellor and the Dean of Students.

exemption from Use as “exemption from”, not “exemption for”, e.g. “The student was granted exemption from writing his final tests.”

expand, expend “Expand”, verb, means to increase in size, number or importance, or to make something increase

“Expend”, verb, means to spend or use up something, especially time, effort, or money extension

Note spelling extra-curricular Hyphenated extramural

One word few, a few

When used in a statement about number, “few” evokes negative perceptions, e.g. “Few students are able to help out on Mondays.” (The inference is that there should be more of them.)

“A few students are able to help out on Mondays” is a more neutral statement (the implication is that there are enough of them, although there should/could also be more) fewer, less

“Fewer” is used to refer to individuals or individual items, e.g. fewer students, fewer certificates.

“Less” refers to quantity, not number, e.g. less milk, less money first name

first-year, first year

Preferred to “Christian name”

When used as an adjective or noun, “first-year” is hyphenated, e.g. “All first-year students have received student cards.” or “First-years must all register online.”

But: “All students in their first year have received student cards.” First Year Experience (FYE)

At CPUT, this term is not hyphenated foreign words/ phrases

Must be italicised if not in common use fulfil

In the singular, one “l”; but fulfilled and fulfilling full-time, full time When used as an adjective, “full-time” is hyphenated, e.g. “She has a full-time contract now.”

But: “At full time, the CPUT rugby team was ahead by 12 points.” focused, focuses, focusing Only one “s”

foreword An introduction to a book written by a person other than the author. See also Preface forward

Adverb, in reference to direction, e.g. “The faculty is moving forward in leaps and bounds.” Not: “We are moving forwards...” fundraising One word gas, gassed, gasses Note spelling gender-based violence

Generation X, Y, Z, A

Generations

Note hyphen; lower case; abbreviated to “GBV”

See Generations

Names ascribed to these generational cohorts are defined (loosely) by birth year. These dates may vary depending on the source.

• Baby Boomer: Persons born between 1946 and 1964

• Generation X: Persons born between 1964 and 1979/80

• Millennial/ Generation Y: Persons born between 1980/81 and 1994/6

• Generation Z: Persons born between 1996/7 and around 2012

• Generation A: Persons born between 2012 and around 2025 -goer

Compound words that use the suffix “-goer” are written as one word e.g. coursegoer; theatregoer; churchgoer going to [go] “Going to” if followed by a verb, means that you will do something in the future, e.g. “I am going to sleep”.

It is therefore not necessary to add “go” to the phrase, as the act of going is already implied. Do not say, “I am going to go to sleep”.

Since “going to” is not very time-specific, and if you are trying to make it clear that you will not be doing something immediately or soon, you may be inclined to say, “I am going to go to the shops”. Rather say, e.g. “I am going to the shops later/ tomorrow/ in an hour/ on Friday”.

good, well

“Good”, adjective, is always used with a noun, e.g. “He is a good student.” It should never be used as an adverb, e.g. “He sings really good.” The word “well” is the correct word to use, i.e. “He sings really well.”

“Well” is an adverb, which means that it is used to describe actions. It answers the question “how?”, e.g. “I am well.”; “She did not do well on the exam.”; “The foreign student speaks English well.”; “We really don’t know them very well yet.”; “The technician does well under pressure.”; “She handled the situation as well as she could.”

The words “good” and “well” can also be used as a predicate adjective, which follows a linking verb and refers back to the subject of the linking verb.

When using linking verbs that refer to the senses, such as “appear”, “taste”, “sound”, “smell”, “look”, and “seem”, use “good”, e.g. “After undergoing treatment, she seems good.”; “Your lunch looks good today.”

When describing someone’s emotional state (usually how they feel), use the word “good”, e.g. “I am feeling good after that exam”; “We feel good about the decision to appoint the candidate.”

When using linking verbs that describe health, such as “be”, “feel” or “look”, use “well”, e.g. “If I feel well enough, I’ll go to class tomorrow.”; “He was not well, and left the lecture early.”

When asked how you’re doing, the more correct answer is, “I’m well” not “I’m good”.

government

Use a capital letter for Government when referring to the South African Government; takes the plural verb, i.e. the Government are graduand Noun, a student who is about to graduate graduate, a/the Noun, a person upon whom an academic degree has been conferred. Note pronunciation, emphasis on the first syllable “grad-uate”.

graffiti

Plural for “graffito”; use “graffiti are”

grey Not “gray” (American English)

half-time

hands-on

hard copy

Hyphenated

Hyphenated when used as an adjective

Two words

hashtag In social media contexts, the symbol [#] is used to describe the general subject of a post. Capitalise the first letter of each word, with no space in between, e.g. #CreatingFutures

home page Two words

honour, honours Note spelling. In British English, a “u” is included; but honorary professor; honorarium; honoraria

honours degree No apostrophe -s; lower case when used in general terms, e.g. “The honours is a one-year degree.” When used in conjunction with the actual degree conferred, use capitals, e.g. Honours degree in Photography

human resource, human resources

Usually used in reference to the department in a company/ organisation responsible for dealing with employees

At CPUT, the Human Resource Department is called Human Capital, or the Human Capital (Department) I, me

Deciding whether to use “I” or “me” is difficult when it is coupled with another pronoun or with a noun. It is then necessary to consider the subject/object in a sentence.

The subject is the person or thing that the sentence is about (e.g. I read a book). In contrast, object pronouns (me, us, them, him, and her) are used in the object position. The object is the recipient of an action, e.g. “A book was read by me.”

In deciding whether to use “I” or “me”, a useful test is to break the compound sentence into its components.

e.g. The lecturer and I? /me? have reviewed the thesis.

1. The lecturer has reviewed the thesis.

2. I have reviewed the thesis.

3. Me has reviewed the thesis.

In the example, 3 is obviously incorrect, so the sentence should read: “The lecturer and I have reviewed the thesis.”

It becomes tricky when pronouns like “you” and “I” are joined using “or” or “nor”. In this case, the verb that follows should agree with the pronoun closest to it. e.g. “Either you or I am/are reviewing the thesis.”

Here, the pronoun closest to the verb (reviewing) is “I” with which we use “am”, not “are”; therefore, “Either you or I am reviewing the thesis” is correct.

i.e.

From Latin, “i.e.” stands for “id est”, meaning “that is” (in explanation). Note full stops.

imply, infer “Imply” means to “suggest without being direct”

“Infer” means to “deduce” something in between, in-between “In between” means between the two things mentioned, e.g. “I had lunch and dinner, and a quick snack in between”.

“In-between”, adjective, means to be between two clear or accepted stages or states, e.g. “As an 11-year-old, she is still at an in-between stage.” It also means to have the qualities of two different things, e.g. “The colour turquoise isn’t blue or green, it’s in-between.”

incidence, incident “Incidence” means “the range or scope of a thing, the extent of its influence or effects”

“Incident(s)” mean, inter alia, “an occurrence or event, sometimes comparatively trivial in itself, which precipitates or could precipitate something major.” (From OED)

input

Note: Not “imput”

We give input on…; receive input from…

install, installation “Install”, verb, meaning to “set up or fix something for use”; or “to place a person in a new position”

instalment

instil, instilled, instillation, instilment

Note spelling

“Instil”, verb, meaning to “impart knowledge or an attitude or an idea gradually”. (“Instill” is American English)

Institution, the An alternative for referring to CPUT. Note the spelling – initial upper case. We can also use “the University” (note the capital letter if we mean “our” University) – this form is officially preferred in formal/ policy documents.

inter-

inter alia

All words compounded with “inter” are one word; no hyphen, e.g. interdepartmental, unless the other word begins with a vowel and/ or causes ambiguity, but consult a dictionary if unsure about specific usage.

From Latin, meaning “among other things”; italicise

Internet Upper case

italic, italicise, italics A style of writing or printing in which the letters lean to the right. Used to emphasise text; when a foreign word or phrase is used; for Latin scientific names of plant and animal species; for titles of books, magazines, journals, newspapers. Lower case; opposite of roman (letters set vertically).

it’s, its “It’s” is the contraction of “it is” or “it has”

“Its” is the possessive adjective jewellery Note spelling; not jewelry (American English) judgement In reference to moral, academic judgment In reference to a legal decision only kick off, kick-off Verb: kick off Noun: kick-off kilometre/ metre/ litre Note spelling; not: kilometer/ meter/ liter (American English)

KwaZulu-Natal Note spelling laissez-faire

Hyphenated; not italicised languages, South African official Sesotho, isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sepedi, Setswana, isiNdebele, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, English, Afrikaans later, latter “Later”, adverb, is used to express time in the near future, soon or afterwards, e.g. “I’ll see you later.”

“Latter”, adjective, means “near or towards the end of something”, e.g. “I was very busy during the latter part of the week.” Here, the latter means Friday to Sunday.

“Latter” can also describe the second of two things mentioned, e.g. “He could either study or go to the mall; he chose the latter”. Here, the latter is “go to the mall”.

lay, lie/lay down, lie down “Lay”, irregular transitive verb – lay / laid / laying, needs a direct object to convey complete meaning. It means to put something or someone down, e.g. “Lay your head on the pillow.” If the object is missing, you want to ask the question “What?” or “Whom?”

“Lie”, irregular intransitive verb – lie / lay / lain – lying, does not take a direct object. Intransitive verbs are complete in themselves and don’t require an object or complement to complete their meaning.

“Lie” means to rest in a horizontal position or to be located somewhere, e.g. “If you are tired, lie here and have a rest”; “Durban lies towards the east.”

learnt

led

Verb, past tense of “learn”, used in British English, as opposed to “learned” (American English)

The past and past perfect form of the verb to “lead”, e.g. “He led the student protests last week.”

less than, under When explaining quantities or numbers of items (except age or amount of money), it is preferable to use “less than” instead of “under”, e.g. “Less than half of students are male”; “Students under 21 were not eligible to apply.”

liaise, liaison

licence, license

life cycle

Note: Not less “then”

Note spelling

“Licence”, noun, e.g. “The car’s licence has expired.”

“License”, verb, e.g. “You need to license your car by the end of the month.”

Two words

lifestyle One word

loan

Loan to, e.g. “An NSFAS loan is an amount of money lent to a student.”

logo Plural is “logos”

lose, losing, loser, loses, lost

Lose, verb, meaning to no longer have something because you do not know where it is, e.g. “I keep losing my keys.” or because it has been taken away, e.g. “If you don’t pass, you’ll lose your bursary.” or to fail at a sport, e.g. “I’m sure we won’t be the losers in the Varsity Shield this year.” or to stop feeling something, e.g. “Losing the match really made us lose faith in the captain’s ability to lead.”

loose, loosen, looser “Loose”, adjective, meaning that something is not tied tightly, or not firmly held in place, e.g. “You’ll need to loosen the wheel nuts to change the tyre.”; “Those loose electrical wires are a hazard.”

It also means that something is not held together or attached to anything else, e.g. “If you don’t nail down those loose planks, someone might trip.”

It also means (of clothing) not close to the body, e.g. “I’d recommend wearing looser clothing for yoga.”

loss, losses “Loss”, noun, means to no longer have something or have less of something, e.g. “His hearing loss is so bad that he has to wear a hearing aid.”; “If the rand keeps losing ground, there may be job losses.”

or a disadvantage caused by someone leaving or by something being taken away, e.g. “It’ll be a great loss to the university when the VC retires.”

or the death of a person, e.g. “The recent floods in Haiti caused a great loss of life.”

lots, lots of

macro-

maintenance

Informal. Prefer to avoid in formal writing. Use “a great/good deal of”, “many” or “much” instead.

All words compounded with “macro” are one word; no hyphen, e.g. “macroenterprise”, but consult a dictionary if unsure about specific usage

Note spelling

Management Noun, always upper case when used in reference to the collective senior leadership of CPUT; takes the singular verb “has”, e.g “Following an appeal from students, Management has revised the policy on gender-based violence.”

manoeuvre

master’s degree

Note spelling

Abbreviated to MA; note use of apostrophe; lower case when used in general terms, e.g. “She was awarded a master’s degree”.

When used in conjunction with the actual degree conferred, use capitals, e.g. Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning matrix

Plural is “matrices”

media Noun: Even though media is plural, it takes the singular verb, i.e. the media is; the media has

Memorandum of Understanding, Memorandum of Agreement

Microsoft applications

“Memorandum of Understanding”; abbreviated to “MOU”; plural is “Memorandums of Understanding”

“Memorandum of Agreement”; abbreviated to “MOA”; plural is “Memorandums of Agreement”

Applications owned by the Microsoft Corporation may be abbreviated to “MS” followed by a space, and the name of the application, e.g. MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, etc.

millennial See Generations

misspelt

moral, morale

Note spelling

“Moral”, noun or adjective, means, inter alia, “of or relating to human character or behaviour considered as good or bad; of or relating to the distinction between right and wrong, or good and evil, in relation to the actions, desires, or character of responsible human beings; ethical.” (OED)

“Morale”, noun, means “the mental or emotional state (with regard to confidence, hope, enthusiasm, etc.) of a person or group engaged in some activity”

more than, over When explaining quantities or numbers of items, it is preferable to use “more than” instead of “over”, e.g. “More than half of all students are female.”

Note: Not more “then”

Ms Preferred form of address used to refer to a woman irrespective of her marital status, i.e., whether she is married or not. Pronounced miz.

multi-

All words compounded with “multi” are one word; no hyphen, e.g. multidisciplinary, multimedia – unless the other word starts with a vowel, e.g. multi-institutional – but consult a dictionary if unsure about specific usage

neither, either

no.

“Neither” means “not one or the other of two or more people or things”, and is often used when both options are not acceptable

“Either” means “one or the other of two people or things” and tends to be used in a positive way, when one option will be chosen

When “either” and “neither” are used as conjunctions, “either” combines with “or”, and “neither” combines with “nor”.

Both use the singular verb, e.g. “Neither of them is going to the meeting.”

However, when “or” or “nor” joins two parts of a subject, the verb that follows should agree with the part closest to it, e.g. “Neither you nor I am going to the meeting.” “Neither you nor they are going to the meeting.” “Either the lecturer or the student has the key.” “Either the lecturer or the students have the keys.”

Abbreviated form of “number”; include full stop; only to be used in conjunction with numbers, not to be contracted otherwise, e.g. “I prefer style no. 3 to no. 6.”; “I prefer style no’s. 3 and 6.” Not, “The no. on the building is 112.”

nobody, no one, nothing All take singular verbs

none

no one

not only …; but also; not … but

number of

The pronoun “none” can either mean “not one”, or “not any”. It can therefore take either a singular or a plural verb, depending on whether you are referring to one of the group or to the group as a whole.

e.g. “None of the students is here.” (none = not one)

e.g. “None of the students know the answer.” (none = not any)

Two words; no hyphen; meaning nobody, or not one person

The noun closest to the verb determines the concord, e.g. “Not only the first-year students but also their lecturer is here.”; “Not the lecturer but the first-years are coming.”

When “number of” is used in a sentence and “number” is used as a noun, it takes the singular verb, e.g. “The number of first-year students is large compared to last year.” (Here, the number is the subject).

However, when “the number” is used as an adjective to describe the noun, the plural verb is used, e.g. “A large number of final-year students are passing with distinction this year.”

offline

offside

OK, okay

One word; no hyphen

One word; no hyphen

Informal, rather use “in order”, “satisfactory”, “acceptable”, “reasonable”, “adequate”, “alright” one of the, each of the One of a group is singular. e.g. “One of the students is here.”

Similarly, the word “each” is singular.

When “one of the” is followed by “who” or “that”, determine who is being described: the entire group, or one of them. e.g. “One of the students who are studying is sitting at the desk.”

“One” as the subject of a sentence is singular, even when followed by a plural pronoun like “them” or “us”; use singular verbs like “is” and “has”, e.g.: “One of them has the answer.”; “Only one of us is here today.”; “One of them knows the answer.”; “One of those is the correct answer.”

When “one of the” is followed by “who” or “that”, the verb used depends on what came before the pronoun “who” – that is, who or what is being described. Check who is being referred to: One of the group? Or the entire group?

e.g. “One of the students who are applying to universities this year is waiting in the classroom.” (Test: Who is applying to universities? The students are. Who is waiting in the classroom? One of them is.)

However, when the clause starting with “who” or “which” is enclosed within commas, it describes one of the group, not the entire group. We then again use a singular instead of a plural verb, e.g. “One of the students, who is applying to universities this year, is waiting in the classroom.” (Test: Who is applying to universities? One of the students is. Who is waiting in the classroom? This one student is.)

ongoing

One word; no hyphen online One word; no hyphen orientated, oriented Both forms are correct, but “oriented” is preferred outcomes-based Note spelling; hyphenated

over, more than When explaining quantities or numbers of items, it is preferable to use “more than” instead of “over”, e.g. “More than half of CPUT students are female.”

pan-African Lower case “p”; hyphenated, unless part of an organisation name or when used to start a sentence

panellist Note spelling (American English uses only one “l”)

parallel, paralleled Note spelling part-time

When used as an adjective, hyphenate partake, participate “Partake” (used with “of”) generally infers sharing, whether characteristics, food, action or conditions

“Participate” means “to take part” in something passerby Plural is “passersby” pavilion Note spelling; only one “l” per cent, percent Two words (American English uses “percent”) though percent is used widely; symbol is %

See 4.4 Percentages

personal, personnel

“Personal”, adjective, means “relating to or belonging to someone”, e.g. personal belongings; personal thoughts

“Personnel”, noun, means the people who work for an organisation/ company/ school, etc., i.e. the staff

population groups See Racial terminology

postdoctoral No hyphen

postgraduate No hyphen, whether as noun or adjective

postholder No hyphen practice, practice

“Practise”, verb, e.g. “You need to practise the guitar today.”

“Practice”, noun, e.g. “He visited the doctor’s practice.” pre- Compound words that start with “pre” are often not hyphenated, unless the other part of the word begins with a vowel, but consult a dictionary if unsure about specific usage

precede, proceed “Precede”, verb, means to be or to go before something or someone in time or space

“Proceed”, verb, means to continue/ go ahead as planned preempt “Preempt”, verb, means to take action in order to prevent something from happeneing preface

An introduction to a book written by the author. See also Foreword. prescribe, proscribe “Prescribe” means “to set down as an order”

“Proscribe” means “to prohibit” price, prize “Price” refers to the cost of an item

“Prize” refers to a reward or symbol of victory principal, principle “Principal”, noun or adjective, meaning “chief, main, head”

“Principle”, noun, meaning “ethical standpoint” professor Note spelling; prefer to abbreviate throughout as “Prof” when used as a title in conjunction with a person’s name; e.g. Prof Green program, programme “Program” is used in reference to computer applications

“Programme” refers to a schedule of events; course pronunciation Note spelling

provinces Use e.g. Western Cape or Gauteng, not the Western Cape Province or Gauteng province

The nine provinces of South Africa are: Eastern Cape; Free State; Gauteng; KwaZulu-Natal (note the spelling); Limpopo; Mpumalanga; Northern Cape; North West; Western Cape

public Used in conjunction with the singular verb, e.g. “The public is getting ready to vote.”

qualitative, quantitative

“Qualitative” means that something is measured by its quality rather than its quantity

“Quantitative” means that something is measured by its quantity rather than its quality

questionnaire Note spelling quorum

Plural is “quorums”

racial terminology

raise, rise

When there is a need to specify the “race” of persons, use “black”, “white” and “coloured” in relation to population groups, do not use capital letters; do not refer to people as “blacks”, “whites” and “coloureds”; rather say “the black person/s”, etc.; however, for Indian person/s (proper noun) use upper case

When used as a verb “rise” and “raise” have the same general meaning of “to move upwards”. However, “rise” is an intransitive verb (it does not take an object), while “raise” is a transitive verb (it requires an object).

“Rise” (“rose”/”risen”), verb, means something rises by itself, e.g. “The sun rises in the east.”; “I rose early to revise for my test.”

“Raise”, verb, means something else (the object in the sentence) is needed to raise something, e.g. “The student raised her hand.” rands

Lower case; when used in a sentence, use the plural (and lower case) for more than one rand; abbreviated to R; ISO code: ZAR, e.g. R1,050.00 (no space between R and the first digit; a full stop between the rands and cents; and a comma can be inserted into numbers of four or more digits)

See 4.7 Units of currency

re-

Compound words that use the prefix “re” are most often not hyphenated, unless the second word begins with an “e”, e.g. reentry, or unless omitting the hyphen causes ambiguity, e.g. re-cover, re-create, re-form

rebuke, rebut, refute “Rebuke” means “to speak disapprovingly to someone”

“Rebut” means “to argue that something is not true”

“Refute” means “to disprove something as being false”

registrar

riveting

Lower case, unless used as part of a proper noun phrase, e.g. “The Registrar of CPUT, Mr S Mokoena…”, but, “The registrar will attend the meeting online.”

Note spelling

roll-out, roll out “Roll-out”, noun, the occasion of unveiling a new product or service or policy/system, e.g. “The roll-out of the new curriculum starts on Monday.”

“Roll out”, verb, to make a new product or service or policy/system available for the first time, e.g. “The university plans to roll out the new computer software from next week.”

semi-final/s

Hyphenated

Senate Always upper case

The Senate regulates the academic functions of CPUT. It consists of various academic and non-academic members of staff and nominated members of the public. [sic]

From Latin, [sic] means “so” or “thus”, and denotes the author’s awareness that a grammatical error or mistake has been made in directly quoted text; always in square brackets

smelt

some time, sometime, sometimes

Verb, past tense of “smell”, used in British English, as opposed to “smelled” (American English)

“Some time” means a period of time, e.g. “It took me some time to learn to drive.”

“Sometime” refers to a time in the future or the past which is not known or not stated, e.g. “We will meet up sometime next week.”

“Sometimes” means on some occasions, but not always or often, e.g. “Sometimes they arrive at work late.”

SMS Plural SMSs, but SMSed, SMSing

spelt

spilt

staff

Verb, past tense of “spell”, used in British English, as opposed to “spelled” (American English)

Verb, past tense of “spill”, used in British English, as opposed to “spilled” (American English)

Even though the word (collective noun) usually takes a singular verb, at CPUT we use it with the plural pronoun (“they”), the plural possessive (“their”) and the plural verb (“are”) consistently, as staff are thought of in plural terms

stationary, stationery “Stationary” means “not moving”

“Stationery” means writing supplies like paper, pens, envelopes, etc.

Student Representative Council Not “Student’s Representative Council”; or “Student/s Representative/s Council”; abbreviated to SRC

supersede

Note spelling. Meaning to replace something, especially something older or more old-fashioned, e.g. “Many of the old ways of communication have been superseded by social media.”

that, which Use “that” to introduce a defining clause, e.g. “This is the pen that you should be using.”

Use “which” to introduce a qualifying clause: “This pen, which has black ink, is the one you should be using.”

There is, there are There is a student in the class. There are two students in the class. There are a lecturer and a student in the class.

However, in reference to distances and time, we often use “there’s” or “there is” instead of “there are”, even when the noun that follows is plural. This is because time and distance are generally thought of as an undifferentiated quantity rather than as discrete items, e.g. “There is still ten minutes left to finish the exam”; “There’s only two kilometres between the campus and the residence.”

The phrase “a lot of” means “many” or “much.” Use “there are” with plural nouns and “there is” with singular mass nouns. However, mass nouns (also called uncountable nouns) such as qualities, substances, chemicals, and some foods (e.g., water, wood, cotton, furniture, money, calcium, air, petrol, anger, peace, truth, honesty, hair, salt, bread, meat, tea) are not spoken of in terms of individual units, e.g. “There are a lot of students on the team”; but, “There is a lot of water left in the bottle.”

In academic and business writing, which demand a more formal tone, it is preferred to use “there are” when it is followed by two or more nouns joined by “and”, e.g. “There are a lecturer and a student and the dean in the class.”

With nouns of multitude, like a bunch of, a group of, a team of, a plethora of, and a variety of, which refer to a collection of people or things, you may use either “there is” or “there are”, depending on whether you want to refer to the group as a whole or to the individuals that comprise it: e.g.

“There are a diverse group of people at this university.” (The focus is on the individual members of the group.)

“There is a group of people waiting to meet you.” (The focus is on the group as a whole.)

Note: Avoid both contractions, “there’s” and “there’re”, in formal writing: Rather use “there is” when followed by a singular noun, and “there are” when followed by a plural one therefore Note spelling

thesis Plural is “theses”

threshold Note spelling

till

Conjunction of “until”, meaning “up to (the time that)”

Do not use ‘til as an abbreviation of “until” time frame Two words

titles In terms of punctuation, titles of papers, workshops and conferences take single quotes total “Total”, adjective, takes the plural verb, e.g. “A total of 300 people were on campus.” Here, “total” describes the “people” (noun), which is the subject in this sentence.

Total, noun, takes the singular verb, e.g. “The total (investment/ result/ amount, etc.) is being calculated. Here, “total” is being used as a noun.

towards

Preposition, e.g. “They will be graduating towards the end of the year.” (Not “toward”)

T-shirt Hyphenated; upper case “T”

tweak

U19, U21, etc.

Informal, try to avoid. Rather use “make minor adjustments”; “make slight changes”.

Abbreviation for “under the age of 19, 21, etc.”; used in a sports context only

undergraduate One word

under way

Meaning that it is happening now; two words unexceptionable, unexceptional

“Unexceptionable” means “having nothing that anyone could criticise or disapprove of”

“Unexceptional” means “ordinary” uninterested, disinterested “Uninterested” means “not excited or not wanting to become involved”

“Disinterested” means “having no personal involvement or receiving no personal advantage, and therefore being free to act fairly in an unbiased or impartial manner”

University, the Always use a capital letter when the phrase “the University” refers specifically to the Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Varsity Cup, Varsity Shield Takes upper case

Vice-Chancellor Hyphenated; always upper case

vis-à-vis From Latin by way of French, meaning “in relation to or in comparison with”; not italicised; note direction of accent waive, waiver, waver “Waive”, verb, means to not demand something which you are owed or to which you have a right

“Waiver”, noun, means an agreement that you do not have to pay or obey something

“Waver”, verb, means to lose a sense of purpose or strength, often temporarily web page Two words

website One word; no hyphen; lower case well-being Hyphenated

Western, the West Use upper case when referring to North America and western Europe and values traditionally imbued with people or places from this region; when referring to the compass direction, use lower case

The same applies to the East. See Eastern, the East. what, which “What” is used to ask a question when an unknown number or infinite possibilities for an answer exist, e.g. “What is your name?”

“Which” is used when choosing between two or more items, already defined, e.g. “Which one of those is the correct answer?”

whereabouts As a noun, meaning where something or someone may be, e.g. “His whereabouts are not known.”

As an adverb, e.g. “Whereabouts can I find your office?”

Note: Always plural in both instances whistle-blower, whistle-blowing

Hyphenated

Note: Using the word “whistle-blow” as a verb is incorrect, use “blow/blew the whistle on…” white paper, green paper Use lower case, unless used in reference to a specific document

who, that “Who” is used as the subject or object of a verb to show which person is being referring to, or to add information about a person just mentioned. It is used mainly for people, not things, e.g. “This is the lecturer who is teaching us today.”

In the example, the subject is a person (the lecturer), and it is therefore incorrect to say, “This is the lecturer that is teaching us today.”

who’s, whose “Who’s” is the contracted form of “who is”

“Whose”, pronoun, the possessive of “who”. Used in relation to a person or thing mentioned in the previous clause, e.g. “Those are the students whose notes were lost.”; or to something or someone associated with a person; e.g. “Whose calculators are these?”

Withhold, withheld Note spelling workplace

One word; no hyphen

World War I, World War II Takes upper case

World Wide Web Takes upper case; capitalised as follows when abbreviated to “the Web”; also abbreviated to WWW work-integrated learning

X-ray

zero

Hyphenated; abbreviated to WIL

Hyphenated; upper case “X”

Plural is “zeroes”

3. Punctuation

3.1 And; Ampersand (&)

Ampersands should only be used if they are part of official titles or names; otherwise, spell out “and”. e.g. Johnson & Johnson

3.2 Apostrophe

An apostrophe [‘] is a punctuation mark that indicates possession or the ownership of something; and to show omission, or that something has been left out.

Possession

Use ’s after singular nouns, plural nouns that do not end in “s”, and indefinite pronouns.

e.g. Thabo’s idea; anybody’s suggestions; women’s hairstyles; alumni’s conference; children’s clothing

Use just ’ after plural nouns ending in “s”. e.g. builders’ holiday; Chiefs’ fans; princesses’ brothers

A name that ends in “s” or “z” becomes difficult to pronounce if ’s is added to the end. It may be better to consider rearranging the sentence to avoid the difficulty.

e.g. “This is Chris’s office.” Rather, “This is the office where Chris works.”

In compound nouns and where multiple nouns are linked to make one concept, place the apostrophe at the end of the final part (and match it to that noun).

e.g. “The DVC: Teaching and Learning’s suggestion”; “his mother-in-law’s* birthday”; “Tom and Jerry’s antics”

* Note: In this example, mother-in-law is used in the singular. If more than one mother-in-law is being inferred, it becomes “mothers-in-law’s”.

Be careful where you place the apostrophe, as it changes the meaning of the sentence.

e.g. “The student’s and lecturer’s books are heavy.” Here, only one student and only one lecturer are being inferred.

e.g. “The students’ and lecturer’s books are heavy.” Here, more than one student and only one lecturer are being inferred.

e.g. “The students’ and lecturers’ books are heavy.” Here, more than one student and more than one lecturer are being inferred.

Use apostrophes with noun phrases denoting periods of time

Test: Use an apostrophe if you can replace the apostrophe with “of”.

e.g. “He took a week’s holiday.” (Meaning holiday of one week.)

e.g. “You must give three months’ notice.” (Meaning notice of three months.)

Possessives of contractions and abbreviations are formed similarly to those of other words, i.e. by adding “’s”, e.g. NGO’s; CPUT’s

Omission

Use an apostrophe in the position the omitted letters would have occupied, not where the space was between the original words, e.g. don’t. Not: do’nt

Some contractions have become accepted as words in their own right, and therefore do not use an apostrophe, e.g. phone, flu.

When numerals are pluralised, prefer to omit the apostrophe, e.g. 2s; 1990s

Very rarely, an apostrophe is inserted before the “s” to form a plural. Do this only when not inserting the apostrophe might cause confusion, e.g. p’s and q’s (Without the apostrophes (i.e. ps and qs), this would be confusing); x’s and y’s; do’s and don’ts; if’s, but’s and maybe’s; six’s and seven’s

Plurals of single capital letters are often formed using an apostrophe, e.g. the 5 P’s of strategy

However, plurals of abbreviations consisting of more than one letter are formed without an apostrophe, e.g. PhDs; MAs

3.3 Brackets

Round brackets [( )] are used in place of a pair of dashes or commas around a non-defining phrase (one which adds extra information, a translation, dates, an explanation or a definition).

Include all full stops/ exclamation marks/ question marks/ quotation marks before the closing bracket only if the complete sentence/quote is in brackets; otherwise, punctuate after the closing bracket, e.g. “The last exam today is at 17:00 (which is later than usual).”; “The last exam today is at 17:00. (That is later than usual.)”

If a full sentence is bracketed, place the full stop inside the closing bracket.

Square brackets [ ] are used to enclose comments, corrections, references or translations made by a subsequent author or editor. e.g. the word [sic] is always in square brackets. “[sic]” means “so” or “thus”, and denotes the author’s awareness that a grammatical error or mistake has been made in a direct quote.

3.4 Comma

The comma [,] is a punctuation mark that indicates a pause between the words of a sentence.

Commas also signify contrast in sentences, and help separate clauses from each other.

Commas are also used to separate the elements in a list or series.

Use the serial comma consistently. Also known as the “Oxford comma”, it is a comma placed between the last two items in a series of three or more, e.g. “The Senate welcomed the Rector, the new VC, and Council Chair”. This helps prevent any confusion or ambiguity. In this example, if the comma had been omitted, it would have been unclear if the VC and Council Chair were both new, but by inserting the comma, it is clear that only the VC is new.

If a list ends in etc., precede the abbreviation with a comma (since etc. represents all the remaining items in such a list), e.g. “All members were invited, including those from departments, faculties, units, etc.”

Use a pair of commas to surround a nondefining clause (one which adds descriptive information but which can be removed without losing the meaning of the sentence) – note that only “which” or “who” can be used in this type of clause, not “that”, e.g. “The faculty, which has four departments, needs a new dean.”

Do not use commas in dates, e.g. 12 March 2021, not 12 March, 2021

Use commas to typographically separate the parts of an address, e.g. Cape Peninsula University of Technology, PO Box 1906, Bellville, 7535

3.5 Forward slash or oblique stroke or solidus

This form of punctuation [/] fulfills the function of separating numbers, letters, or words.

As a rule, spaces are used before and after the solidus only when one or both of the items separated by the solidus contain more than one word.

e.g. and/or (no spaces) e.g. executive members/ consultants (i.e. single space after the solidus)

In dates, the solidus may be used to denote a year, such as a financial year, which comprises parts of two years, e.g. The 2020/21 financial year starts in February. (no spaces)

The solidus may be used as a symbol representing “per”, e.g. km/h

In text, simple fractions may be represented in a linear fashion using a solidus, e.g. 1/4 = one quarter

The solidus also forms part of certain abbreviations, e.g. a/c for account, c/o for care of or corner of, 24/7 for twenty-four hours a day.

3.6 Hyphen/n-dash

Hyphens [-] are used to connect words to form a compound that indicates a combined meaning, e.g. once-in-a-lifetime

An en dash [–] (or en rule), which is longer than a hyphen, and is used to signify a range, e.g. 3–6 years; from 09:30–12:00; April–May 2021; (no spaces between first and second figure or item)

The n-dash may sometimes simply replace the word “to”, e.g. “There was a delay on the Cape Town–Johannesburg flight.”;

“The final score was 2–1 to South Africa.”; “The vote was 52–45 in favour of the ruling party.” (Note: No spaces.)

3.7 Lists: Bulleted; Numbered

A list is a useful way of organising information and presenting it clearly and logically, and in sequence. A list may be vertical or horizontal, and may be punctuated, indented, bulleted, or numbered.

In a horizontal list, all the list elements run on in one line, e.g. “Before the end of the year, the faculty must (a) mark all exams, (b) evaluate assignments, and (c) submit marks.”

Use numbers instead of bullet points [ ] when the order or number of elements in the list is important.

Bullet points

When listing bulleted phrases, do not add a full stop at the end of the line.

When listing bulleted sentences, insert a full stop, and start each sentence with a capital letter, e.g.

CPUT is committed to the following values:

• We will embrace a culture of ethics and integrity.

• We will seek kindness and show compassion.

• We will embrace restoration.

• We will be a testimony of unity (ubunye), whilst embracing diversity (ukungafani).

• We will show passion.

• We will take accountability and accept responsibility for all our actions.

• We will be technologically astute.

When listing short bulleted sentences that start with a phrase that relates to all the subsequent bullet points as though they make one complete sentence, start all the bullet points with lower case, insert semicolons after each bullet point, and the word “and” at the end of the second last bullet point, followed by a full stop, e.g.

CPUT agrees to oneness and smartness by:

• embracing ethics and integrity;

• seeking kindness;

• embracing restoration;

• being a testimony of unity;

• showing passion;

• taking accountability for our actions; and

• being technologically astute.

When listing longer, multi-phrase bulleted sentences that start with a phrase that relates to all the subsequent bullet points as though they make one complete sentence, start all the bullet points with upper case, insert semicolons after each bullet point, and the word “and” at the end of the second last bullet point, followed by a full stop, e.g.

CPUT agrees to oneness and smartness by:

• Embracing a culture of ethics and integrity;

• Seeking kindness and showing compassion;

• Embracing restoration;

• Being a testimony of unity (ubunye), whilst embracing diversity (ukungafani);

• Showing passion;

• Taking accountability and accepting responsibility for all our actions; and

• Being technologically astute

3.8 Quotation marks

Double quotation marks should be used throughout for direct speech.

When a quotation appears within a quotation, single quotation marks should be used within double quotations. However, use single quotation marks and roman (not italic) type to denote titles that are not whole publications, e.g. short poems, short stories, songs, chapters in books, articles in periodicals, etc.; also for conference titles, workshop names, when using words ironically, and when using words that are particularly significant or that may be unfamiliar to the reader.

A useful rule of thumb for positioning the full stop in quotations is to place the full stop after the closing quotation marks if the quoted matter is not a full sentence; and before the closing quotation marks if the quoted matter is a full sentence.

If a full stop belongs to the text enclosed by quotation marks, it goes inside. If not, it appears after the closing quotation mark.

e.g. Thandi says, “I’m not going to the lecture today.” (The full stop belongs to the quoted text, which is a full sentence, so it goes inside.)

e.g. Thomas Edison declared that genius was “one per cent inspiration and ninetynine per cent perspiration”. (The full stop does not belong to the quoted text, which is not a full sentence, so it goes outside.)

Other punctuation marks (e.g. commas) are placed outside the quotation marks, e.g. “I’m going to the lecture”, says Mark.

For longer quotations (more than +\- 30 words), indent and use a smaller font size for the quoted text, using no quotation marks, and insert spacing of one line before and after the quotation.

3.9 Colon; Semicolon

Use a colon [:] after a complete sentence or independent clause to introduce a list, e.g. “For this exam, you will need three things: a black pen, a ruler, and a calculator.”

A semicolon [;] is used to introduce a subclause that follows logically from the text before it, is not a new concept and depends logically on the preceding main clause. The two thoughts are thus closely related, and a connection or contrast between the two thoughts is implied. e.g. “He always thought that he would publish a book someday; he never did.”

A semicolon links two related parts of a sentence, neither of which depends logically on the other and each of which could stand alone as a grammatically complete sentence.

Semicolons may be used in place of commas in a complicated list or sentence if it will improve clarity, particularly if list items already include commas, e.g. “The university teams comprised CPUT, UWC and SU, Western Cape; UJ and Wits, Gauteng; and NMU, Eastern Cape.”

3.10 Ellipsis

An ellipsis (plural: ellipses) […] is a mark that comprises a series of three stops. In the CPUT house style, the stops in an ellipsis are not separated by spaces [. . .]. Do not surround an ellipsis with spaces.

In a quotation, an ellipsis signifies omitted words and sentences. However, when you quote just a word or a phrase, don’t use ellipses, since it is already clear that you are not quoting the entire text, e.g. “The registrar said that we need a “sensible financial strategy” moving forward.”

If used either in place of omitted text at the end of a clause/ sentence or to indicate a pause for effect, a full stop/ comma should not follow the ellipsis. However, an exclamation mark or a question mark can and should follow the ellipsis if the sentence requires such, e.g. “He said that…?”

In a dialogue or narrative, an ellipsis shows faltering speech or a pause for effect. Take care not to overuse this mark. Do not use an ellipsis instead of a full stop unless the pause signified is meant to be meaningful to the reader, or signifies an incomplete thought.

3.11 Exclamation mark; Question mark; Full stop

Use only one of these punctuation marks at the end of a sentence.

4. Numbers

When using numbers in text, spell out the numbers one to nine; and use numerals thereafter; i.e. 10, 11, 12, etc.

Spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence. When a sentence begins with a number, spell it out rather than using a numeral, even if the number is below 10. e.g. “Eleven lecturers attended the meeting.”

When writing compound numbers, use hyphens to separate, e.g. thirty-six; ninetyseven. This convention applies to numbers between 21 and 99. Numbers higher than 99 do not require a hyphen.

However, the 21–99 hyphen convention still applies when the compound number is preceded by other numbers that do not require hyphens, e.g. one hundred and sixty-three; seven thousand and seventytwo; forty-eight thousand, nine hundred and eighty-five; fifty-five million

Note: To avoid numeral sequences breaking over lines, insert a non-breaking space: Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar

4.1 Dates

The British style generally follows the daymonth-year date format, while Americans use month-day-year.

• Either write (D/M/Y), e.g. 08/02/2021; or 8 February 2021 (Not February 8, 2021; or February 8th; or 8th of February 2021)

• Avoid using days with dates, but if necessary, insert a comma between day and date, e.g. Friday, 27 February 2021

• Avoid abbreviating years as, e.g. ’95 for 1995

• In names of decades and centuries, do not use an apostrophe before the “s”, e.g. the 1800s

4.2 Time

Follow the numerical, 24-hour clock format, i.e. 08:30; 21:45

• Do not insert AM/ am/ a.m.; or PM/ pm/ p.m. as these are superfluous

• Any time earlier than 10:00 should have a 0- preceding the number, e.g. 05:45; 07:00; 09:59

4.3 Fractions

Spell out simple fractions. Such fractions are usually hyphenated to improve readability, e.g. three-eighths.

In text, simple fractions may be represented in a linear fashion using a solidus, e.g. 1/4 = one quarter

Use a singular verb with fractions if the noun is singular, e.g. “Two-thirds of the crop was destroyed by hail.”; and a plural verb if the noun is plural, e.g. “Two-thirds of the apples were rotten.”

4.4 Percentages

Written as “per cent”, though “percent” (American English) is widely used.

The symbol for per cent is [%]

Do not include a space between the numeral and the symbol, e.g. 20%

Insert a comma between the figure, not a full stop, i.e. 2,5% not 2.5%

Punctuation is required after the symbol when the symbol ends a sentence, e.g. “Of all engineering students, females make up 60%.”

If a range is illustrated, use 35%–40%, not 35–40%

If the percentage must be used to start a phrase or sentence, spell out the word, e.g. “Twenty-two per cent of all students…”; or “Percentage of students: 45% male and 55% female.”

Do not say, “a few per cent”, but rather, “a small percentage”.

4.5 Measurements

Numbers with units of measurement attached should have a space between the figure and the unit, e.g. 88 mm; 32 s; 4 kg

Note: The plural of abbreviated units are still written as singular 9 cm, not 9 cms

Where the number is not whole, use a comma between units of measurement, e.g. 2,5 ml; 70,5 g; 35,6 ºC

Separate thousands with commas, e.g. 5,400 km

4.6 Telephone numbers

Use the format 021 959 6767; or if an international publication +27 21 959 6767 or +27 83 000 0000 (without brackets or hyphens, but note spaces)

4.7 Units of currency

South Africa’s unit of currency is the rand, used in lower case.

When used in a sentence, use the plural (and lower case) for more than one rand, e.g. rands; abbreviated to R; ISO code: ZAR

Units of currency should be written with no spaces between the currency symbol and figure, e.g. R150

Where cents are included, a full stop must be inserted after the rand amount to denote that cents are included, e.g. R200.50

A comma can be inserted into figures of four or more digits e.g. R3,000.75.

For millions of rands, e.g. R33m, “million” is abbreviated to lower case “m”, written with no spaces between the currency symbol and figure and the “m”; or R33 million, with a space between the figure and “million”, which is written with a lower case “m”.

For thousands of rands, write out in full, e.g. R2,600 not R2.6K

5. Formatting Documents

You will want to submit your draft report in a simple and concise style that is easy to read and navigate. You are not required to “design” your report, as this will be done at a later stage.

The aim of any report is to lead people through the information in a structured way, but also to enable them to find the information that they want quickly and easily. Reports usually, therefore, have numbered sections and subsections, and a clear and full contents page listing each heading. It follows that page numbering is important so that content can be easily referenced.

NB: Please draft your report in an MS Word document, saved using the following:

Margins: Use margins of 2,5 cm all round

Font:

Arial 11 for text and headings. Headings may use a bold font to differentiate it from body text.

Paragraph style: Left aligned; single spacing; spacing before and after, 0 pt

Headings and subheadings:

Numbering of headings:

Use headings and subheadings throughout your report to identify the various topics and break the text into manageable chunks. These will help keep the report organised and can be listed in the table of contents so they can be easily referenced. Use numbers, not letters for your subheadings, i.e. 1.3.1, not 1.3 (a) or 1.3 (i)

Since there may be more than one contributor to a report, it is best not to use the automatic numbering provided on your PC, as it becomes difficult to adjust the numbering once the various reports are collated into one document.

Lists: Use lists whenever appropriate to break information into easy-tounderstand points. Lists can either be numbered or bulleted.

See 3.7 Lists: Bulleted; Numbered

Figures:

Number figures numerically as “Figure 1”, Figure 2”, etc.; and don’t refer to figures in the text as “in the figure below/ above/ to the left”, etc., but rather reference them by their numerical name in the text.

Contents page: Include a contents page for the section you are contributing; make sure that it is consistent with the numbering, as well as headings and subheadings you have used.

Page numbers: Include page numbers in the bottom margin (footer).

6. CPUT Communication Resources

6.1

Letterhead templates

A CPUT letterhead template available in MS Word can be requested from MCD.

The template is generic, but can be personalised* for any individual, faculty, department or unit.

Letterheads are for electronic use, but can also be pre-printed if necessary using a third-party supplier, or simply printed internally on a CPUT digital printer.

*Please note that the CPUT logo may not be altered in any way, and any amendments made to the template must be sent to MCD for approval before making it available for use.

6.2 MS PowerPoint templates

A CPUT online presentation template, available in MS PowerPoint, can be requested from MCD.

The presentation template is generic, but can be personalised* for any individual, faculty, department or unit.

*Please note that the CPUT logo may not be altered in any way, and any amendments made to the template must be sent to MCD for approval before making it available for use.

7. Academic Qualifications

• AdvCert – Advanced Certificate

• AdvDip – Advanced Diploma

• BA – Bachelor of Arts

• BEd – Bachelor of Education

• BEdHons – Bachelor of Education Honours

• BHSc – Bachelor of Health Science

• BSc – Bachelor of Science

• BTech – Bachelor of Technology

• DCom – Doctor of Commerce

• DEd – Doctor of Education

• DEng – Doctor of Engineering

• Dip – Diploma

• DPhil – Doctor of Philosophy

• DSc – Doctor of Science

• DTech – Doctor of Technology

• HCert – Higher Certificate

• MA – Master of Arts

• MAppSc – Master of Applied Science

• MChem – Master of Chemistry

• MEd – Master of Education

• MEng – Master of Engineering

• MPhil – Master of Philosophy

• MSc – Master of Science

• NDip – National Diploma

• PGCE – Postgraduate Certificate in Education

• PGDip – Postgraduate Diploma

FEBE-specific qualifications:

• DipEngTech – Diploma in Engineering Technology

• BEngTech – Bachelor of Engineering Technology

• BEngTechHons – Bachelor of Engineering Technology Honours

8. CPUT-specific Nomenclature

8.1 CPUT Address

Cape Peninsula University of Technology, PO Box 1906, Bellville, 7535

8.2 CPUT Buildings

Bellville Campus

200 Bed Residence

Anglo American Residence

Auditorium

BTB Labs

CDP Building – Computer Centre

Civil and Survey Building

Construction Management & Quantity

Surveying

De Beers Residence (East Wing)

Electrical Engineering Labs

Food Science and Technology

Freedom Square Residence

Greenhouse Research 1

Greenhouse Research 2

Health & Wellness Sciences Building

Heroes House Residence

Horticultural Sciences

Ice Plant

Indoor Plants Greenhouse

Information Centre

IT Centre

Languages Building

Library

Library Extension Building

Main Administration

Main Entrance Building

Major Sports Hall

Matthew Goniwe Residence 1

Matthew Goniwe Residence 2

Minor Sports Hall

New Electrical Engineering Building

New Mechanical Engineering Building

‘Normans’ Transport (Procurement & Stores)

Nursery Mess Hut

Nursery Offices

Nursery Stock Greenhouse

Nursery Tractor Shed

Oxidative Stress Research Centre

Pool Pavilion

Post Graduate Residence

Prefab Inst. of Technology

Prefab Start-Up Café

Propagation Greenhouse

Sacco Student Residence

South African Renewable Energy

Technology Centre (SARETEC)

Sports Pavilion

Students Centre

TTO Building

District Six Campus

80 Roeland Street Building

Administration & Library District Six

Cape Suites Hotel and Residential Complex

Catsville Res: Block G

Catsville Res: Block H

Catsville Res: Block K

Catsville: Block A Wardens House

Catsville: Block B Service & Laundry

Catsville: Block C Media Building

Catsville: Block D Kitchen & Kiosk

Catsville: Block E

Catsville: Block F Recreation

Catsville: Block J Recreation

City Edge Residential Complex

Commerce Building

Design Building

Downtown Lodge Residence

E-Learning Building

Engineering Building

EWR Newstead

EWR: 18 Hofmeyer St (Paradise House)

EWR: Camelot

EWR: Caretaker’s House

EWR: Green Oaks

EWR: North

EWR: South

Hanover Street Residence

J&B Residence

Lecture Theatre Complex

Maintenance Building Stirling St

Multi Purpose Hall

Old Trafalgar School Building

Sandenburgh Residence

Science Building

St Peters Residence – Block A

St Peters Residence – Store

St Peters Residence Block B

St Peters Residence Block C

St Peters Residence Block D

Student Centre

Granger Bay Campus

Hotel School

Survival Centre

Mowbray Campus

Art Building

Barkley Davis Building

Gymnasium and Lecture Venues Block

Main Academic Building

Margaret Black Gymnasium

Viljoenhof Residence

Wellington Campus

Agricultural Centre Phase 1: Lecture

Venue; Laboratory Block; Administration

Building

CP Van Der Merwe Hall

Experimental Wine Cellar

Garage

Goodnow Hall

Holy Oke Building

House Bliss Residence

House Meiring Residence

House Navarre Extension

Library Building

Lo-Building

Mary-Lyon Hall

Murray House Residence

Navarre Residences

Navarre Residences Annexe

Sport Pavilion

Student Centre

Technology Centre

Wellington Main Campus - Linked

Academic Buildings

Wouter Malan Residence

Tygerberg Campus

Dental Services & Radiography

Protea Hof Tower 4 Residence

Groote Schuur Hospital

Groote Schuur Hospital Radiography

Department

8.3 CPUT Campuses

Bellville Campus

District Six Campus (Not to be abbreviated to “D6”)

Granger Bay Campus

Mowbray Campus

Wellington Campus

8.4 CPUT Faculties

Faculty of Applied Sciences (FAS)

Faculty of Business and Management

Sciences (FBMS)

Faculty of Education (FEd)

Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (FEBE)

Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences (FHWS)

Faculty of Informatics and Design (FID)

8.5 CPUT Residences

District Six Campus

Cape Suites Residence

Catsville

City Edge

Downtown Lodge

EWR

Hanover Street

Harfield

J&B House

Sandenburgh

South Point – Orchards

Southpoint: NMJ

Southpoint: Plein Str 10/12

Southpoint: Presidents House

St Peters

StanHope

Student Junction – Le Ruth

Student Junction – Libertas

Student Junction – Middestad

Student Junction – Mountain House

Student Junction – Picton

Student Junction – Ruskin House

Viljoenhof

Vogue House

Bellville Campus

2010 New 200 Bed Res

Anglo Belpark De Beers

De Goede Hoop

Freedom Square 1 & 2

Heroes House

Ileli House

Kruskal

Melade House

MGR 1 & 2 (Matthew Goniwe Residence 1 & 2)

Park Central

Post Graduate

Regkam

Richard Sacco

Sheriffs House

Southern Life – Northville

Theresa Court

Toplin 2

Toplin House

Wellington Campus

Huis Bliss

Huis Meiring

Huis Murray

Huis Navarre

Huis Wouter Malan

New Navarre Residence

9. POPI Act

The Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) came into effect on 1 July 2020. Please contact Sibusiso Mtatase, Compliance Manager, at Tel. 021 959 4449 or email mtatases@cput.ac.za for all POPIA related queries.

10. Abbreviations and Acronyms Common to CPUT and Higher Education

4IR/ 5IR Fourth/Fifth Industrial Revolution

AAMP Accelerated Academic Mentorship Programme

ABLU Annual Banking Law Update

ACCA Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

ACCORD African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes

ACFE Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

ACSSE Academy of Computer Science and Software Engineering

ACT Arts and Culture Trust

ACTSA Association of Corporate Treasurers of Southern Africa

ACU Association of Commonwealth Universities

ADAPTT Academic Doctoral Acceleration Programme Towards Transformation

ADC Academic Development Centre

ADEA Association for the Development of Education in Africa

ADI Academic Development Innovation

ADS Academic Development and Support

AFS Annual Financial Statements

AGM Annual General Meeting

AHPCSA Allied Health Professionals Council of South Africa

AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

AIEA Association of International Education Administrators

AIESEC International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences

AL Academic literacy

AL Assistant Lecturer

ALD Academic Literacies Development

AP Academic Partnerships

APP Annual Performance Plan

APRM African Peer Review Mechanism

APS Admission Point Score

APS Average Point Score

APTS Academic Programme Tracking System

AROC Audit and Risk Oversight Committee (of Council)

ART antiretroviral treatment

ARWU Academic Ranking of World Universities

ASJC All Science Journal Classification

ASRT Academy of Scientific Research and Technology

ASSAf Academy of Science of South Africa

ATD Achieving the Dream

AU African Union

B-BBEE broad-based black economic empowerment

BA Bachelor of Arts (degree)

BA Ed Bachelor of Arts in Education (degree)

BASA Business and Arts South Africa

BCEA Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Act

BCP business continuity planning

BCWIP Business Communications and Writing for Intergovernmental Professionals

BGUR Best Global Universities Rankings

BI business intelligence

BIS Business intelligence systems

BMS Building Management System

BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa

BSc Bachelor of Science

BTech Bachelor of Technology (degree)

CA chartered accountant

CAA Central Academic Administration

CAB Centre for African Business

CALT Centre for African Languages Teaching

CANSA Cancer Association of South Africa

CAPQP Centre for Academic Planning and Quality Promotion

CASD Centre for Academic Staff Development

CASE Council for the Advancement and Support of Education

CAT Centre for Academic Technologies

CATHSSETA Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority

CAWE Community, Adult and Worker Education

CBE College of Business and Economics

CBO community-based organisation

CBR community-based research

CCM Council for Communication Management

CCRED Centre for Competition Regulation and Economic Development

CDU Curriculum Development Unit

CE Community Engagement

CEAB Community Engagement Advisory Board

CENLED Centre for Local Economic Development

CEP Continuing Education Programme

CEPR Centre for Education Practice Research

CERA Community Engagement Recognition Awards

CERT Centre for Education Rights and Transformation

CESM Classification of Educational Subject Matter

CFA chartered financial analyst

CfAR Centre for Anthropological Research

CGS Council for Geosciences

CHE Council on Higher Education

CHEC Cape Higher Education Consortium

CIET Centre for Innovative Educational Technology

CPPD Centre for Professional and Personal Development

CPUT Cape Peninsula University of Technology

CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

CStratPlan Council Strategic Planning Workshop

CTS Computer and Telecommunications Services (department)

DHET Department of Higher Education and Training

DVC Deputy Vice-Chancellor

ECP Extended Curriculum Programme

EE Employment Equity

ERM Enterprise Risk Management

EXCO Executive Committee

F’SATI French South African Institute of Technology

FET Further Education and Training

FinCom Finance Committee

FYE First-Year Experience

GBV Gender-based violence

GEC Governance and Ethics Committee

HC Human Capital

HE Higher Education

HEMIS Higher Education Management Information System

HEQSF Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework

HOD Head of Department

HRCC Human Resources

HSRC Human Sciences Research Council

ICT Information and Communication Technology

IF Institutional Forum

IFRIC International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee

IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards

InvCom Investment Committee

IP Intellectual Property

IT Information Technology

ITF Institutional Transformation Forum

ITGov IT Governance

JFAC Joint Finance and Audit Committee

KPI Key performance indicator

LGBTIQA+ Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual, plus

LMS Learner Management System

ManCom Executive & Management Committee

MCD Marketing and Communication Department

MOA Memorandum of Agreement

nGAP New Generation of Academics Programme

NRF National Research Foundation

NSFAS National Student Financial Aid Scheme

NTRF National Tertiary Retirement Fund

OER Open Educational Resources

ORCID Open Researcher and Contributor ID

PG Postgraduate

PQM Programme and Qualification Mix

QARM Quality Assurance and Risk Oversight Committee

RDG Research Development Grant

RemCo Remuneration Committee

RIM Robben Island Museum

RITAL Research and Innovation into Teaching and Learning

RO Retention Officer

RPL Recognition of Prior Learning

RTI Research, Technology and Innovation

RTIP Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships

SAAO South African Astronomical Observatory

SABS South African Bureau of Standards

SADC Southern African Development Community

SANORD Southern African-Nordic Centre

SANSI South African National System of Innovation

SAQA South African Qualifications Authority

SARChI South African Research Chair Initiative

SARETEC South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre

SARS South African Revenue Services

SASUF South Africa-Sweden University Forum

SETA Sector Education and Training Authority

SL Service-learning

SLU Student Learning Unit

spExco Special Executive Committee

spHRCC Special Human Resources

spIF Special Institutional Forum

spS Special Senate

spSSC Special Student Services Council

SRC Student Representatives Council

SSC Student Services Council

SSCSA Search and Selection Committee for Senior Appointments

STEMI Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Innovation

SU Stellenbosch University

T&L Teaching and Learning

TDG Teaching Development Grant

TDP Teaching Development Programme

TRL Technology Readiness Level

TTO Technology Transfer Office

TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training

UCDG University Capacity Development Grant

UCDP University Capacity Development Programme

UCT University of Cape Town

UG Undergraduate

UoT University of Technology

UP University of Pretoria

USAf Universities South Africa

USDP University Staff Doctoral Programme

UWC University of the Western Cape

VC Vice-Chancellor

WIL Work-integrated learning

ZAR South African rand

References and Further Reading

Copy-Editing; The Cambridge Handbook. Judith Butcher, 1992, 3rd ed. Department of Education Higher Education Draft Regulations for Annual Reporting by Higher Education Institutions, Government Gazette, 21 February 2003 http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1727-37812019000100008 https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ https://editorsmanual.com/ https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/report-writing-format.html https://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cmscontent/HOS/HOS_reference_style_2018.pdf https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/98/65335.html https://www.briscoepr.co.uk/writing-your-annual-report-a-quick-guide/ https://www.businessinsider.co.za/what-is-a-url?r=US&IR=T https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-file-manager/file/5b32459c966af7d2758ca17a/Elementsauthor-style-guide-2018.pdf

https://www.freshbooks.com/hub/reports/write-an-annual-report https://www.humanities.ox.ac.uk/files/emailetiquetteforhumanitiesdivisiondocx https://www.lawsociety.com.au/resources/resources/career-hub/10-rules-email-etiquette https://www.readz.com/how-to-write-an-annual-report https://www.richardhollins.com/blog/how-to-write-an-annual-report/ https://www.skillsyouneed.com/write/report-writing.html

UFS English Style Guide

University of Johannesburg Multilingual Language Services Office, English Style Guide, August 2020 University of Oxford Style Guide

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this handbook, however, the University reserves the right at any time, if circumstances require, to make changes to any of the published details.

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V05/2022