HWCOE Editorial Guide 2026

HERBERT WERTHEIM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

EDITORIAL

GUIDE

HERBERT WERTHEIM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

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2025

OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

OVERVIEW UF’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering (HWCOE) Office of Marketing & Communications (MarCom) provides a multitude of communication and marketing services for all HWCOE departments. Whether you want to promote a research award, highlight student achievements, show transformational impact of philanthropy or print T-shirts for an event, the HWCOE MarCom team has you covered. Learn more about the services we offer by visiting eng.ufl.edu/marcom/.

The central College MarCom office, located in Weil Hall, provides an array of marketing and communication services, as needed. To request MarCom support, please visit the UF ENG Project Request form. Submit your project details, and a member of the MarCom team will contact you if additional details are required.

DEADLINE AND PRIORITY CONSIDERATION Please provide adequate time for the MarCom team to give your project the attention it deserves. Keep in mind that our staff, in addition to our ongoing duties, completes more than 1,000 requested jobs each year, including print materials, press releases, photo sessions, script creation, email messages, T-shirts, videos, website updates, etc.

Our request process via our ticketing system ensures that your projects are received, assigned, tracked and completed in a timely manner.

CONTENTS SERVICES OFFERED

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Media Relations Photography/Videography Print Projects Publications

Email Marketing Social Media Websites

EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDELINES Abbreviations.......................................................4 Academic Degrees...............................................4 Academic Departments.......................................4 Academic Titles...................................................5 Acronyms.............................................................5 Ampersand..........................................................5 Bullets..................................................................6 Capitalization.......................................................6

Commas...............................................................7 Composition Titles...............................................7 Dashes, Hyphens, Em Dash and En Dash...........7 Ellipsis (…)............................................................8 Numbers..............................................................8 Quotation Marks..................................................8 Specific UF HWCOE Styles..................................9

RESOURCES

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Project Checklist

HERBERT WERTHEIM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Ticketing System

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OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

SERVICES OFFERED MEDIA RELATIONS MarCom serves as the news and marketing bureau for the college and coordinates efforts with UF Central on wide media distribution efforts. Requests for the office to create a press release or a story should be submitted at least one month prior to the event or published research or immediately following presentation of an award or honor.

PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY The MarCom staff provides limited photography and video services for the College for marketing and historical purposes.

PRINT PROJECTS MarCom produces promotional and informational materials, including department magazines, the Florida Engineer magazine, banners, brochures, event programs and much more for HWCOE departments. If you are new to HWCOE, consult with MarCom before starting a project to learn about preferred formats, current taglines, graphics standards, proper use of logos, etc.

PUBLICATIONS Gator Engineering Updates, the college’s e-newsletter, is sent every other month to approximately 64,000 alumni, parents and friends of the college. The Florida Engineer, the college print magazine, is published once a year to share research, alumni news and college updates. Print copies are available through MarCom, and digital copies are posted on the HWCOE website.

EMAIL MARKETING MarCom oversees email production to a variety of audiences and works with the UF Foundation on scheduling emails targeted specifically to the alumni audience. The team also completes email marketing to recruit and retain graduate students, encourage undergrads to choose UF Engineering and help peers and deans with special announcements. To uphold best practices, and coordinate timing and compliance if you are sending an email to more than 25 recipients, please refer to our website for guidance or submit a ticket.

SOCIAL MEDIA MarCom manages the college’s official social media accounts on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn. Though social media is less formal than the HWOCE website, communications on department social platforms must be held to the same standards for accuracy, professionalism and branding.

WEBSITES Along with the college website, a handful of department sites are managed by MarCom. Our team maintains these websites with input from content managers throughout the college and departments.

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EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDELINES UF Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering follows the writing guidelines of the Associated Press Stylebook for materials unless otherwise noted here. The HWCOE editorial style guide does not duplicate that guide; rather, it provides supplemental information about style, consistency, spelling and terms often used in the college.

This section contains essential style guidelines for HWCOE materials, which include everything from invitations to professional emails sent through Mailchimp to posters, letters and booklets. Guidelines have evolved from basic rules of grammar, standard practice and special application for college terminology. In many instances, detailed information is given with examples of acceptable and unacceptable forms, but it would be impossible to devise a guide that would be all-inclusive.

In cases where the precise answer is not given in the guide, use the rule of analogy. For example, if a word or group of words is capitalized, it is safe to treat similar words in the same manner, unless there is a specific rule to the contrary.

ABBREVIATIONS A few universally recognized abbreviations are required in some circumstances. Some others are acceptable, depending on context.

• • • • • • • • • • •

Abbreviate titles when they precede the name — Sen., Rep., Col. — but spell out and lowercase when they follow a name.

Do not abbreviate professor, assistant professor, associate professor or instructor before OR after the name.

Do not use Reverend as a title; it is an adjective: the Rev. Joe Jones.

Do not abbreviate days of the week, except within a chart or graph.

Spell out months without dates: November 2025.

Abbreviate months with dates, except for March, April, May, June and July.

Do not use the year unless it is needed to specify a time other than the current year.

On print projects such as invitations or event programs, include year for archival purposes.

The same abbreviation should be used consistently throughout the copy.

Spell out the names of states.

Use postal abbreviations for states only when presented with a full postal address including zip code.

ACADEMIC DEGREES • •

When used after a name, an academic abbreviation is set off by commas: John Snow, Ph.D., spoke. Do not precede an academic degree with the abbreviation for the degree in the same reference.

In a departure from the AP Stylebook, do not use the term Dr. before a name. Instead, follow the name with degree abbreviations to establish academic credentials. Example: Mike Lauzardo, M.D., and Matthew LaVoie, Ph.D., were recognized for their accomplishments. Consult the AP Stylebook entry for properly using apostrophes (bachelor’s and master’s). For doctoral degrees, the preferred form is to say a person holds a doctorate and name the individual’s area of specialty. Degrees should continue to be spelled out (example: John Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in English, not a B.A. in English).

ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS •

Use lowercase except for words that are proper nouns or adjectives. For example, the political science department or the Department of Political Science. Avoid “of” when possible: the English department instead of the department of English.

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EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDELINES •

• •

Capitalize the full names of schools, major centers and institutes on the first reference but not those of programs and curricula. When using a list of schools or units together, use lowercase. Example: Established with the schools of medicine, pharmacy, journalism and public health. Capitalize formal titles of departments: Warrington College of Business, College of Business, etc., and lowercase informal titles like business department.

Use “the Department of” instead of the XXX department. Example: Department of Chemical Engineering Use ampersands instead of “and” in department names. Example: Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering

ACADEMIC TITLES •

•

If formal titles are listed before the name, ensure they are capitalized and spelled out preceding the name, such as Professor Jane Doe. Do capitalize and spell out formal titles before a name, such as UF Mascot Albert Alligator. Be mindful to lowercase the title if it is used alone, such as “the professor said they would attend,” or if it is used after a name. See the AP Stylebook for reference.

Exceptions include the names of endowed professorships on the first reference—preferably after the faculty member’s name. Capitalize all of the words in the proper title of the professorship. (Albert E. Gator, Abigail Adams, Professor of Early American Studies).

ACRONYMS Always write out abbreviations in full on first reference unless the entry in the chart that follows reads “do not spell out.”

• • • •

Spell Out on First Reference: Always spell out the full name or phrase on first reference, followed by a comma and then either “or” or “known as” then the acronym and a closing comma. Example: The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, was called after the disaster to ...

Use Acronyms on Second Reference: After the first reference, you can use the acronym alone. Example: FEMA responded quickly to the disaster.

No Acronyms for Unfamiliar Terms: Avoid using acronyms that are not commonly known to the general public. Instead, use a shortened version of the name or repeat the full name if clarity is needed.

No Periods in Acronyms: Do not use periods in acronyms or abbreviations, except in a few traditional cases (e.g., U.S., U.N., U.K. when used as adjectives).

• Correct: NASA, FBI • Exception: U.S. policy, but the United States is...

•

Plurals of Acronyms: Do not use apostrophes to make acronyms plural.

•

Avoid Overuse: Do not overuse acronyms. If a term is only mentioned once or twice, it’s better to spell it out.

• Correct: CDs, CEOs • Incorrect: CD’s, CEO’s

AMPERSAND Do not use the & (ampersand) except where it is part of a college/unit or company name that uses the symbol as part of its official name:

• •

Incorrect: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Correct: Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

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OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDELINES BULLETS Use bullet points to aid scanning, organize information and increase retention. There are two styles of bulleted lists: short-entry lists and long-entry lists.

•

•

A short-entry list is introduced by a colon and the bullet points start with a lowercase letter, run on from the introductory phrase and have a period only at the end of the last item. For example, DO use capitals for:

• names and proper nouns • holidays • titles

Items in a long-entry list have at least one complete sentence and end with a period. A long-entry list has no lead-in sentence. An example follows.

• Always use capitals for names and proper nouns.

• Always use capitals for names of holidays.

• Always use capitals for titles.

Use parallel construction with lists. Do not mix short and long entries. If one bullet starts with a verb, start all items with a verb, etc.

CAPITALIZATION DO capitalize:

• • • •

names and proper nouns

• • •

names of races and nationalities

• • • • • • •

holidays (for example, New Year’s Eve) UF — never separate the letters with periods or split from one line to the next formal names of schools, departments, units, buildings, offices, etc., but not subsequent shortened references: Performing Arts Center; thereafter, the center official college degrees when spelled out: Bachelor of Science all conferred and traditional educational, occupational and business titles when used in front of a name; do not capitalize a title following an individual’s name: President Fuchs; Kent Fuchs, Ph.D., president of UF; Professor Ralph Smith; Ralph Smith, professor of communications language courses: German, French, Spanish names of administrative divisions full names of committees, boards, etc.: Presidential Search Committee, University of Florida Board of Trustees North, South, East and West when referring to a section of the United States East when used to refer to Asia; capitalize West when used to mean the United States, countries of Western Europe, South America, etc. state when part of a proper name: the State Board of Education the first word of a direct quotation.

DO NOT capitalize in text:

• •

job titles: vice president of marketing, assistant director a.m. or p.m.

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EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDELINES • •

the word state when it is used as a general term: state officials, state Board of Governors, state of Florida

• • •

the word board or college unless its full title appears

references to subjects or disciplines, unless the specific course is designated by number and/or name: philosophy, biology; Introduction to Philosophy, General Biology the seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall such phrases as northern England, southeastern France, etc.

COMMAS Commas should be used to separate words, phrases and clauses of similar construction used in a series. The comma before “and” may be omitted when the series contains words or simple phrases and the meaning is clear without the comma. Scientific, technical, governmental and academic publications generally use this comma, but journalistic form makes its use optional as needed.

As per AP style, HWCOE and UF Central Office do not use the Oxford comma.

• •

Incorrect: We enjoy football, baseball, and basketball.

Correct: We enjoy football, baseball and basketball.

Commas are used in pairs when they include “nonessential” information that would not change the meaning of a sentence if deleted. Some common examples:

• •

James Reynolds, 32, is from Concord, New Hampshire.

On Jan. 4, 2005, he visited Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, with his wife, Harriet, and their oldest daughter Jessica.

(Since he has only one wife, the name is extra information and requires a comma. To not include the comma infers that he has more than one wife!)

Correct use of commas is important to communicate precisely what you mean. Please refer to the punctuation section of your dictionary for additional information.

COMPOSITION TITLES Associated Press style dictates the use of quotation marks to set apart the titles of compositions. (Newspapers generally do not use italics or bold in body type.) Therefore, we place quotation marks around the titles of books, journals, grants, abstracts, art exhibitions, lectures, speeches, etc. Do not use quotation marks with course names or reference books including dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks and similar publications. There may be exceptions.

DASHES, HYPHENS, EM DASH AND EN DASH A dash (—) is used to indicate an abrupt change in thought and can be used in the middle or at the end of a sentence. It is better to use commas to add information to a sentence. Use dashes sparingly so that their full impact is not diluted by overexposure. When used in a sentence, include a space on both sides of a dash: Our task is challenging — big enough to last a lifetime — so our work has just begun.

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OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDELINES •

Hyphens (-) are joiners.

•

concept. Example: The Poetry Series is an on-campus event. The hyphen is also used with a time or date span. Example: The event is 4-6 p.m. Do not include spaces before or after the hyphen.

Em dash or dash

•

attribution to an author or composer in some formats; after dateline; and to start lists. AP style calls for a space on both sides of an em dash. It is approximately the width of a capital letter M in the typeface being used.

En dash

• Use hyphens to tell readers when combinations of two or more words should be understood as a single

• An Em dash is used to signal abrupt change; as one option to set off a series within a phrase; before

• An en dash indicates ranges, such as ranges of dates or times, or with some compound modifiers. It is approximately the width of a capital letter N in the typeface being used.

ELLIPSIS (…)

The ellipsis indicates the deletion of a word, sentence or section from narrative without altering the meaning.

Leave one space before and after the ellipsis. Do not put spaces between each period as it might cause the ellipsis to break between lines.

NUMBERS Spell out numbers one through nine when used in narrative copy, but not numbers 10 and above. This rule does not apply to financial and tabular copy, figures containing decimals, statistics, sports scores and records, percentages, sums of money, time of day, day of the month and year, latitude and longitude, degrees of temperature and dimensions.

• •

Use figures for ages: John Smith, 25 years old; a 3-year-old boy, etc. Do not spell out ages under 10.

• •

Use numerals for time. Do not capitalize a.m. or p.m. Examples: 5 a.m., 6:15 p.m., 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

• • •

Spell out first through ninth and use numerals with letter suffixes for 10th and above. Examples: the first day, the 10th anniversary.

Do not begin a sentence with a numeral; the first word should be spelled out, even if it is a number.

Exception: 1988 was a very good year.

Spell out fractions unless used with dimensions: ½ inch of rain, 8½-by-11-inch paper, etc.

Combine numerals and words for large round numbers: Smith’s gifts to the college exceed $1 million.

Use an s without an apostrophe to indicate decades and centuries: the late 1980s; but the early ’60s.

QUOTATION MARKS Periods and commas should always be placed inside closing quotation marks; a colon or semi-colon should be placed outside closing quotation marks, except in rare instances in which it belongs inside as part of the matter quoted. The question or exclamation mark is placed inside or outside the quotation marks, depending upon whether it relates to the quoted matter or to the whole sentence.

Single quotation marks should be used for a quote within a quote. Example: The student said, “I loved the book ‘The Great Gatsby.’ ” Quotation marks around slang expressions, nicknames and the like should be used sparingly. Their usage HERBERT WERTHEIM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

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OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

EDITORIAL STYLE GUIDELINES indicates a slight apology for the use of the word and, in most cases, is not necessary. Never use quotation marks for emphasis; they cast doubt on the truth of the statement. Example: This is a “deal.”

If a quotation runs into more than one paragraph, quotation marks should be placed at the beginning of each paragraph and at the end of only the last paragraph.

SPECIFIC UF HWCOE STYLES •

• •

Always use the full college name on first reference, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, the college in subsequent references and sometimes just engineering.

• NOT HWCOE (this is an internal acronym ONLY) • NOT College of Engineering • NOT Engineering College • EX: said Jane Smith, Ph.D., the engineering dean.

Artificial Intelligence is AI, no periods are used.

Academic Degrees: unless someone is a medical doctor, use academic degrees on first reference. No honorifics on second reference, just use the person’s name.

• EX: Jane Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor, and Dr. Gwen Stacy, professor at the UF College of Medicine,

• • • • • •

are collaborating on an NSF project. Smith will be focusing on ...

Gator Nation or the Gator Nation, the is not capitalized. the Swamp, NOT The Swamp, the is not capitalized. the Chomp, NOT The Chomp, the is not capitalized.

Gator100 is all one word.

Gator Club registered trademark: do not use in a narrative. The mark should be used in all creative/graphic design.

Gator Nation Giving Day:

• Incorrect: Stand Up & Holler: Gator Nation Giving Day • Correct: Stand Up and Holler: Gator Nation Giving Day

•

Machine Learning: hyphenate when used as a modifier.

• •

Lowercase the word “program” in the full name of a university program, unless that is its official name.

•

• EX: machine-learning courses, a machine-learning expert Outstanding UF Alumni honoree: She is a 40 Under 40 Honoree • Incorrect: African American Studies Program, Creative Writing Program • Correct: African American Studies program, Creative Writing program, Samuel Proctor Oral History

Program, MFOS program Titles:

• Ensure accuracy in letter case and content when including an endowed title: Patrick Traynor, Ph.D., a professor and the John H. and Mary Lou Dasburg Preeminent Chair in Engineering, has been ...

• Use “holder of” when referencing professorship titles: Piyush Jain, Ph.D., holder of the Exxon Mobil Gator Alumni Faculty Endowment in Chemical Engineering, is attending ...

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OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

RESOURCES PROJECT CHECKLIST: As you begin your project or if you are requesting that MarCom assist you with a project, consider these questions.

□ Consider the impact this project will make? What are you trying to accomplish? What are your goals? What are your objectives?

□ How are you measuring the success of this project? □ Who is your target audience (science community, potential students, alumni, donors, university community, internal audience, other)?

□ Does this project need to be printed, or could it be distributed electronically? □ Where will this project be distributed (on campus, direct mail, email, other)? □ What is the shelf life for this project? Is it for a one-time event, or will it be revised for upcoming quarters?

□ Is this a new project or an update of an existing project? □ Will the project stand alone, or is it part of a bigger project? □ Have you gathered all the components necessary to complete the project (narratives, photos, etc.)?

□ Will you need additional photos or artwork? □ Have all the materials been vetted by your department supervisor? □ If printing, what quantity will you need? □ Date for completion of this project?

TICKETING SYSTEM Use this form to contact the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Marketing & Communications team about any project you’d like to request our assistance with.

Our typical start time for projects is 2-3 weeks from when you submit your request, sometimes longer. We do make exceptions for urgent items and submissions are assessed on a case-by-case basis, but please consider this timeline when submitting your request.

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OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS