This style guide provides basic guidelines for grammar, spelling and punctuation issues commonly encountered. Villanova University publications adhere to AP Style.
Style Guide Entries
Abbreviations
Abbreviations should be spelled out in first use with abbreviation in parentheses, and then abbreviated in second use.
Example: Two seniors were awarded scholarships to New York University (NYU). While attending NYU, they also will teach.
Example: The Villanova women’s cross-country team won its second consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship. Defending their NCAA title was a goal all season long.
Alumni, identification of by college and class year
On first mention, alumni will be identified by class year and college, in that order. For colleges, use the following abbreviations: LAS, COE, CON, VSB, VLS.
Example: John Smith ’87 LAS
Alumni with master’s degrees from Villanova
Identify as follows: year followed by degree initials; do not include the area of study or the college.
Example: John Smith, PhD, ’75 LAS, ’77 MS
Exception: Mary Jones, JD, ’99 VLS [include the law school]
Do not use “GS” (Graduate Studies)
Ampersands (&)
Ampersands should not be used when describing Villanova University Colleges and departments. “And” should be used instead.
Example: Barbara Wall, PhD, vice president for Mission and Ministry
Example: Faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences have a new mission.
Augustinians
Augustinians must always have "the Rev." before their name in first reference. Those with doctoral level degrees must always have their degrees listed after their names in first reference. Thereafter, they can be referred to as "Father" or "Brother." As per AP Style, do not abbreviate to "Fr" or "Br."
First reference: The Rev. Charles Oakley, OSA, PhD
Second reference: Father Oakley
First reference: Brother Michael Smith, OSA
Second reference: Brother Smith
Building Names and Campus Landmarks
On first mention, the building should be referred to by its full name. Thereafter, if it has a popular acronym (see below), the acronym can be used on second reference.
Alumni Hall Alumni House Austin Hall Bartley Hall Burns Hall Butler Annex Caughlin Hall Center for Engineering Education Chemical Engineering Building Connelly Center Corr Hall Davis Center for Athletics and Fitness Delurey Hall Donahue Hall Dougherty Hall *Dundale (use only its proper name, Picotte Hall at Dundale) Driscoll Hall Falvey Memorial Library Farley Hall Farrell Hall Fedigan Hall Financial Services Building Galberry Hall Gallen Hall Garey Hall Geraghty Hall Good Counsel Hall Health Services Building Heating Plant Jackson Hall Jake Nevin Field House John Barry Hall Katharine Hall Kennedy Hall |
Klekotka Hall Maintenance Building McGuire Hall Mendel Field Mendel Science Center Middleton Hall Military Sciences Building Moriarty Hall Moulden Hall O’Dwyer Hall Picotte Hall at Dundale Rudolph Hall St. Augustine Center for the Liberal Arts St. Mary’s Hall Sheehan Hall Simpson Hall South Campus Stanford Hall Stone Hall Structural Engineering Teaching & Research Laboratory Sullivan Hall The Grotto The Oreo The Pavilion The Quad Tolentine Hall Vasey Hall Villanova Conference Center Villanova Stadium Welsh Hall West Campus White Hall Villanova Conference Center |
College of Engineering Buildings and Engineering Centers of Research
Engineering buildings
- Center for Engineering Education and Research (CEER)
- Chemical Engineering Building
- Structural Engineering Teaching and Research Laboratory
- Tolentine Hall
- White Hall
Engineering Centers of Research
- Center for Advanced Communications
- Center for Nonlinear Dynamics and Control
- Villanova Center for the Advancement of Sustainability in Engineering
Capitalization, major or field of study (TBD)
The “Topic” is if and when to capitalize references to one’s major or area of study (i.e., the actual academic subject). We started talking about this in one of the meetings but it got too complicated so we tabled it for the time being. This topic is different from, but related to, “academic department,” which is in the style guide.
Example sentences:
“O’Leary knew she wanted to study Biology…” (or is it “biology”)?
“Ganda majored in Mathematics and Economics…” (or “mathematics and economics”)?
Captions
When groups are small or the identification is intuitive, do not use left-to-right designations.
In large groups or where clarity is needed, write “(left to right)” or whatever format is syntactically correct for the context.
Church
The church on Villanova’s main campus should always be referred to as St. Thomas of Villanova Church.
Coaches
Please note: when writing about coaches for the magazine, find out if they are alums and note their class year and college on first reference. See table below.
| Official Program Name |
Head Coach |
|---|---|
| Baseball |
Joe Godri |
| Basketball, men’s |
Jay Wright |
| Basketball, women’s | Harry Perretta |
| Cross-country, men’s |
Marcus O’Sullivan, the Frank J. Kelly Endowed Track & Field Coach |
| Cross-country, women’s | Gina Procaccio |
| Field Hockey | Joanie Milhous |
| Football | Andy Talley |
| Golf | James Wilkes |
| Lacrosse, men’s | Michael Corrado |
| Lacrosse, women’s | Jebb Chagan |
| Rowing | Jack St. Clair |
| Soccer, men’s | Tom Carlin |
| Soccer, women’s | John Byford |
| Softball | Maria DiBernardi |
| Swimming & Diving | Rich Simpson |
| Tennis, Men’s | Brad Adams |
| Tennis, Women’s | Steve Reiniger |
| Track and Field, Men’s | Marcus O’Sullivan, the Frank J. Kelly Endowed Track & Field Coach |
| Track and Field, Women’s | Gina Procaccio |
| Volleyball | Josh Steinbach |
| Water Polo |
Damon Newman |
Colleges
On first reference: always use the official name of the college. On second reference: its popular acronym (if it has one) can be used
Villanova University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; second reference: LAS
(Note: the College’s proper name is Liberal Arts and Sciences. Do not leave out “Liberal.”
Villanova University College of Engineering; second reference: COE
Villanova University College of Nursing; second reference: CON
Villanova School of Business; second reference: VSB
Villanova University School of Law; second reference: VLS
Deans
Patrick G. Maggitti, PhD, The Helen and William O'Toole Dean, Villanova School of Business
Jean Ann Linney, PhD, Dean, Villanova University College of Arts and Sciences
M. Louise Fitzpatrick, EdD, RN, FAAN, Connelly Endowed Dean and Professor of Nursing, Villanova University College of Nursing
Gary A. Gabriele, PhD, Drosdick Endowed Dean, Villanova University College of Engineering
John Y. Gotanda, JD, Dean, Villanova University School of Law
First reference: should include full title, e.g., M. Louise Fitzpatrick, EdD, RN, FAAN, Connelly Endowed Dean and Professor of Nursing at Villanova.
Second reference: Dean Fitzpatrick
When “Dean” comes before the last name, it is always capitalized.
Deans, associate or assistant
Associate and assistant dean titles should be in lower case after the individual’s name, unless it is an endowed deanship. When the title is before the individual’s name, it should be capitalized.
Example: Mary Smith, associate dean, College of Engineering
Example: Mary Smith, associate dean, Graduate Studies and Research; Mary Smith, associate dean, Enrollment Management
Example: Associate Dean Mary Smith
Library
The Library’s proper name is Falvey Memorial Library or Falvey. Do not use Falvey Library. Library is capitalized when referring to this institution. Library is not capitalized when used as an adjective.
Months
As per AP Style, when a month is followed by a date, abbreviate only the following: Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Do not abbreviate months used alone or used with only a year.
Periods in abbreviations
Except where noted otherwise, do not use periods in abbreviations. All degrees should be capitalized.
Examples: OSA, MBA, RN
Portal
The official name of the portal is MyNova. The official name of the faculty/staff channel (where the feature articles are found) is “the faculty/staff channel of MyNova.”
Position announcements
No position appointments below Dean or AVP will receive a stand-alone announcement in the magazine, although such information can be referenced in an article.
President
First-time use of Father Peter’s name should read, "The Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, ’75 LAS."
President’s Cabinet
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Rev. Kail C. Ellis, OSA, PhD
Vice President for Administration and Finance
Kenneth G. Valosky, MS
Vice President and General Counsel
Dorothy A. Malloy, JD
Vice President for Student Life
Rev. John P. Stack, OSA
Vice President for University Advancement
Michael J. O’Neill, MBA
Vice President for University Communication
Ann E. Diebold, MBA
Vice President for Mission and Ministry
Barbara E. Wall, PhD
Vice President for Technology and Chief Information Officer
Stephen W. Fugale
Director of Athletics
Vincent P. Nicastro, MBA
Professorships
For endowed professors, include the title of that endowment. In a descriptive phrase, “professor” should be in lower case. The name of their department should be capitalized. When the professor title is before his or her name, it should be capitalized.
Example: Aaron M. Bauer, PhD, the Gerald M. Lemole, MD Endowed Chair in Integrative Biology
Example: Mary Smith, PhD, associate professor, Biology
Example: Villanova Biology Professor Mary Smith, PhD
Example: Drosdick Endowed Dean of Engineering
Example: The James R. Birle Professor of Energy Technology
Example: The Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Moritz, Sr., Chair in Systems Engineering
Professors without doctorates
First reference: Professor James Miller
Second reference: Professor Miller
Professors with doctorates
Professors with doctoral degrees always must have "PhD" after their names in first reference. Thereafter, they can be referred to as "Dr.”
First reference: Mary Smith, PhD,
Second reference: Dr. Smith
Quotes, pull
Set off pull quotes with quotation marks; identify the speaker of the quote by name, class year, college and title (when applicable)
Student residence halls
Student residence halls should always be referred to as such. Never use the word “dormitory.”
Student names and surnames, undergraduate
After first reference, identify undergraduate students by first name.
Example: Mary Smith has enjoyed her four years at Villanova. Mary hopes to attend law school.
Student surnames, graduate students and other adults
Identify graduate students and all other adults by last name only after first reference.
Exceptions: use “Dr.” and “Father” with last name on subsequent references
Terminal degrees
List terminal degrees after a person’s name on first occurrence. If they have more than one degree, the terminal degree should come first.
Examples: PhD, MD, DO, DDS, DMD, DVM, STD, MFA, MBA
Example: John Smith, PhD, MFA
Titles, capitalization of
When the title first appears before an individual’s name, it should be capitalized. When it first appears after an individual’s name, it is not capitalized.
Example: Under the guidance of Assistant Professor Jane Smith, PhD, the students conducted an important experiment.
Example: Jane Smith, PhD, assistant professor of Political Science, assisted the students.
University
When describing Villanova, “University” should always be capitalized.
Example: The University is embarking upon a Campus Master Plan.
Veritas, Unitas, Caritas
The University motto should be uppercase and italicized — Veritas, Unitas, Caritas — in all references.
Special Notes:
- Do not use superscripts (“5th,” not “5th”)
- Do not hit the spacebar twice, either between words or between sentences
- Don’t use a hyphen with adverbs that end in “ly”
