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This is the copy of best practices as approved by the CSU and the CSUSM Communications Editorial Team. Please make sure you review it and implement it, especially if we're helping you send an email out — this will save us a lot of time. We've taken the most common bad practices and created a best practice all in one. If you have a question on something that you need clarification on, please reach out to the University Communications team. Please review carefully:

Months/Dates/Times

  • Abbreviate months with six or more letters if they are used with a specific date.
  • Spell out those with five or fewer letters.
  • Examples: Aug. 13, June 6, May 31
  • Spell out the month when it is used without a specific date.
  • Examples: In December, CSUSM held its annual fall commencement.
    The class began in January 2024.
  • For days of the month, use only numerals. Do not use “nd,” “rd” or “th.”
  • Examples: Aug. 2, Sept. 3, April 4
  • Do not abbreviate days of the week. You usually do not need both a day of the week and a date.
  • Examples: Wednesday, Monday
    The next meeting is Oct. 13.
  • Use numerals, a space, lowercase letters and periods for a.m. and p.m. Do not use extra zeros on times.
  • Examples: 7 p.m., 10 a.m., 1:45 p.m.
  • Use noon and midnight rather than 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.
  • Example: The club will meet at noon.

 

Name Titles

  • Formal titles are only capitalized when they appear immediately before a name.
  • Examples: President Ellen Neufeldt is a national leader in social mobility.
    Ellen Neufeldt is the president of CSUSM.

 

Punctuation

  • CSUSM style is to avoid the Oxford comma, meaning no comma before “and” in a series.
  • Example: The university believes strongly in diversity, equity and inclusion.

 

Email Subject Lines/Subheads

  • All words in a subject line and subheads should be capitalized, unless they are articles or short prepositions like “a,” “an,” “the,” “in,” “out,” etc.
  • Prepositions of four or more letters should be capitalized, however (“from,” “with,” etc.)
  • Example: Important Message About the New Strategic Plan From President Neufeldt

 

Ampersands

  • Avoid using the symbol “&” unless it’s part of an official title.
  • Examples: Student Health & Counseling Services (correct)
    We encourage students to seek out our services & resources. (incorrect)

 

Academic Degrees

  • Bachelor of Arts
  • Bachelor of Science
  • bachelor’s degree
  • bachelor’s
  • B.A.
  • B.S.
  • Master of Arts
  • Master of Science
  • Master of Business Administration
  • master’s degree
  • master’s
  • M.A.
  • M.S.
  • MBA
  • Ph.D.
  • associate degree

 

Numerals

  • In general, spell out one through nine
  • Use figures for 10 or above
  • Use figures for ages:
    • 5-year-old boy
    • The boy is 5 years old.
  • She is in her 40s.
  • He is 5 feet, 10 inches tall
  • The wood is 10 inches long by 2 inches wide
  • She ran 4 miles
  • Use figures for money and use a dollar sign rather than the word dollars:
    • $1 million
  • 4 ounces
  • She was born in the 1970s.
  • She was born in the ’70s.
  • 5 mph

 

 

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