Punctuation
On this page: Class Year | Co-op | Degree | Phone Numbers | Schools, Colleges, Professional Schools | Titles of things
Class year (alumni)
In all alumni publications, an alumnus' class year should be included with his/her name with the following style: "Jane Doe '89 was active as a student." Note the apostrophe before the two-digit class year. (We no longer put a comma after the class year in copy, unless it is required by the rest of the sentence's structure.)
For multiple graduation years, list each year followed by a comma, for example: "David Smith '75, '77 gave a presentation." Class year information is available in Raiser's Edge or from the Alumni Relations Office.
Cooperative education (co-op)
When abbreviated, use the hyphenated "co-op."
Degree
Another example of proper degree designation is B.S. in Business Administration (see Degree abbreviations below).
"Master's/bachelor's"
Use apostrophe-s when outside a formal degree name, usually followed by "degree," like "she earned her bachelor's degree at age 67" or "master's degree in mathematics." Do not use apostrophe-s in formal degree names, as above.
Degree abbreviations
Always put periods between the letters, e.g. B.S., M.A., Ph.D. One exception to this rule is MBA (Master of Business Administration).
Phone numbers
When giving a phone number, use hyphens and no parentheses, e.g. 313-555-1212.
Schools, Colleges, Professional Schools
The names of Detroit Mercy's colleges and schools are:
- College of Business Administration
- College of Engineering & Science (note ampersand)
- College of Health Professions/McAuley School of Nursing
- College of Liberal Arts & Education (note ampersand)
- School of Architecture
- School of Dentistry
- School of Law
Titles of things (books, movies, presentations)
Italicize – and do not quote – the names of books, magazines, journals and other publications as well as titles of plays, movies, musical compositions (symphonies, operas), TV series, works of art etc. (If italics are not available, use quotes.)
Use quote marks around – but no italics on – the names of articles and chapter names, as well as with titles of talks, presentations, etc.