Common Terminology - The CMU Brand - Carnegie Mellon University

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Academic degrees

Spell out and use lowercase for bachelor's degree, master's degree, doctor's degree or doctorate. Bachelor of arts degree, bachelor of science degree, master of arts degree or master of science degree also are acceptable, but not preferred. For a doctor's degree you may use Ph.D. and for a master's degree in business administration you may use MBA.

You can receive a doctorate OR a doctor's degree, but NOT a doctoral degree. Dr. should only be used in first reference as a formal title for a doctor of medicine. Examples:

• He received a master's degree in engineering.
• She earned a master of science degree in engineering.
• They earned a bachelor's degree in architecture.
• They received a bachelor of arts degree in music.

Academic departments

Capitalize the full names of departments. Example:

• The English Department is pleased with the number of course offerings.

Use lowercase for the word "department" when it stands alone.

Capitalize the academic field when it's used to mean the department. Use lowercase for the field when it's used in a general sense. Examples:

• She's a professor in the Department of Physics.
• She's a physics professor.
• She majored in physics.

Use lowercase for majors with the exception of languages, which are proper nouns. Examples:

• Her major is physics.
• He's an English major.

Academic programs

Capitalize the formal name of academic programs. "Bachelor" and "Master" are used without the "s." Examples:

• Julie is in her second year in the Master of Arts Management program.
• Rick is a senior in the Bachelor of Humanities and Arts program.

Acronyms

Spell out the full name for colleges, schools, departments, buildings, offices, etc. on the first reference followed by the acronym in parentheses. Use the acronym for every subsequent use. Example:

• The Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Department, located in the Facilities Management Services (FMS) building, provides important safety training for the university community. Training information is available on the EHS website and training sessions are often held in the FMS building.

Some common Carnegie Mellon acronyms include:

• ACS | Andrew Carnegie Society
• BCSA | Bachelor of Computer Science and Arts
• BHA | Bachelor of Humanities and Arts
• BSA | Bachelor of Science and Arts
• BXA | Intercollege Degree Programs
• CFA | College of Fine Arts
• CMARC | Carnegie Mellon Advising Resource Center
• CTTEC | Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation
• DC | Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences (Dietrich College acceptable after first reference)
• DSSC |Data Storage Systems Center
• EHS | Environmental Health and Safety
• ETC | Entertainment Technology Center
• FMS | Facilities Management Services
• FSO | Fellowships and Scholarships Office
• HNZ | Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy (Heinz College acceptable after first reference)
• INI | Information Networking Institute
• MCS | Mellon College of Science
• OURSD | Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholar Development
• PSC | Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
• RAs | Resident assistants (use lowercase for this title)
• SCS | School of Computer Science
• SEI | Software Engineering Institute
• SHS | Student Health Services
• TAs | Teaching assistants (use lowercase for this title)
• TPR | David A. Tepper School of Business (Tepper School acceptable after first reference)

Alumni

This word construction is taken directly from its Latin origins. Therefore, the noun forms are gender specific: "alumna" refers to one woman; "alumnae" refers to a group of women; "alumnus" refers to one man; "alumni" refers to a group of men or a group of men and women. It's rare to see the feminine plural form, "alumnae." Most often the form "alumni" is used for any group of graduates.

Alumni designations

See Indicia.