Writing Style Guide

Overview

Our Writing Style Guide will help you write with our unique brand voice and tone. It provides examples of proper use of the Universities of Wisconsin. Our Writing Style Guide also provides tips for effective plain language writing.

If you have questions about the UW Writing Style Guide, contact universityrelations@wisconsin.edu.

Universities of Wisconsin

Use as the first reference of the collective of the 13 UW universities, what previously was called the University of Wisconsin System.

Example: The Universities of Wisconsin offer countless opportunities.

Use in the formal titles of programs and initiatives.

Example: Universities of Wisconsin PK-20 Initiative

UW universities, UWs, UWs’

Preferred second reference/abbreviation examples:

• The Universities of Wisconsin initiative relies on many partners. Those partners include the UW universities that prepare teachers, administrators, and student services personnel.
• The Universities of Wisconsin are promoting a new enrollment initiative. The UWs will begin their marketing and outreach this summer.
• The Universities of Wisconsin have placed a special emphasis on student behavioral health. The UWs’ counseling and student health services and centers are at the forefront of prevention, early intervention, and treatment and care.

UW system (lower case ‘s’)

It is acceptable to use “system” in lower case to describe the collective of the UW universities. Do not use “system” in our Universities of Wisconsin title.

Example: These Universities of Wisconsin initiatives inform strategic policies and programs throughout the UW system.

Universities

Use universities or UW universities to describe our universities. Do not use institutions or UW institutions to refer to them.

If a broader term than university is needed, the word organization is preferred (rather than institution).

Campus

Use “campus” when referring to an activity or a university’s location

• Campus life
• On-campus meeting
• UW-Green Bay has four campuses
• 13 public universities with campuses across the state

Subject-verb agreement examples

• The Universities of Wisconsin are…
• The UWs are…

Possessive examples

• The UWs’ focus on…
• The focus of the Universities of Wisconsin…
• The Universities of Wisconsin’s focus…
• Six of the UW universities’ focus is on…

Universities of Wisconsin Administration (UWSA)

When referring to the administrative offices previously known as University of Wisconsin System Administration, use Universities of Wisconsin Administration.

With use of “the UWs” as an abbreviation for the Universities of Wisconsin, the acronym for the administration will remain UWSA. This is largely a matter of convenience.

Example: UWSA employee Intranet.

Use Universities of Wisconsin associated with divisions and offices.

Example: Universities of Wisconsin Office of the President

Legal Name: University of Wisconsin System

Our legal name remains “University of Wisconsin System.”

Avoid using “University of Wisconsin System” or “UW System” except where legally required by statute, rule, or policy.

Circumstances in which the University of Wisconsin System should continue to be used include local, state, and federal court and administrative hearing filings and communications, all real estate documents, all contracts (including federal and state grants), Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), legal signature or other relevant delegations of authority, and formal correspondence with state and federal regulatory bodies.

Official documents such as diplomas will continue to use the official University of Wisconsin System name.

Legal Name: Board of Regents

The legal name of the Board of Regents is the “University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.”

Meeting agendas will acknowledge both names. Agendas will be topped with the Universities of Wisconsin logo, followed by the header, “University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents Agenda.”

Examples:

• University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents
• Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
• Karen Walsh, President of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents

President

First reference:

• Jay Rothman, President of the Universities of Wisconsin
• Jay Rothman, President, Universities of Wisconsin
• Jay Rothman, Universities of Wisconsin President
• Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman

Exception: Jay Rothman, President of the University of Wisconsin System, will be used where legally required by statute, rule, or policy.

University Names

• UW-Eau Claire
• UW-Green Bay
• UW-La Crosse
• UW-Madison
• UW-Milwaukee
• UW-Oshkosh
• UW-Parkside
• UW-Platteville
• UW-River Falls
• UW-Stevens Point
• UW-Stout
• UW-Superior
• UW-Whitewater

Full University Names

Use en-dash (–) instead a hyphen (-) or em-dash (—)

• Correct: University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
• Incorrect: University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
• Incorrect: University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire

UWSA Divisions and Offices

For proper reference to UWSA divisions and offices, refer to our Offices Directory.

Branch Campus Names

• UW-Eau Claire – Barron County
• UW-Green Bay, Manitowoc Campus
• UW-Green Bay, Marinette Campus
• UW-Green Bay, Sheboygan Campus
• UW-Milwaukee at Washington County
• UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha
• UW-Oshkosh, Fond du Lac Campus
• UW-Oshkosh, Fox Cities Campus
• UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County
• UW-Platteville Richland
• UW-Stevens Point at Marshfield
• UW-Stevens Point at Wausau (formerly UW-Marathon County)
• UW-Whitewater at Rock County

Writing in plain language means writing to be easily understood, using familiar words, and presenting information in a logical order. Writing concise sentences in a direct tone helps our audience to easily read, understand, and act. Using correct references for our organization is also important.

Voice and Tone

• Write in a direct, conversational style.
• Use crisp, active sentences to give more life to the written word; avoid using passive voice.
• Avoid using acronyms.
• Tailor your words to the intended audience.
• Use short, simple words rather than complex, technical ones.

Don’t Use This	Use This
Deserve	Justify, Earn
Institution	University
Modality	Style, manner
Operationalize	Implement
Pedagogy	Practice of teaching (OK to use pedagogy if writing to peers)
Pillars of higher education	Higher education foundation
Rationale	Reasons
Return on Investment (ROI)	Benefit
Transform	Change
Utilize	Use

Plain Language Tips

Use words your audience understands – avoid jargon

Use: The project will consolidate multiple information technology environments into the same infrastructure.

Avoid: The project will amalgamate diversiform information technology environments into the same underpinning of our IT foundation.

Organize the information

Use: Review your benefits. Decide what changes you need to make. Enroll on the website.

Avoid: When you are ready to enroll on the website, make sure you have already decided what changes you need after you have reviewed your benefits.

Be concise and avoid redundancy

Use: Our office collaborates with our partners across the state to advance innovation and the 2023-2028 Strategic Plan.

Avoid: Our office, in service to the Universities of Wisconsin, the State of Wisconsin, and the public good, collaborates with our partners across the state to advance innovation and the 2023-2028 Strategic Plan.

Write in an active tone

Use: The office supports compliance efforts at the Universities of Wisconsin.

Avoid: The compliance efforts are supported by our office.

Properly use acronyms (See UWSA Acronym & Use Reference Index below)

• Avoid using acronyms. If possible, use a simplified name for subsequent references. You may need to use acronyms when referring to multiple entities.

Examples:

Entity	Instead of	Consider
Business & Finance Committee	B&F	the committee
Enterprise Data Governance Council	EDGC	the council
American Association of State Colleges and Universities	AASCU	the association

• Limit using acronyms for commonly known entities. Spell out the acronym on first use.

Example: The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) is charged with the review of all state appropriations and revenues. The JFC will hold its first budget hearings in February.

We generally follow the Associated Press (AP) Style for all written materials, with the following notable exception:

• Oxford Comma– We use the Oxford comma. (AP Style does not).

Capitalization

Capitalize Universities of Wisconsin (but, in most cases, do not capitalize “system” alone, “systemwide,” “university,” or “university system”).

Capitalize Board of Regents (but, in most cases, do not capitalize “the board” or “the regents”).

Capitalize schools within universities when using their proper names:

• the School of Journalism & Mass Communication
• the School of Nursing
• the School of Engineering

But do not capitalize journalism (or journalism school), nursing, engineering, law, allied health, etc.

Capitalize departments within schools when using their proper names:

• Department of Geography
• Department of Agricultural Economics
• Department of Biochemistry

But do not capitalize geography (or geography department), agricultural economics, biochemistry, history, linguistics, etc.

Capitalize divisions, offices, and departments within UWSA (Division of Finance & Administration, Office of Capital Planning & Budget, etc.)

• Capitalize titles when used specifically in front of a name:
  • Acting President Katharine Lyall
  • Professor Howard Temin
  • Chancellor Karl Meyer

But do not capitalize when these titles follow the name or stand-alone within the text:

• Katharine Lyall, acting president

Exception: In bylines to articles and in lists, capitalize titles whether they precede a person’s name.

• By Edward M. Penson, Chancellor

Numbers

Numbers one through nine are spelled out, while 10 and above are written as numerals.

Dates

When writing dates in text, do not use a superscript:

Use: March 20, 2024
Avoid: March 20^th, 2024

Use: April 3, 2023
Avoid: April 3^rd, 2023

When writing just the month and year, do not place a comma between them:

Use: June 2020
Avoid: June, 2020

Spaces

Use one space between sentences and after a colon within a sentence.

Common Word Usage & Spellings

• 21^st century (hyphenate if used as an adjective: 21^st-century jobs)
• campuswide
• coursework
• degrees: PhD, MA, MS, MD, associate degree
• DoIT
• EApp (as in EApp electronic application)
• email
• Internet
• intranet
• online
• startup
• statewide
• systemwide
• underrepresented
• web page
• website

The acronyms listed include entities and terms related to the general operation of the Universities of Wisconsin. This is not an all-inclusive list of entities or terms that you use. Divisions and offices may have business processes and affiliation with entities that use acronyms.

Our plain language guide recommends avoiding using acronyms. If possible, use a simplified name for subsequent references. You may need to use acronyms when referring to multiple entities.

Avoid using acronyms for our UW universities.

 

Entity	Abbreviation	Alternative for Subsequent Reference
American Association of State Colleges and Universities	AASCU
Annual Benefits Enrollment	ABE
American Council on Education	ACE
Accidental Death & Dismemberment	AD&D
Administrative Transformation Program	ATP
Assistant Vice President, or Associate Vice President	AVP
Board of Regents	Use full name
Chief Business Officer	CBO
Central Data Request	CDR
Chief Human Resources Officer	CHRO
Chief Information Officer	CIO
Chief Information Security Officer	CISO
Chief of Staff	None	Chief of Staff
Capital Planning and Budget	CPB
Department of Administration	DOA
Division of Information Technology	DoIT
Department of Public Instruction	DPI
Employee Assistance Program	EAP
Educational Communications Board	ECB
U.S. Department of Education	ED
Enterprise Data Governance Council	EDGC	Council
Electronic Personnel Action Form	ePAF
Department of Employee Trust Funds	ETF
Faculty, Academic Staff & Limited Appointees	Avoid	Use entire name
Free Application for Federal Student Aid	FAFSA
Financial Aid Officers	FAO	Officers
Financial and Administrative Policy	None	Policy
Federal Employer Identification Number	FEIN
Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act	FERPA
The Family and Medical Leave Act	FMLA
Flexible Spending Account	FSA
Full-Time Equivalent/Enrollment	FTE
High Deductible Health Plan	HDHP
Wisconsin’s Higher Education Aids Board	HEAB
Higher Learning Commission	HLC	Commission
Human Resources	HR
Health Savings Account	HSA
Income Continuation Insurance	ICI
Institute of Internal Auditors	IIA
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System	IPEDS
Information Technology	IT
Joint Audit Committee	JAC
Joint Committee on Employment Relations	JCOER
joint Finance Committee	JFC
Legislative Audit Bureau	LAB
Legislative Fiscal Bureau	LFB
Legislative Liaison	LL
Learning Management System	LMS
Limited Term Employee	LTE
Multi-Factor Authentication	MFA
National Association of College and University Business	NACUBO	Association
Office for Civil Rights	OCR
Office of Management and Budget	OMB	Office
Purchasing Card	Pcard
Position Description, or Professional Development	PD
Public Information Officer	PIO	Officer
Purchase Order	PO
Program Revenue	PR
Program Revenue Supported Borrowing	PRSB
Research 1 University	R1
Request for Bid	RFB
Request for Proposal	RFP
780 Regent St.	None
Regent Policy Document	RPD #
State Building Commission	SBC
Small Business Development Center	SBDC
Shared Financial System	SFS
Student Information System	SIS
Senior Student Affairs Officer	SSAO
Senior Strategic Enrollment Officers	SSEO
State Transforming Agency Resources	STAR
State of Wisconsin Investment Board	SWIB	Board
UW System Administrative policies	SYS #
Tax-Sheltered Annuity	TSA
Title and Total Compensation	TTC
Transferology (formerly Transfer Information System)	None
Vice President	VP
Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities	WAICU
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation	WARF
Wisconsin Deferred Compensation	WDC
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation	WEDC
Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission	WERC
Wisconsin Humanities Council	WHC
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Commission	WIAC
Wisconsin Institution for Public Policy and Service	WIPPS
WiSBuild	WiSBUILD
Wisconsin Data Mart	WiSDM
WISER	WISER
Wisconsin Retirement System	WRS
Wisconsin Technical College System	WTCS
UWSA OFFICES AND DIVISIONS (Note: Some offices typically don’t use an acronym)
Office of Academic Affairs	OAA	Office
Office of Business & Entrepreneurship	OBE	Office
Office of Capital Planning & Budget	CPB	Office
Office of Compliance & Integrity	OCI	Office
Office of Compliance & Risk Management	OCR	Office
Office of Economic & Employer Engagement	OEEE	Office
Office of Educational Opportunity	OEO	Office
Office of Enrollment & Student Success	OESS	Office
Office of Finance	None
Office of General Counsel	OGC	Office
Office of Government Relations	GR	Office
Office of Human Resources	HR
Office of Information Security	OIS	Office
Office of Internal Audit	None	Office
Office of Learning and Information Technology Services	OLITS	Office
Office of Online & Professional Learning Resources	OPLR	Office
Office of Policy Analysis and Research	OPAR	Office
Office of Public Affairs, Communications, and Branding	OPACB	Office
Office of the President	None	Office
Office of Risk Management	None	Office
Office of Trust Funds	None	Office
UW Higher Education Location Program	UW HELP
UW-Shared Services	UWSS
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	WIAC