Visual Identity Guidelines
Abbreviations and Acronyms
Academic Degrees
When referring to academic degrees, it is preferable to spell out the degree and use the lowercase: bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, doctor’s degree or doctorate.
- Right: He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
- Wrong: He received a bachelor’s of electrical engineering degree.
If you choose to abbreviate degrees, use periods after all the letters: B.A., M.S. and Ph.D. (with the exception of MBA).
Academic Titles
Do not precede a name with a title of an academic degree and follow it with the abbreviation for that degree in the same reference.
- Right: Dr. Harrison Potter is president of the Alchemy Corporation.
- Wrong: Dr. Harrison Potter, Ph.D., is president of the Alchemy Corporation.
It is appropriate to use the word Dr. as a first reference before the name of a person who holds a doctor’s degree. Do not use Dr. in the second reference, unless the person holds a doctor of medicine degree.
References to honorary degrees must specify the degree was honorary. Do not use the title Dr. before the names of those who hold honorary degrees.
When noting degree and graduation year: Abbreviate the degree and abbreviate the year with an apostrophe. Include a space between the degree and the year.
- Right: Jane Smith (B.S. '99) is now working in the nearby Telecom Corridor®.
Courses
Official course titles should be written with initial capitals but without quotation marks, italics, or any other formatting.
- Right: The University of Texas at Dallas has an outstanding course in Communication Sciences.
Following are abbreviations for the formalized and active degree programs for UTD for academic year 2002 – 2003:
Arts & Humanities
| A&H | Arts & Humanities |
| AP | Arts & Humanities - Art & Performance |
| HS | Arts & Humanities - History of Ideas |
| LIT | Arts & Humanities - Literary Studies |
| HUMA | Humanities |
| HUAS | Humanities - Aesthetic Studies |
| HUHI | Humanities - History of Ideas |
| HUSL | Humanities - Studies in Literature |
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
| ACN | Applied Cognition & Neuroscience |
| AUD | Audiology |
| CGS | Cognitive Science |
| PSY | Psychology |
| SPAU | Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology |
| COMD | Communication Disorders |
| HDEC | Human Development & Early Childhood Disorders |
| HCS | Human Development & Communication Sciences |
| NSC | Neuroscience |
Engineering & Computer Science
| CE | Computer Engineering |
| CS | Computer Science |
| CSSE | Computer Science - Software Engineering |
| EE | Electrical Engineering |
| EEM | Electrical Engineering - Microelectronics |
| EET | Electrical Engineering - Telecommunications |
| SE | Software Engineering |
| MSCS | Master of Science - Computer Science |
| TE | Telecommunications Engineering |
General Studies
| AMS | American Studies |
| GNDS | Gender Studies |
| IS | Interdisciplinary Studies |
Management
| AIM | Accounting & Information Management |
| BA | Business Administration |
| IMS | International Management Studies |
| MAS | Management and Administrative Science |
| MSC | Management Science |
| MBA | Master of Business Administration |
| MEDM | Medical Management |
Natural Science and Mathematics
| APHY | Applied Physics |
| BCHM | Biochemistry |
| BIO | Biology |
| BCM | Biology - Molecular and Cellular Biology |
| CHEM | Chemistry |
| GEOS | Geosciences |
| MATH | Mathematics |
| MAP | Mathematical Sciences Applied |
| EGM | Mathematical Sciences - Engineering Mathematics |
| STAT | Mathematical Sciences - Statistics |
| MED | Mathematics Education |
| MB | Molecular Biology |
| PHYS | Physics |
| SCE | Science Education |
Economic, Political and Policy Sciences
| MSAE | Applied Economics |
| ASOC | Applied Sociology |
| CJS | Crime and Justice Studies |
| ECO | Economics and Finance |
| GEOG | Geography |
| GSIS | Geospatial Information Sciences |
| MGIS | Geographic Information Sciences |
| GOVT | Government and Politics |
| MPA | Master of Public Affairs |
| POEC | Political Economy |
| PA | Public Administration |
| SOC | Sociology |
Acronyms
Spell out an abbreviation or acronym on the first use and follow with the abbreviation in parentheses.
- Right: The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degree programs.
Maintain clarity in writing by using acronyms sparsely and intermittently. Never use an acronym or abbreviation at a great distance from the original spelled out version. Acronyms should be written in all capital letters using, usually, the first letters of each word to match the visual-textual example that immediately follows.
Examples of commonly used abbreviations or acronyms used at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) are:
Buildings/ Centers
| AB | Activity Center (Activity Building) |
| AC | Animal Control |
| AD | Administrative Wing (of the Multipurpose Building) |
| AS | Visual Arts Studio |
| BE | Lloyd V. Berkner Hall |
| CB | Classroom Building (temporary) |
| CN | Conference Center |
| ECSN | Engineering and Computer Science North |
| ECSS | Engineering and Computer Science South |
| FA | Founders West Annex |
| FN | Founders North |
| FO | Founders Building |
| GC | Cecil & Ida Green Center for the Study of Science and Society |
| GR | Cecil H. Green Hall |
| HH | Karl Hobitzelle Hall |
| HT | Temporary Classroom Building (near Hoblitzelle) |
| IEEE | Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering |
| JO | Erik Jonsson Academic Center |
| MC | Eugene McDermott Library |
| MP | Multipurpose Building |
| NB | North Office Building |
| PG | Police/Garage/Grounds Building |
| PP | Physical Plant |
| SB | Service Building |
| SOM | School of Management Building |
| SU | Student Union |
| TH | University Theatre |
State/ Federal
| ACT | American College Testing Program |
| ASC | American Southwest Conference |
| AUF | Available University Fund |
| CB | Coordinating Board |
| HB | House Bill |
| HEF | Higher Education Fund |
| ICR | Indirect Cost Recovery |
| LBB | Legislative Budget Board |
| NACUBO | National Association of College and University Business Officers |
| NCAA | National Collegiate Athletic Association |
| NIH | National Institutes of Health |
| PHEF | Permanent Higher Education Fund |
| PUF | Permanent University Fund |
| SAT | Scholastic Assessment Test (formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test). Never spell out or use periods. The acronym SAT is the correct usage in all instances. |
| SB | Senate Bill |
General
| C/NOFS | Communications Navigation Outage Forecast System |
| CINDI | Coupled Ion-Neutral Dynamics Investigation |
| CPS | Creative Problem Solving |
| FAQ | Frequently Asked Questions |
| FINS | Financial Information System |
| FTE | Full-time Equivalent |
| GIS | Geographic Information System |
| OSPA | Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis |
| RA | Research Assistant |
| SCH | Semester Credit Hours |
| SOM | The School of Management |
| SOS | Small Order System |
| SPECT | Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography |
| SPRING | Strategic Partnership for Research in Nanotechnology |
| TA | Teaching Assistant |
| TI | Texas Instruments |
| UIL | University Interscholastic League |
| UTSWMC | University of Texas Southwest Medical Center |
Acronym Reference
A good resource for identifying acronyms and abbreviations may be found at: www.acronymfinder.com.
Addresses
In numbered addresses abbreviate avenue, boulevard and street. Addresses that are not numbered should be spelled out.
- Right: He lives at 1400 Main St.
- Right: He lives on Main Street.
State Names
Spell out the names of the 50 states when they stand alone in textual material. When abbreviating, use the two-letter, capitalized abbreviations adopted by the U.S. Postal Service.
| AK - Alaska | NH - New Hampshire |
| AS - American Samoa | NJ - New Jersey |
| AZ - Arizona | NM - New Mexico |
| AR - Arkansas | NY - New York |
| CA - California | NC - North Carolina |
| CO - Colorado | ND - North Dakota |
| CT - Connecticut | MP - Northern Mariana Islands |
| DE - Delaware | OH - Ohio |
| DC - District of Columbia | OK - Oklahoma |
| FM - Federated States of Micronesia | OR - Oregon |
| FL - Florida | PA - Pennsylvania |
| GA - Georgia | PR - Puerto Rico |
| GU - Guam | RI - Rhode Island |
| HI - Hawaii | SC - South Carolina |
| ID - Idaho | SD - South Dakota |
| IL - Illinois | TN - Tennessee |
| IN - Indiana | TX - Texas |
| IA - Iowa | UT - Utah |
| KS - Kansas | VT - Vermont |
| KY - Kentucky | VA - Virginia |
| LA - Louisiana | VI - Virgin Islands, U.S. |
| ME - Maine | WA - Washington |
| MH - Marshall Islands | WV - West Virginia |
| MD - Maryland | WI - Wisconsin |
| MA - Massachusetts | WY - Wyoming |
| MI - Michigan | AA - Armed Forces the Americas |
| MN - Minnesota | AE - Armed Forces Europe |
| MS - Mississippi | AP - Armed Forces Pacific |
| MO - Missouri | |
| MT - Montana | |
| NE - Nebraska |
- Right: The University of Texas at Dallas is in Richardson, Texas.
- Right: Send applications to:
The University of Texas at Dallas
P.O. Box 830688
Richardson, TX 75083-0688
When used as part of a title or name, the state should always be spelled out: The New York Philharmonic.
The two-letter abbreviation for the United States of America uses periods (U.S.). The three-letter abbreviation (USA) does not use periods. The United States should be spelled out when used as a noun and abbreviated only when it is used as an adjective.
- Right: The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded $1.8 million in grants to The University of Texas at Dallas' NanoTech Institute.
- Right: The University of Texas at Dallas is one of the leading nanotechnology research institutions in the United States.
Contractions
Contractions reflect informal speech and writing. Although excessive use of contractions should be avoided, those listed in the dictionary are acceptable in an informal context. Generally, informal writing is used for internal communications. External communications adopt a more formal tone and generally do not use contractions.
Updated: February 19, 2008
