Not accounting when referring to the academic department.
acting administrator
Serves for a specific period of time.
adviser or advisor
Either is accepted but must be used consistently.
A-ID
An employee's university account number.
affect, effect
Affect, as a verb, means to influence; as a noun, it is best avoided. (It is occasionally used in psychology to describe an emotion, but there is no need for it in everyday language.) Effect, as a verb, means to cause. Effect, as a noun, means result. Do not use impact instead.
alumnus, alumni, alumna, alumnae
Use alumnus (alumni in the plural) when referring to a man who has attended school. Use alumna (alumnae in the plural) when referring to a woman who has attended school. Use alumni (not alums) when referring to a group and/or as a gender-neutral term.
B
Black
(racial reference) Acceptable for an American black person of African descent.
C
CA
Stands for community advisor.
campuswide
Not campus wide.
centered on
Not centered around.
chair
Not chairman, chairwoman or chairperson.
cocurricular
Not co-curricular.
compose, comprise, constitute
Compose means to create or put together: She composed a song.Comprise means to contain, include all or embrace. It is best used in the active voice: The United States comprises 50 states.Constitute, in the sense of form or make up, may be the best word if neither compose nor comprise fit: Fifty states constitute the United States. Use include when what follows is only part of the total: The zoo includes lions and tigers.
coursework
Not course work.
D
DeKalb
Not Dekalb.
Department of Biological Sciences
Not biology.
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Not mathematics.
departments
On second reference, can lowercase department thereafter.
dog guide
Not "guide dog" which is a registered trademark.
E
email
Not e-mail.
emeritus
Refers to a retired, tenured professor in good standing with the university (singular). Use professors emeritus rather than emeriti for plural usage.
F
first come, first served or first-come, first-served
Not first come, first serve.
first-generation student
Refers to the first person in a family to attend a four-year university.
first-year
Can describe a freshman or student attending NIU for the first time.
freshman class
Singular referring to one group.
freshman student orientation
Singular referring to one service.
freshman student-athlete
Singular referring to one person
freshmen student-athletes
Plural referring to multiple people. When "man" is part of a compound, both parts of the full term become plural: freshman student, freshmen students.
Founders Memorial Library
With an "s." No apostrophe.
G
GED
A trademark abbreviation for General Educational Development tests, a battery of five exams designed by the American Council on Education to measure high school equivalency. GED should be used as an adjective, not as a noun. Those passing the tests earn a GED diploma or certificate, not a GED.
GPA
Acceptable on first reference for grade-point average. Carry decimals in GPA to two digits, i.e., 3.50.
A prepaid debit card account for students to make on-campus purchases and for resident hall laundry access.
I
interim chair
Is appointed for an indefinite period of time.
international student
Instead of foreign student.
internet
No longer capitalized unless at beginning of sentence.
K
kickoff
(noun and adj.)
kick off
(verb).
L
Latinx, Latinxs
(plural) A gender-neutral reference for Latinos (men), Latinas (women). Do not use Latin@s as it is not accessibility compliant. Do not use Latino/a or Latina/o.
LGBTQ+
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and others. This is the preferred acronym of the director of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC).
login, logon, logoff
(noun) But use as two words in verb form: I log in to my computer.
M
Move-in Day
(noun/event), move in/move out (verb).
N
Northern
In the body of copy, use NIU instead of Northern. Use of Northern only in established titles such as Northern Nurse and Northern Star is permissible.
O
ombudsperson
Not ombudsman or ombudswoman.
OneCard
The official identification card for NIU students and personnel. Accesses key functions such as Huskie Bucks, meal plans, Campus Recreation facilities, door access and library services.
online
Not on-line or on line.
P
post-traditional students
Has replaced nontraditional students.
preestablish
Not pre-establish, as per AP Style 2019.
preregister
Not pre-register.
S
setup
(noun and adj.);
set up
(verb).
state names
Spell out the names of states when in the body of a story, whether standing alone or in conjunction with a city, town, village or military base. EXCEPTIONS: Datelines use the postal code abbreviation (i.e., Illinois – IL, Nebraska – NE). Photo captions use regular abbreviations (i.e., Illinois – Ill., Nebraska – Neb.). States that are not abbreviated (apart from datelines) include Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah.
student-at-large
Not student at large.
STEAM
Acronym for science, technology, engineering, arts and math. Okay to use on first reference, but spell out fully on next reference.
STEM
Acronym for science, technology, engineering and math. Okay to use on first reference but spell out fully on next reference.
STEMFest/STEM Fest
Use STEMFest in headlines, STEM Fest in body copy.
syllabi
Plural of syllabus.
T
than, then
Than is a conjunction used to compare things; then is an adverb used to place events in time or things in order. He wrote a volume that was longer than the AP Stylebook, and then published it.
that, which
Use that and which when referring to inanimate objects and to animals without a name. Use that for essential clauses, important to the meaning of a sentence, and without commas. I remember the day that we met. Use which for nonessential clauses, where the pronoun is less necessary, and use commas to offset the clause. The team, which finished last a year ago, is in first place. Tip: If you can drop the clause and not lose the meaning of the sentence, use which; otherwise, use that. A which clause is surrounded by commas; no commas are used with that clauses.
U
U.S.
Use periods when abbreviating United States in a body of text, use US (no periods) in headlines.
universitywide
Not university wide.
upper division/lower division
Not upper class or lower class; not upperclassmen or lowerclassmen. Upper division refers to students taking 300/400-level courses, lower division is for students taking 100/200-level courses. Use inclusive language rather than gendered language.
W
website, webpage
Both lowercase; both one word.
who, that
Who is used as a pronoun and function word to introduce a relative clause and when referring to human beings. That should be used for nonhuman animals and for things. A generation who had known nothing but war. – R. B. West.