On stylistic matters not addressed in this guide, please see the Binghamton University Brand Guide.

Format

• All Web home pages housed on University-based servers should contain an identifying reference to Binghamton University and a link to the University Home Page.
• The "State University of New York," should be noted on the opening page of a Web site..
• Official university information such as that contained in the Bulletin, the University calendar, University descriptions etc. should not be duplicated on departmental or unit pages. Links should be made from these pages to the relevant University pages.
• The e-mail address and a direct e-mail link to the person responsible for the page (e.g., a member of the faculty or administrative staff) must be included on each page.
• The date of the last update should be posted on the opening page.
• Pages should adhere to the guidelines on accessibility established for all public Web sites by New York State.

University logo

• Only the official University logo may be used and must not be modified.
• The logo should be used in the official color only.

Use of graphics

• Pages should provide text-only alternatives (e.g. by using the ALT= ‘text alternative’ parameter of the IMG html tag). Not all browsers display graphics.
• Images should be in GIF or JPEG format.
• Images should be designed to be under 100K where possible. Larger versions should be made available as an option.

Names

• The State University of New York at Binghamton remains the official and legal name of the University. Binghamton University is our approved short-form name. Our nickname, BU, is acceptable in informal references. (The hyphenated SUNY-Binghamton and SUNY-B are no longer used.) Avoid mixing the official and the unofficial names together in text.
• The University’s five schools should always be referred to by their full names in a first reference. Thereafter, the short forms shown below are acceptable:
  • Harpur College of Arts and Sciences (Harpur College)
  • Decker School of Nursing (the Decker School, DSON)
  • School of Management (SOM)
  • School of Education and Human Development (SEHD)
  • Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science (the Watson School)

Capitalization

• Capitalize both the name and the word "department" or "office," but not the preceding "the": the Psychology Department, the Counseling Center, the Medieval Studies Program, the Undergraduate Admissions Office
  
• When referring subsequently to "the department" or "the school," do not capitalize. Note, however, that "University" is always capitalized when referring to Binghamton but is not when referring to universities in general.
• Capitalize department names and the official names of courses, but not the names of disciplines or fields (except languages or names of countries and ethnic groups, which are capitalized anyway): You can earn a degree in history in the History Department.
• Major annual events of the University are capitalized, as are specially named events and activities. Names of specific academic terms and names of graduating or alumni classes are also capitalized: Commencement, Convocation, Class of ‘84, but freshman class.
• Bachelor’s and master’s degrees are lowercased and expressed as the full name followed by "degree," or in a shortened version with an apostrophe and "s": a bachelor of science degree, a bachelor’s degree. PhD degrees may be referred to as "doctorates" or "doctoral degrees."
• Professional titles are not capitalized unless they precede the person’s name: Provost Mary Ann Swain; William Isbell, department chair and associate professor of anthropology. In subsequent references, use only last names.

Punctuation

• In a list or series with commas, use a comma before the conjunctions "and" and "or."
• Use semicolons in a series only if one of the elements contains its own commas or other punctuation.
• For abbreviations composed of initial letters don’t use periods: NYS, BA, MA, MFA, PhD, NCAA, USA.
• Periods and commas always appear inside quotation marks.
• Omit hyphens after most prefixes, unless they precede a capitalized word or end with the same letter that begins the next word: nonmatriculated, but non-University and non-negotiable.
• Always hyphenate with the prefix "self-."
• Hyphenate compound adjectives when they come before the noun: on-campus residence halls. Do not hyphenate adverb-adjective constructions before the noun: lightly seasoned tacos.

Usage

• Avoid using the abbreviation "prof." for professor.
• On first reference, alumni should always be identified with the class year(s) after the name. For undergraduate degrees, list the year only; if the person earned a graduate degree at Binghamton, use commas to set off its abbreviation and year.
• Following common usage around the University, "faculty" and "staff" may be singular or plural. Each of these examples is correct:
  • Three faculty members team-taught the course.
  • Three faculty team-taught the course.
  • Our faculty enjoys interdisciplinary teaching.
• Two notable Binghamton aberrations to standard hyphenation rules:
  • Off Campus College (not hyphenated)
  • College-in-the-Woods (hyphenated)

Numerals

• In prose, spell out numbers from one through ten; use numerals for 11 and up. You may also spell out "twenty," "thirty," "forty," etc.
• Never begin a sentence with a numeral; either spell out the number or rewrite the sentence so the number is not the first element.
• Use commas in numbers over 999.

Campus addresses

• The University’s address must include a post office box number and a nine-digit zip code. If you must also include your office’s building and room number, abbreviate it in parentheses immediately after your office’s name:

  University Publications (AD-112)
  Binghamton University
  PO Box 6000
  Binghamton, NY 13902-6000

Nondiscriminatory Language

• Avoid gender-specific language-most commonly, the use of a male pronoun ("he," "him," "his") in reference to such general terms as "the student," "the applicant," or "the professor." One approach is to make everything plural, so that plural pronouns can correctly be used. In the few cases when singular forms must be used, indicate both male and female pronouns (in either order) and separate them with "or" rather than a slash.
• When writing about an ethnic or racial group, use the term widely preferred by members of the group. Do not hyphenate group identities: black or African American ; white or Caucasian; Asian American or Asian; Hispanic or Latino; Native American

Affirmative action statement

University policy requires that the following affirmative action statement be included verbatim in recruitment literature, catalogs or bulletins, and other official University publications with a substantial off-campus audience. Any pages on the Web primarily intended to recruit students, faculty, or staff should also include this statement:

The State University of New York at Binghamton is strongly committed to affirmative action. We offer access to services and recruit students and employees without regard to race, color, sex, religion, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or national origin.