Editorial Style

Capitalize when used before a name; lowercase after a name (unless in a formal or ceremonial list; see capitalization entry above) or when used alone. The names and terms of those who have served as NC State’s chancellors and presidents follow:

• Alexander Q. Holladay (president, 1889-1899)
• George T. Winston (president, 1899-1908)
• Daniel H. Hill (president, 1908-1916)
• Wallace C. Riddick (president, 1916-1923)
• Eugene Clyde Brooks (president, 1923-1934)
• John W. Harrelson (chancellor, 1934-1953)
• Carey H. Bostian (chancellor 1953-1959)
• John T. Caldwell (chancellor, 1959-1975)
• Joab L. Thomas (chancellor, 1976-1981)
• Bruce R. Poulton (chancellor, 1982-1989)
• Larry K. Monteith (chancellor, 1990-1998)
• Marye Anne Fox (chancellor, 1998-2004)
• James L. Oblinger (chancellor, 2004-2009)
• W. Randolph “Randy” Woodson (chancellor, 2010-2025)
• Kevin Howell (chancellor, 2025-present)

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is a federally recognized Indian tribe in western North Carolina. The tribe does not live on a reservation, which is land given to an Indian tribe by the federal government. Instead, the EBCI lives on 57,000 acres of land — the Qualla Boundary — purchased by tribal members in the 19th century.

• Incorrect: N.C. Cooperative Extension staffs local offices in all 100 counties and on the Cherokee reservation.
• Correct: N.C. Cooperative Extension staffs local offices in all 100 counties and with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

NC State’s 12 academic colleges are listed below.

• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• College of Design
• College of Education
• College of Engineering
• College of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Poole College of Management
• College of Natural Resources
• College of Sciences
• Wilson College of Textiles
• College of Veterinary Medicine
• University College
• Graduate School

NC State follows AP style with respect to comma usage. To quote the AP Stylebook: “Use commas to separate elements in a series, but do not put a comma before the conjunction in a simple series.”

• Correct: I’m taking courses in English, accounting and entomology.
• Incorrect: The cafeteria served pizza, lasagna, and salad.

However, if the final element of a series includes a conjunction, then to prevent confusion it’s best to put a comma before the concluding conjunction in the series.

• Correct: I had orange juice, toast, and ham and eggs for breakfast.

To ensure clarity, it’s sometimes appropriate to use a comma before the concluding conjunction in a series of complex phrases.

• Correct: We must ask ourselves whether the strategic plan meets the needs of current and future students, whether it can be implemented with the resources available to us, and whether its success can be accurately measured.

For further guidance on comma usage, refer to the “comma” entry in the AP Stylebook punctuation chapter.

Apply these guidelines to the titles of books, book chapters, movies, plays, poems, stories, essays, articles, albums, songs, operas, radio and television programs, radio and television episodes, lectures, speeches, and works of art:

• Capitalize all words in a title except articles (a, an, the); prepositions of three or fewer letters (for, of, on, up, etc.); and conjunctions of three or fewer letters (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet, etc.) unless any of those start or end the title.
• Capitalize prepositions of four or more letters (above, after, down, inside, over, with, etc.) and conjunctions of four or more letters (because, while, since, though, etc.)
• Capitalize both parts of a phrasal verb: “What To Look For in a Mate”; “Turn Off the Lights in Silence.” But: “A Life of Eating Chocolate for Stamina”; “Living With Both Feet off the Ground.” (Note the different uses of “for” and “off,” and thus the different capitalization, in those examples.)
• Capitalize “to” in infinitives: “What I Want To Be When I Grow Up.”
• In a deviation from AP style, titles of large works — books, journals, magazines, newspapers, albums, movies, television shows and the like — are italicized. Titles of shorter works — chapters, articles, essays, stories, poems, songs, television episodes and the like — are enclosed in quotation marks. For example: “Shut the Door, Have a Seat” was one of the most highly rated episodes of the TV show Mad Men. The professor’s research is discussed in the article “Green Tech Goes Global” in the latest issue of U.S. News & World Report.
  

A course may be identified by its course number (MA 201, for instance) or by its name (for example, Calculus II). Official names of courses are capitalized, but generic references to a course in terms of its material are lowercased.

• Correct: Are you taking Analytic Geometry this semester?
• Correct: We recommend taking a course in the history of religions.
• Incorrect: We recommend taking a course in the History of Religions.

This open area, formerly called the 1911 Field, is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Court of the Carolinas. The court is bounded by Leazar, Poe, Page, Winston, Tompkins and Caldwell halls and the 1911 Building.

The Crafts Center offers classes and programs in woodworking, pottery, photography, fiber arts, lapidary, glass, jewelry, mixed media and other fine arts. Note the s in Crafts: “Christine learned pottery at the Crafts Center.”

Curriculum is the singular form; curricula is the plural form.

The main campus library was named for Daniel Harvey Hill Jr., a professor of English and bookkeeping who became president of NC State. Do not use a comma after “Hill.” See entry for NC State University Libraries.