University and Academic References
TRU references — faculty, programs and courses
Spell out Thompson Rivers University on first reference, then use TRU or the university (lowercase). Thompson Rivers University (TRU) is located in Kamloops, BC. Students say they love TRU. The university is often visited by deer.
Faculty
Faculties and departments are capitalized only when they are written out in full. Faculty of Arts, Department of
Environment, Culture and Society. The society department within the arts faculty. She teaches in the Department
of Geography. He consulted the geography department.
Faculty in reference to faculty members is lowercase.
Programs
Capitalize when referring to a specific credential, lowercase when the reference is general. Abbreviate degrees without periods: Master of Science (MSc), a master’s degree in computer science
Master’s degree always has an apostrophe, though the program name itself is singular: If you complete the Master of Arts program, you will receive a master’s degree.
Capitalize the name of a program, but not the actual word “program.” So Sprinkler System Installer program, Special Needs Educator program, etc.
Courses
Capitalize specific courses when they are referenced by full name, but otherwise lowercase. So, “Brett is taking Sociology 203,” but “I am majoring in sociology.”
Academic subjects are lowercase, unless they are a language. So, “Jennifer is majoring in English,” but “Jennifer is taking creative writing and science.”
Campus building names
- Arts and Education (AE)
- Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics (Gaglardi or TRU Gaglardi may be used for short version, not BGSOBE or SOBE.)
- BC Centre for Open Learning (OL)
- British Columbia Centre theatre in-the-round — use the room number: HL 190
- BMO Student Street
- Brown Family House of Learning (HL, not HOL), the House of Learning
- Fawcett Hall (second-floor study space)
- KPMG Gallery (HL 171)
- The South Central BC Room (HL 210A)
- The Pattison Broadcast Group Classroom (HL 204)
- The Stollery Charitable Foundation Classroom (HL 269A)
- Campus Activity Centre (CAC)
- CIBC Rotunda (second floor)
- Campus Commons, the Commons (the hilly green space in front of CAC, also known as the Teletubby Hills, which are actually designed to reflect the confluence of the Thompson rivers and nearby Mounts Peter and Paul)
- Campus Court (the paved space with lawns and multi-sport courts in front of OM's main entrance)
- Campus Green (the green ‘bowl’ between CT and OM)
- Chappell Family Building for Nursing and Population Health (NPH), the Chappell Family building
- Sherman Jen Simulation Centre (NPH 216)
- The Stollery Foundation Innovation Lab (NPH 145)
- Rotary Clubs of Kamloops Student Lounge (NPH 240/276)
- Clock Tower (CT)
- CN Boardroom (third floor)
- Cplul’kw’ten, also known as House 5
- Culinary Arts Training Centre (CATC), Culinary Arts Cafeteria
- Independent Centre
- Industrial Training and Technology Centre (ITTC)
- Dr. Sherman Jen Instrumentation Lab (ITT 317)
- CLAC Learning Commons (ITT 108)
- Duncan and Marie MacRae Teaching Room (ITT 314)
- International Building (IB)
- Raymond James Trading Lab (IB 1021)
- Ken Lepin Science and Health Sciences Building (S), the Lepin building
- The Lung Association of British Columbia Lecture Theatre (S 337)
- Library
- Old Library Administration and Research Annex (OLARA)
- Old Main (OM)
- BMO Student Street
- McDiarmid Seminar Room (OM 3795)
- Fulton Law Student Lounge (OM 3723)
- The Reach
- The Gathering Place (Williams Lake)
- Tim Hortons (no apostrophe)
- Trades and Technology Building (TT)
- Interior Plumbing and Heating Piping Apprenticeship Classroom (TT 282)
- New Gold Women in Trades and Technology Resource Centre (TT 209)
- Andrew Sheret Plumbing Lab (TT 274)
- TRU Housing: East Village
- TRU Housing: McGill Residence
- TRU Housing: North Tower
- TRU Housing: Coyote Den (S’kelepéllcw)
- TRU Housing: West Gate Dormitories
- Wells Gray Education and Research Centre
- Neave Family Wetlands
- Wells Gray Community Forest Corporation Collaboration and Learning Centre (classroom inside the building)
Academic terms
- Degree capitalization
- Degrees are capitalized when they are in their full form or abbreviated; abbreviation does not have periods. Bachelor of Arts (BA), but a bachelor’s degree. Master of Arts (MA), but a master’s degree. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), but philosophy doctorate. Honorary doctorate degrees are also lowercase unless they are in the full form: TRU Honorary Doctor of Letters, honorary doctorate.
- Honours and distinction
- Honours, distinction, etc., associated with a degree are lowercase. Example: Jane received a degree in law with honours. Note: "honours" and "honourable," but "honorary" as in honorary doctorate. Majors and minors, etc., are not capitalized.
- Degree abbreviation check
- Check with the appropriate program to ensure you have the correct abbreviation for a particular degree, diploma or certificate.
- Graduands vs graduates
- Students who are soon to graduate are graduands; once they have received their credentials, they are graduates.
- Graduate and undergraduate
- When appropriate, specify graduate or undergraduate when referring to students.
- Alumni
- Use lowercase alum (singular, gender-neutral) or alumni (plural, gender-neutral) for graduates. Avoid using alumnus or alumna.
- Professor emeritus/emerita/emerit
- Use lowercase professor emeritus/emerita/emerit (singular male, female, gender-neutral) or professors emeriti (plural, gender-neutral) for chancellors, presidents, faculty members, librarians, and senior instructors who have retired and been granted this title. Why "emerit" should be used.
- Committees and working groups
- Committees and working groups do not need to be capitalized. They may be capitalized in formal documents, reports or writing if written out in full.
- GPA
- Grade point average (GPA) is lowercase and not hyphenated when spelled out and capitalized when an acronym.
Teaching titles
When in doubt, it is always safe to use the general term, faculty member. Faculty is lowercase when referring to teaching staff.
- Tripartite faculty member ranking
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- Professor
- Associate professor
- Assistant professor
- Bipartite faculty member ranking
-
- Teaching professor
- Associate teaching professor
- Assistant teaching professor
- Other faculty rankings
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- Lecturer
- Sessional faculty member
- University instructor
- For Open Learning, the acronym is Open Learning Faculty Member uppercase: OLFM
- What kind of doctor are you?
- Canadian Press style calls for only medical physicians to be referred to as Dr. in news stories for clarity for the reader. However, as TRU is an academic institution where a PhD is recognized, Dr. is sometimes used on first reference for faculty members. This is optional and is only for first reference in running text.
Academic degrees with official abbreviations
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- Bachelor of Arts, BA
- Bachelor of Business Administration, BBA
- Bachelor of Communication and Digital Journalism, BCDJ
- Bachelor of Computing Science, BCS
- Bachelor of Design, (OL) BDes
- Bachelor of Education (elementary), BEd
- Bachelor of Education (secondary) STEM, BEd STEM
- Bachelor of Education in Trades and Technology, BEd TT
- Bachelor of Engineering in Software Engineering, BEng SEng
- Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Engineering, BEng CEng
- Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering, BEng EEng
- Bachelor of Fine Arts, BFA
- Bachelor of General Studies, BGS
- Bachelor of Health Science, BHSc
- Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies, BIS
- Bachelor of Music, BMus (OL)
- Bachelor of Natural Resource Science, BNRS
- Bachelor of Public Administration, BPA
- Bachelor in Real Estate Management, BREM (OL program joint with UBC)
- Bachelor of Science, BSc
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing, BScN
- Bachelor of Social Work, BSW
- Bachelor of Technology, BTech
- Bachelor of Technology, Trades and Technology Leadership, (OL) BTech TTL
- Bachelor of Tourism Management, BTM
- Juris Doctor, JD
- Master of Arts in Human Rights and Social Justice, MA HRSJ
- Master of Business Administration, MBA
- Master of Education, MEd
- Master in Environmental Economics and Management, MEEM
- Master of Nursing, MN
- Master of Nursing — Nurse Practitioner, MN-NP
- Master of Science in Data Science, MScDS
- Master of Science in Environmental Economics and Management, MScEEM
- Master of Science in Environmental Science, MScES
Signatures
-
Some people like to include the territorial acknowledgement on their emails or letter signatures. Here is the official wording:
Thompson Rivers University campuses are on the traditional lands of the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc (Kamloops campus) and the T’exelc (Williams Lake campus) within Secwepemcúl’ecw, the traditional and unceded territory of the Secwépemc. The region TRU serves also extends into the territories of the St’át’imc, Nlaka’pamux, Nuxalk, Tŝilhqot'in, Dakelh, and Syilx peoples.
Email/letter signatures should be in this order:
- Name (preferred pronouns), title
- Office or department, (address if needed), Thompson Rivers University
- Phone number | email
- Territorial acknowledgement if desired
If you want to capitalize your job title in your signature, you can.
Note that phone numbers should be separated by dashes, not dots/periods, as it’s easier to read. So use 250-828-5000, not 250.828.5000.
Do:
- use Calibri as your font
- use black type for your entire signature
- bold your first and last name
- if you wish, include your pronouns (she/her), (he/him), (they/them), (xe/xem) or others
Don't:
- add images, logos or social media icons
- use your email signature to promote initiatives
- include your favourite quote or other distracting text
