The Skidmore College guide to writing right

Skidmore College uses a modified Associated Press style for official College communications, including web content, news stories, publications, emails, social media, and other digital and print materials.

This guide highlights common Skidmore style rules and exceptions. When this guide differs from AP style, follow Skidmore style. For questions or situations not covered here, contact OCM for guidance.

Writing for Skidmore 

Official Skidmore communications should be clear, accurate, inclusive, audience-centered, and consistent with the College’s voice and identity.

Write for the reader. Use plain language, active voice, specific details, and concise sentences whenever possible. Avoid jargon, unexplained acronyms, overly promotional language, and internal shorthand that may not be clear to broader audiences.

Numbers, dates, and times 

• Spell out one through nine; use numerals for 10 and above.
• Use numerals for percentages, ages, and measurements.
• Use the percent sign: 2%, not 2 percent.
• Use $5, not $5.00, unless cents are relevant.
• Use 10 a.m., not 10:00 a.m.; use noon and midnight, not 12 p.m. or 12 a.m.
• Abbreviate months with specific dates according to Skidmore style; spell out months when used alone.
• Do not use st, nd, rd, or th with dates.
• Lowercase seasons: spring semester, fall 2026.

Names, titles, and academic references

• The College is capitalized when referring to Skidmore College.
• Official job titles are capitalized when they appear before a person’s name but lowercase elsewhere (e.g., I wrote to President Conner, who is president and professor of English).
• Do not abbreviate professor. If used as a title, include the individual’s full academic rank (associate professor, etc.).
• Endowed chairs and similar named positions are always capitalized regardless of placement (Melissa Komora is Collyer Vice President for Advancement).
• Use Dr. titles and degrees sparingly.
• A major is capitalized only when it is a proper noun (chemistry, Japanese).
• University degrees: an associate degree, a bachelor’s (degree), a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science, a master’s (degree). Abbreviate: B.A., B.S., J.D., LL.D. M.A., MBA, M.S., Ph.D.
• Academic departments and programs: Capitalize the official name but lowercase casual references. (The Skidmore College Department of History; She taught in a college history department.)
• Book, film, exhibition, and other titles are usually placed in quotation marks (not italics). Do not use quotation marks with names of journals, newspapers, magazines, reference books, or holy books. (See exceptions in print materials below.)
• Course titles are capitalized without quotes. Generic course names are lowercase. (He teaches American history. His course is Introduction to American History, History 240.)
• On first reference, use a person’s full name. On later references, use their last name unless a more conversational format is appropriate for the channel.

Punctuation and class years

• Do not insert an extra space after a period.
• The College uses the serial (Oxford) comma, contrary to AP.
• Capitalize the first word following a colon only if it starts a complete sentence.
• Dashes — often used to show a break in thought — are preceded and followed by a single space.
• Put the period after the closing parenthesis when the parentheses are part of another sentence (as in this example). (A complete, independent sentence within parentheses, like this one, should have the period placed before the closing parenthesis.)
• References to students and alumni should be followed by an apostrophe and the two-digit year of graduation (Tory Abbott ’23). References to parents include P (Jon Smith P’99).

Addresses, phone numbers, and locations

• Write out the full names of states in most usages.
• Do not use postal abbreviations for states unless the state is part of a full address.
• When a city is used with a state, both the city and state should be followed by commas (such as in this example of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, in the central part of the state).
• Phone numbers use hyphens. Include the area code. Abbreviate extension as ext. 518-580-5000 ext. 5341.

Campus buildings

• Use full official building names on first reference. Approved shortened names may be used on later references.
• All first references must include the honoree’s name, which is never abbreviated.
• Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, the Tang on second reference
• Billie Tisch Center for Integrated Sciences, abbreviated as BTCIS (not CIS)
• McCaffery-Wagman Tennis and Wellness Center

Skidmore terms and preferred usage

• Advisor (not adviser)
• Alum, alumni, graduate(s) (acceptable when gender is not specified)
• Creative Futures: The Skidmore College Strategic Plan, 2025–2030
• Creative Thought Matters (capitalized only as a complete phrase.)
• All lowercase and formatted as presented: email, internet, web, website, webpage, healthcare
• Avoid using Saratoga in place of Saratoga Springs.

Exceptions for print materials

The following exceptions may be made — especially in print materials, such as posters and programs — but must be applied consistently throughout a publication. Otherwise, all rules of AP style hold.

• The names of months may be written out in full form (rather than abbreviated). For instance, October 23, 2024, rather than Oct. 23.
• Times may be written as 1:00 p.m. (rather than 1 p.m.), particularly in programs that also include times that do not fall on the full hour (Dinner at 7:00 p.m.; lecture at 8:30 p.m.)
• Book titles and other works may be italicized according to prevalent usage/rules of the Chicago Manual of Style. For instance, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn rather than Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Other citations also should follow the Chicago Manual of Style.
• For programs, posters, and similar publications, where grammatical rules are customarily suspended, job titles and similar may be capitalized even when they follow an individual’s name. For instance, “A speech by Philip A. Glotzbach, President Emeritus of Skidmore College.”