Editor’s Note is a new monthly newsletter for campus communicators. The goal is to offer a brief roundup of style guide updates alongside relevant stories, news, fun quizzes, and other topics. Have an idea for a fun feature or story? Want to share an editing “win”? Please email me at bcollin8@nd.edu! Sign up for the email list using the form found here.
Capitalizing job titles
One of the most frequent inconsistencies I see when editing is the capitalization of job titles. While there is arguably not a set-in-stone “right” or “wrong” way to approach this, the University follows best practices used by other media and institutions. Let’s take a closer look at our style for job titles.
Generally, a formal job title is capitalized when it precedes a name, but is lowercase when it follows a name.
The speaker for the event will be Provost John McGreevy.
but
The speaker for the event will be John McGreevy, provost.
We invited Director of Internal Communications Jenna Liberto to our Monday meeting.
but
We invited Jenna Liberto, director of internal communications, to our Monday meeting.
The University has no preference on which construction is used. That will be up to the length of the title, the sentence structure, and the writer’s personal preference. In general, longer titles should go after the person’s name to make it easier for readers to digest.
One key exception to this rule is endowed titles, which are always capitalized no matter where they fall in a sentence.
The speaker for the event will be Charles and Jill Fischer Provost John McGreevy.
The speaker for the event will be John McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost.
Note that when an endowed title follows a name, it is always preceded by the—this is also done to give readers an easier time.
There are other occasional exceptions, such as when a job title is more of a descriptor than a formal title.
History professor Jane Smith has an office down the hall.
To read more about job title capitalization, check out chapter 8 of the Chicago Manual of Style.
Pop quiz!
What's the University's preferred format for listing a time?
Click on your answer.
January pop quiz winner
Congrats to Olivia Rosenberg, assistant director of emergency management, the winner of the January pop quiz!
Which is the correct meaning of bimonthly? Every other month
Bimonthly historically means every other month, but so many people use it to mean twice a month that most dictionaries include both definitions (if you mean the latter, better to use semimonthly). But—if you're confused, readers are too! It's best to just write what you mean when talking about an event.
What we're reading
Bomb Cyclone? Or Just Windy with a Chance of Hyperbole?
The New York Times
Opinion | AI-generated writing highlights the need for editing and fact-checking
Poynter
Book recommendation:
Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch
Latest Style Guide updates
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Holy Week
Holy Week is the week leading up to Easter, beginning on Palm Sunday. It includes Holy Thursday (also known as Maundy Thursday) and Good Friday, and ends on the evening of Holy Saturday. In all references, both words of Holy Week are capitalized. -
Lent, Lenten
Lent is the period of 40 days in the Catholic liturgical calendar between Ash Wednesday and Holy Thursday. Lenten is the adjective form. Lent and Lenten are always capitalized.
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