FCI - Editorial Style Guide

Five College Editorial Style

Five Colleges now follows the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) for writing used in everyday writing as well as for press releases, promotional materials, and web content. Below is a quick reference for rules regarding common editorial style issues.

References To Five Colleges

There are two ways to refer to Five Colleges on first reference in official communications, depending on the situation:

Five Colleges, Incorporated (FCI)
This is the official name of the organization, and therefore must be used in business communications. 

• Use when referring to Five Colleges in a business context (contracts, communications with prospective funders, etc.).

• Use when distinguishing staff members and resources of the non-profit organization from those of Five College campuses (Five Colleges, Incorporated, has 40 staff members, the Five College Consortium is made up of 8,000 staff members and 2,500 faculty members).

• In official communications, only use “FCI” on subsequent references to Five Colleges, Incorporated. But it’s fine to use “FCI” as shorthand in more informal communications, such as emails and internal messages. 

The Five College Consortium (Five Colleges)
Because it is self-explanatory, this name is best for communications to the media, general public, and other organizations. 

• Official communication that doesn’t fall under the above examples, such as the website and promotional materials. On first reference, use the full name of the organization: The Five College Consortium. On second reference, use Five Colleges. 

• Drop the s when using the name of the organization as an adjective: Five College Choral Festival.

• To reduce confusion, use Five Colleges only when referring to the consortium; avoid referring to the institutions of the consortium as the five colleges. Instead, use campuses and institutions.

• When consortium is used alone when referring to Five Colleges, capitalize Consortium. The same rule applies to the use of college and university when referring to specific institutions. Note that this is a change from a past rule.*

References To Our Member Institutions

Unless they conflict with our own rules, follow the rules of our member campuses in how you refer to them (for example, always spell out Mount in Mount Holyoke College). Reference the following guides for the most up-to-date rules:

Amherst College Style Guide

Hampshire College Style Guide

Mount Holyoke College Style Guide

Smith College Style Guide

University of Massachusetts Amherst Style Guide

Punctuation

• Use serial commas after all members of a series (chemistry, physics, and biology; Amherst, Mount Holyoke, and Smith). Note that this is a change from a past rule.

•  Insert only one space after a period, question mark, colon, or exclamation point.

Names And Titles

•  Lowercase and spell out titles when they stand alone or follow a name: Deanna Dixon is dean of admission at Smith College. 

• Capitalize and spell out a title preceding a name. Smith College Dean of Admission Deanna Dixon spoke at the Five College Counselor Tour. 

•  Lowercase major or concentration unless it is a proper noun: The majors she is considering include French, biostatistics, German and Scandinavian studies, kinesiology, and journalism. 

•  Do not capitalize western in western Massachusetts unless it is part of a name: The Western Massachusetts Math Partnership is based in western Massachusetts. 

• Capitalize department and office names only when referring to a specific place. While he always wanted to work in an operations department, he had to settle for his current job in the Five College Office of Strategic Engagement. 

*This rule does not follow CMOS, but it does follow the style guides of Amherst, Hampshire and Mount Holyoke Colleges. 

Updated December 1, 2021