Follow these editorial guidelines when writing about UNC Kenan-Flagler. Our goals are consistency and clarity, which help unify our messages and are important parts of building our brand. We follow Associated Press style but make some exceptions.
Do not use “KFBS” in any external, marketing and formal communication, including articles, website copy, emails, graphics, presentations, social media posts and School documents. Using our name in the ways described below builds brand awareness.
In the first, formal reference, use the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Students graduated from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School.
If you need a shorter version because of space limitations, use UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Do not use “the” in this version.
The graduation ceremony for UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School students was held at the Dean E. Smith Center.
Subsequent uses: UNC Kenan-Flagler
In our website, documents, newsletters, etc., you also may use the Business School and the School.
First use: the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Subsequent references: UNC-Chapel Hill or Carolina or the University
For websites: UNC-Chapel Hill or Carolina
Do not use UNC on its own in press releases, websites and printed material because it can be confused with the 17-campus University of North Carolina System (UNC System).
| Our program names | Degree | Abbreviation |
| Undergraduate Business Program | BSBA | UBP |
| Master of Accounting Program | MAC | MAC |
| Master of Science in Management | MS in Management | MSM or MS in Management |
| Charlotte Executive MBA Program | MBA | |
| Evening Executive MBA Program | MBA | |
| Full-Time MBA Program | MBA | |
| Online MBA Program | MBA | |
| Weekend Executive MBA Program | MBA | |
| PhD Program | PhD | |
| UNC Executive Development |
The MBA, MAC and MSM Programs have concentrations.
The UBP has concentrations and areas of emphasis (AOE).
Capitalize the concentration and AOE as you would a proper name, such as the Energy Concentration. Only capitalize when using them as part of the proper name.
Use lowercase except for words that are proper nouns or adjectives.
The political science department versus the Department of Political Science
When using a list of schools or units together, use lowercase.
Established with the schools of medicine, pharmacy and public health, the new program welcomes graduate and undergraduate students.
Only capitalize the area name when using it as part of the proper name.
On the first, formal reference, use the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.
On second reference, use the Kenan Institute.
Use “institute” in lower case.
Do not use “KIPE.”
Note: There are other Kenan Institutes at other universities.
Use the center’s full name in the first reference.
The Wood Center for Real Estate Studies brings industry leaders together for a lively discussion of real estate trends.
Use “center” as lowercase, but we recommend using a short version of your center’s name instead of “the center” to build name recognition.
The Wood Center leverages innovative programming to prepare graduates for real estate positions in nearly every corner of the industry.
Don’t use “alum” to refer to a single graduate.
Use alumna when referring to a woman, plural is alumnae.
The plural is alumni. Use alumni for a group of women and men.
Identify alumni with their class year and note the direction of the apostrophe:
Mary Smith (BSBA ’93)
Use MBA for MBA alumni regardless of the program they attended.
Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns in headlines/subheads in articles and on the website.
Exceptions can be made for paid-search ads.
Do not capitalize people’s titles or business-unit names.
Exceptions: Capitalize titles in lists and charts.
Capitalize titles used before a person’s name.
Use a period only with full sentences in articles and website headlines.
Exceptions: paid-search ads
Do not use periods/punctuations in buttons, which are all caps.
Clarity for the reader is the goal.
If a comma does not help make clear what is being said, don’t use it.
If omitting a comma could lead to confusion or misinterpretation, use the comma.
In a series, use commas to separate elements, but do not put a comma before “and” or “or.”
The flag is red, white and blue.
He would nominate Tom, Susan, Zoe or Jeannette.
For books, movies, plays, poems, albums, songs, operas, radio and TV programs, lectures, speeches and works of art, use quotation marks around the names.
For journals, newspapers and magazines, use italics.
Lowercase “magazine” and “the” unless they are part of the publication’s formal title, such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. When in doubt, check the masthead.
Do not capitalize people’s titles or business-unit names in articles.
Joan Doe is president of global enterprises for FedEx.
Exceptions: Capitalize titles in lists and charts and titles used before a person’s name.
Dean Mary Margaret Frank welcomed guests to Alumni Weekend.
Do not precede a name with a long title; ideally use it after a name and do not capitalize the title.
Instead of:
Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Sekou Bermiss spoke at the conference.
Use:
Sekou Bermiss, associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship, spoke at the conference.
Exceptions: Capitalize the names of endowed professorships. Jse them after a professors’ name.
Christian Lundblad, Richard “Dick” Levin Distinguished Professor of Finance, spoke at the conference.
Use chair instead of chairman or chairwoman.
Use first-year student instead of freshman.
Use a comma between the city and the state name, and another comma after the state name, unless ending a sentence.
He was traveling from Nashville, Tennessee, to Austin, Texas, en route to his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Spell out state names in the body of a story.
Do not abbreviate these eight state names: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah
Use abbreviations (with the exception of the eight states noted) for event calendars, invitations and graphics when space is limited:
Ala. | Ariz. | Ark. | Calif. | Colo. | Conn. | Del. | Fla. | Ga. | Ill. | Md. | Ind. | Kan. | Ky. | La. | Mass. | Mich. | Minn. | Miss. | Mo. | Mont. | Neb. | Nev. | N.H. | N.J. | N.M. | N.Y. | N.C. | N.D. | Okla. | Ore. | Pa. | R.I. | S.C. | S.D. | Tenn. | Vt. | Va. | Wash. | W.Va. | Wis. | Wyo.
Washington, D.C.: Use periods with “D.C.”
United States: Use U.S. as a noun or adjective with periods.
When you use a month and date, abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec. Do not abbreviate March, April, May, June and July.
Spell out the month when you use it alone or with just a year.
January 2016 was a cold month.
When a phrase refers to a month, day and year, set off the year with a comma.
Feb. 14, 2013, was the target date.
Separate the week day and the date.
She testified that it was Friday, Dec. 3, when the accident occurred.
Use an “s” without an apostrophe to indicate spans of decades or centuries.
1890s, the 1900s
Years are an exception to the rule not to start a sentence with a numeral.
2013 was a very good year.
Use periods with a.m. and p.m. in sentences, and use ET vs EST.
The event starts at 2 p.m. ET.
Exception: Ads, lists, event listings where space is at a premium.
Time range: 9-11 a.m. or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Date range: July 5-30
Do not use “th” after a date.
July 5 not July 5th.
Use lowercase fall, winter, spring and summer unless part of a formal name.
fall semester, spring, Summer School
Spell out one through nine.
He had three months to go before she defended her dissertation.
Use figures for 10 or above preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages.
They worked together for 19 years.
Lori is a 6-year-old girl.
Use and instead of &.
Exceptions: Use & when spacing is limited and in proper names.
Uppercase “University” when used to refer specifically to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Carolina Blue: Capitalize both words.
Dean E. Smith Center: Use Dean E. Smith Center on first reference and Smith Center on subsequent references. Don’t use “Dean Dome.”
Old Well: Do not capitalize “the” in the Old Well.
Tar Heel: Two words, both are capitalized. Informally, Heels can stand alone, such as “Go Heels!”