language that indicates gender unless it is truly necessary; never assume gender. Avoid the use of he as a generic singular pronoun. Avoid: Every student must pay his tuition in full by October 1. Alternatives: Students must pay their tuition in full by October 1. Every student must pay this quarter’s tuition by October 1. October 1 is the deadline for full payment of tuition. Tuition must be paid in full by October 1. Use chair to refer to the head of a committee unless the official title is chairman or chairwoman: Was a new chair elected at the meeting? Use spokesperson instead of spokesman/spokeswoman, unless gender is headlines, headings and subheads Capitalize the first word and any proper nouns (also referred to as sentence case). If there is a colon, capitalize the first word after the colon. numerals Spell out one through nine. Use figures for and above and whenever preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages: 10 the building; the 5-year-old boy. Also use figures for academic course numbers: History 6, Philosophy 101. Spell out numbers that begin a sentence (or recast the sentence so it doesn’t begin with a number): Forty people attended the lecture. percent In text, use figures and write percent rather than using the % sign: 45 percent of students agree with the initiative.
language that indicates gender unless it is truly necessary; never assume gender. Avoid the use of he as a generic singular pronoun. Avoid: Every student must pay his tuition in full by October 1. Alternatives: Students must pay their tuition in full by October 1. Every student must pay this quarter’s tuition by October 1. October 1 is the deadline for full payment of tuition. Tuition must be paid in full by October 1. Use chair to refer to the head of a committee unless the official title is chairman or chairwoman: Was a new chair elected at the meeting? Use spokesperson instead of spokesman/spokeswoman, unless gender is headlines, headings and subheads Capitalize the first word and any proper nouns (also referred to as sentence case). If there is a colon, capitalize the first word after the colon. numerals Spell out one through nine. Use figures for 10 and above and whenever preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages: the building; the 5-year-old boy. Also use figures for academic course numbers: History 6, Philosophy 101. Spell out numbers that begin a sentence (or recast the sentence so it doesn’t begin with a number): Forty people attended the lecture. percent In text, use figures and write percent rather than using the % sign: 45 percent of students agree with the initiative.