plural when referring to a collection of individual units; singular when referred to as a unit: the data is sound
dates
use a comma after a date that includes the year: Students must submit an application by March 3, 2019, to be eligible for the program; do not use a comma with a month and year if there is no date included: fall 2019, March 2020; see also CMS 6.38
Day of Learning (DOL)
coordinated by the Wisconsin Alumni Association
Day-of-Game Package (DOG)
coordinated by the Wisconsin Alumni Association
dean
Dean Jane Doe; Jane Doe, dean; the dean; dean's list
(also see academic titles)
Dean of Students Office
offers assistance and support for students across campus
dean’s list
include apostrophe in this list of high-achieving students
decades
examples are the nineties, the 1980s and 1990s, the 1980s and ’90s; for the first decade of a century use, e.g., years 2000–2009, not 2000s or ’00s; for the second decade of a century use, e.g., second decade or 2010s; see also CMS 9.33
degree year and student status
when referring to a current student, either use an x or make a reference to his/her academic year status (but not both): John Borman x’21 or John Borman, a freshman
degree years
Use only on the first reference within an article; do not include letters before a bachelor’s degree; do not use periods with the degree abbreviation; do not use a space between the degree and two-digit class year; use a close single quote (apostrophe) to precede the year (it’s ’, not ‘); use a comma to separate each degree: Jim Hoyt ’65, MS’67, PhD’70.
If someone did not — or has not yet — graduated from UW–Madison, use an x before the year that s/he would have graduated or will graduate: rock star Steve Miller x’67. There is no space between the x and the year; include the apostrophe with the year; with advanced degrees, the x goes between the degree and the year: MDx’61, DVMx’75, PhDx’54, MAx’90.
Write out degree years occurring in the 19th century as, e.g., John Bluephie 1880, MS1883, PhD1885. Write out degree years occurring in the 20th century between (and including) 1900 and the current degree year (which, if it is currently, e.g., 2016) as, e.g., Jane Brownstone 1900, MA1902, PhD1905; but Harvey Greengrass 1913, MA1915, PhD’18. When a new graduation year dawns, add 19 to the corresponding 20th-century year in a rolling, 100-year fashion.
See also names and degrees for the treatment of couples’ names.
degrees
In running text, use bachelor’s degree, bachelor of arts degree, bachelor of science in physics, master’s degree, doctorate, and the like in place of degree abbreviations because they are more readable; use abbreviations only when necessary to distinguish the specific type of degree or when using full terms would prove cumbersome, such as when there are multiple degrees; do not use periods; form the plural by adding an s; the word degree should not follow a degree abbreviation.
Do not list certificates (nursing, law, education, and the like) as degrees, but an exception is made to include the Farm and Industry Short Course (FISC) following an individual’s name because the program has a long and proud history at the UW.
Here are many of the degree abbreviations in use at the university:
BA – bachelor of arts, bachelor’s degree
BBA – bachelor of business administration
BM – bachelor of music
BS – bachelor of science, bachelor’s degree
DJ or DJS – doctor of juridical science
DMA – doctor of musical arts
DPM – doctor of pharmacy
DVM – doctor of veterinary medicine
EdD – doctor of education
EMBA – executive MBA
JD – doctor of law
LLB – bachelor of laws
LLM – master of laws, but us ML instead
MA – master of arts, master’s degree
MAcc – master of accountancy; use instead of MAC, MA, or MS
MBA – master of business administration
MD – doctor of medicine
MFA – master of fine arts
MGCS – master of genetic counselor studies
ML – master of laws
MLI – master of legal institutions
MM – master of music
MPA – master of public affairs
MPAS – master of physician assistant studies
MPh – master of philosophy
MPH – master of public health
MS – master of science, master’s degree
MSW – master of social work; MSW (vs. MSSW) is the more common designation
Capitalize when used as part of a complete, formal, and official name: Department of Art History. Lowercase when used as an informal name, generically, or casually as a descriptor: the art history department, the political science department, the department, department guidelines, department chair, a political science committee, the zoology and bacteriology departments. Use lowercase on second reference: the College of Letters & Science, the college; the Law School, the school; UW–Madison, the university, the UW; the Department of History, the history department, the department; the Center for Limnology, the limnology center, the center; the Office of the Secretary of the Faculty, the office. Words such as department can be omitted on second reference: history, philosophy. Do not capitalize department names when they are used to indicate the subject a professor teaches: Dave Brown of anthropology.
dictionary
recommended: most recent edition of Merriam–Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
different from, different than
use from, not than
Dinners On Wisconsin! (DOW):
use an initial cap for On and include an exclamation mark
