Editorial Style Guide

The University should be referred to as the “University of Pennsylvania” or “Penn” or “the University.” Never refer to Penn as “Upenn” or “UPenn” or “U of P.”

For in-depth guidance on the use of the University’s name, please refer to this website.

The official name of the School is the “School of Engineering and Applied Science” and should be referred to as “Penn Engineering” or “the School.”

Do not use:

• The abbreviation “SEAS”
• School of Engineering, College of Engineering or the abbreviations “SOE” or “COE”
• The plural “School of Engineering and Applied Sciences”
• An ampersand in “School of Engineering & Applied Science”

The proper names of the six Penn Engineering academic departments and their abbreviations are:

• Bioengineering (BE)
• Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE)
• Computer and Information Science (CIS)
• Electrical and Systems Engineering (ESE)
• Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
• Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM)

Do not use an ampersand (&) in the place of “and” in department names. When referring to the departments, names should be capitalized as in the following examples:

• As Chair of the Department of Bioengineering… (formal name)
• Laboratories in the Bioengineering department… (informal when department is written after the name)
• The Department is engaged in… (formal without the name)

Do not refer to departments as “Penn [Name or Abbreviation of Department]” because this naming convention is for divisions of the University, such as schools like Penn Engineering or Penn SAS. Academic departments are divisions of a school, not of the University.

A Note on Discipline Names

In many cases, the name of a department or a degree program is the same as an engineering discipline. When referring to a discipline, not a department or degree program name, the discipline is not capitalized. See:

• Laboratories that focus on bioengineering research are typically…
• Students who choose to study mechanical engineering concepts…

Faculty members, especially those with named professorships or chairs, should never be mentioned without attribution, unless space constraints are so rigid that they cannot be attributed. In text discussing faculty, refer to them initially with their full name and title. Do not include their Ph.D. or M.D. distinction(s). Note that scholarly chairs (named/endowed professorships), along with unnamed professorships (assistant, associate and full professor titles), are capitalized:

• John Smith, Jane Doe Distinguished Professor in Bioengineering, conducts research in…
• John Smith, Assistant Professor in Bioengineering, conducts research in…

Once attributed, faculty members should be referred to by their last name:

• Smith, an accomplished member of…

Do not use:

• John, an accomplished member of…
• Dr. Smith, an accomplished member of…
• Professor Smith, an accomplished member of…
• Smith, Ph.D., an accomplished member of…
• Smith, M.D., an accomplished member of…

Students and alumni should always have attribution that includes their degree(s) and year (if they are an undergraduate or alum).

• Lucy Smith, a rising sophomore in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM), chose the…
• Amy Smith, a doctoral student in Electrical and Systems Engineering (ESE), chose the…
• Joe Smith (EE’13), chose the… -OR- Joe Smith (ENG’13), chose the…
  • The first example is the specific degree program, the second is their school affiliation, both of which can attribute an undergraduate alum of Penn Engineering. You can use the attribution that makes the most sense for your needs.

First-year students:

Penn has moved away from the terms “freshman” and “freshmen” and now uses “first-year” and “first-years” instead. All of the following are examples:

• Jane Doe, a first-year student in Bioengineering, is interested in…
• Jane Doe, John Smith and Amy Smith, all first-year students in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE), are…
• The School is particularly interested in programming for first-year students in…

When referring parenthetically to a degree/class for a student or alum, use the abbreviation for the program, then an apostrophe facing the abbreviation followed by the year, all without spaces:

• John Smith (DMD’15), chose the…

Not:

• John Smith (DMD‘15), chose the…
• John Smith (DMD ‘15), chose the…

Postdoctoral fellows should be referred to as “postdoctoral fellows.” In public-facing text, try not to use the informal:

• post doc (never capitalize as in “Post Doc”)
• post-doc
• postdoc

Refer to them as follows:

• John Smith, a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of…
• Jane Doe completed a postdoctoral fellowship in…

Penn Engineering offers two undergraduate degrees, the Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.) and the Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.S.). If you use a degree abbreviation, it should include periods. Refer to these degrees as follows:

• Jane Doe is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.) in…
• Jane Doe plans to obtain a B.A.S. in…
• Jane Doe will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in… [note that the informal “bachelor’s” always has an apostrophe and it is not to be capitalized unless it begins a sentence or you need to use it in title case]

The two most common degrees offered at the graduate level are the Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree. If you use a degree abbreviation, it should include periods. Refer to these degrees in text as follows:

• John Smith will receive a Ph.D. in…
• John Smith will receive a doctorate in…
• John Smith will receive an M.S.E. in…
• John Smith will receive a master’s in… [note that the informal “master’s” always has an apostrophe and it is not to be capitalized unless it begins a sentence or you need to use it in title case]

Please be sure that when attributing a student (or alum) with a program that you use the correct program name. Program names are always capitalized:

• Jane Doe earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science in…
• Jane Doe is a senior pursuing a B.A.S. in Biomedical Science.
• Jane Doe will graduate in 2030 with a Master of Science in Engineering in…
• Jane Doe earned a Master of Computer and Information Technology in…

This page shows the current degree programs offered by the School. Programs can share the same name across the undergraduate and graduate levels, so it can sometimes be important to clarify programmatic affiliations when writing about a student or alum.