Why Conform?
The University of Texas at Austin community takes great pride in its
independence, initiative and entrepreneurial spirit. Hundreds of offices
and departments on campus produce their own memos, letters, brochures,
posters, invitations, fliers, booklets, catalogs, magazines and newsletters.
Writers and editors around the campus have their own priorities and
objectives.
But every publication or Web site at The University of Texas at Austin
has one thing in common, no matter where it originates: They can only
be effective if they reflect consistency and clarity in their messages.
These publications often have one more thing in common—the reader.
Many of our audiences overlap. One reader may receive a School of Architecture
newsletter, an invitation from the Office of Resource Development, The
Alcalde magazine, a brochure about the Master of Public Affairs program
and a letter from the dean of students—all in one week. Imagine
the confusion if every publication treats the English language differently.
It makes our readers wonder if we’re really all talking about
the same place—The University of Texas at Austin.
It’s for the sake of our readers that we advocate using a clear,
consistent, contemporary style of writing in non-academic documents,
Web sites or publications originating from The University of Texas at
Austin.
Guidelines, Not Rules
The English language gives us choices and decisions to make when we
write. It defies any would-be “rule-maker” to dictate a
single way to do it. This guide will not answer all your questions.
It may not help you win an argument over which way to spell “Web
site” or whether to hyphenate “e-mail.” But it will
give you a foundation upon which to base your own writing decisions.
And it will help you improve the clarity and consistency of communications
coming out of your office or department.
We’ve assembled these guidelines using the Associated Press Stylebook
as a primary “authority” because much of our writing is
intended for external readers—prospective students and their parents,
donors and prospective donors, government officials, business leaders,
news reporters and editors, and the public at large.
We’ve also referred to standards set forth in Strunk and White’s
“The Elements of Style,” “The New York Times’
Manual of Style and Usage,” “The Chicago Manual of Style”
and “Wired Style” from the editors of Wired magazine.
DO NOT apply these guidelines to technical or academic
writing. Other sources can help you with this specialized kind of writing.
DO use this style guide to help you when you’re
writing anything (and everything) intended for the campus audience or
for the public.
We appreciate your cooperation in using these guidelines. University-wide
consistency in writing style builds the credibility of our publications,
demonstrates our commitment to high-quality communications and greatly
enhances our audiences’ understanding of The University of Texas
at Austin.
Whatever style you follow, remember that consistency
and clarity are the keys to more effective communication. Make sure
your preferred writing standards are consistent in all of your publications.
Just as use of the English language has changed over the years, this
style guide will adapt and evolve, sometimes based on observations from
people like you. If you have some rules, suggestions or pet peeves of
your own about writing standards, share them with us at utopa@www.utexas.edu.
University Identity
Name
The University of Texas at Austin
Our national and international identity hinges on the words “The
University of Texas at Austin.” Do not use the acronym “UT”
or the abbreviated name “UT Austin” when communicating to
mixed or outside audiences. Beyond our community of “insiders,”
this acronym is not well or universally recognized and outside of Texas
may be confused with other institutions.
When writing for internal audiences familiar with the university, it
is acceptable to refer to the university as UT Austin.
Wordmark
The University of Texas at Austin wordmark is the official mark of
the university. It has been created specifically for use as our wordmark
and cannot simply be typed in. To use the wordmark, download a wordmark
file and insert the file as art into the document. Visit the Visual
Guidelines Web site to find the university’s wordmark. For
more details, contact the Office of Public Affairs at 1-3151 or e-mail
visguidelines@mail.utexas.edu.
“The University of Texas” and “at Austin” in
the wordmark should remain together on the same line.
The registration mark ® needs to follow the wordmark on any product
other than a printed publication or Web page.
Don Hale
Vice President for Public Affairs
Office of Public Affairs
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