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The following Editorial Quick User Guide provides Gateway-specific rules when writing to represent the college.

  • Campuses, Centers and Locations
    • When referring to one campus, “Campus” is capitalized. When referring to multiple campuses, “campuses” is lowercase.
      • E.g. “Kenosha Campus”, “Kenosha and Racine campuses"
    • When listing multiple campuses in reference to events, list the campuses in date order. If the events are on the same day at the same time, list the campuses in alphabetical order. 
      • E.g. If there is an event being held in Elkhorn on Tuesday, Racine on Wednesday and Kenosha on Thursday, it would be listed as: “The event is being held on the Elkhorn, Racine and Kenosha campuses next week.”
      • E.g. If there is an event being held on all three campuses on the same day, it would be listed as: “The event is being held on the Elkhorn, Kenosha and Racine campuses next Friday.”
    • Location references
      • In=a physical enclosed space
        • E.g. “The event is held in the Multicultural Resource Center.”
      • On=used more broadly/campus level
        • E.g. “The event is held on the Racine Campus.”
      • At=more general location or has a smaller subordinate location
        • E.g. “The event is held at the HERO Center.”
    • Correct spelling, capitalization and reference to Gateway locations (Exceptions are made when writing in a medium with limited space, such as social media). 
      • Burlington Center
      • The Center for Sustainable Living (First reference)
        • The center (Second and following references)
      • Elkhorn Campus
      • Health and Emergency Response Occupations (HERO) Center (First reference)
        • HERO Center or the center (second and following references)
      • Horizon Center for Transportation Technology (First reference)
        • Horizon Center or the center (Second and following references)
      • Inspire Center
      • Kenosha Campus
      • LakeView Advance Technology Center (First reference)
        • LakeView or the center (second and following references)
      • Pike Creek Horticulture Center (First reference)
        • Pike Creek or the center  (second and following references)
      • Racine Campus
      • SC Johnson iMET Center (First reference)
        • iMET Center or the center (Second and following references)
        • SC Johnson integrated Manufacturing and Engineering Technology (iMET) Center (Only in specific formal publications and press releases)
  • College Name
    • The college name is Gateway Technical College or Gateway. 
    • Gateway should always be referred to as a college, not a school. 
    • Should not be used:
      • GTC
      • Gateway Tech
      • Gateway College
  • Courses and Class Sections
    • Course - Refers to the overall topic being taught (E.g. An Introduction to Psychology course is taught at Gateway.)
    • Class Section - Refers to the specific instance of a course (E.g. The Introduction to Psychology class is offered on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. )
  • Degrees/diploma formatting
    • “associate degree”, “technical diploma”, “advanced technical certificate” and “certificate” should always be lowercase when following the name of a program, with the exception for printed diplomas. The name of the program should always be capitalized.
      • E.g. “Interior Design associate degree”, “Automotive Maintenance Technician technical diploma”, “Urban Farming advanced technical certificate”, “Payroll Assistant certificate”
    • Never refer to an associate degree as an “associate’s degree.”
    • “bachelor’s degree” should remain lowercase
    • Correct spelling and capitalization for other degrees and diplomas: 
      • Adult High School diploma
      • GED
        • In general, spelling out “General Education Development” is not necessary and you may refer to the credential by its acronym “GED.”
      • HSED
        • In general, spelling out “High School Equivalency Diploma” is not necessary and you may refer to the credential by its acronym “HSED.”
  • Department, Division and Office Names
    • Capitalize department and school names, keep “department” lowercase. 
      • E.g. “Human Resources department”, “School of Protective and Human Services”
    • Capitalize “Office” when it precedes the title, keep “office” lowercase when it comes after the title.
      • E.g. “Office of Equal Opportunity”, “Student Services office”
    • Capitalize “Division” when it precedes the title, keep “division” lowercase when it comes after the title.
      • E.g. “Division of Community and Government Relations”, “The Community and Government Relations division”
  • Graduation
    • Graduation=completing your degree or diploma
      • Participants are referred to as “graduates.”
      • Commencement=the ceremony celebrating graduates
    • Convocation/Completion/Recognition/Pinning Ceremony=a ceremony sponsored by a school or department within the college in which students are individually recognized. Usually specific to a program such as Law Enforcement Academy or Nursing.
      • Participants are referred to as “completers” if they are not officially graduating from a Gateway associate degree or diploma program. 
  • Program Names
    • Use the full program name, not an abbreviation or part of the name when at all possible. 
      • E.g., “Arboriculture/Urban Forestry Technician associate degree”, not “Arboriculture degree”, "Arboriculture/Forestry associate degree”, etc.
    • Capitalization
      • The name of the program should be capitalized, but not the word “program”
        • E.g., “I am a student in Gateway’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology program.”
    • Sample list of non-academic programs at Gateway including correct spelling and capitalization: 
      • Gateway Promise program
        • After first reference, you can simply use “The Promise program” or “The Gateway Promise.”
        • Students who are part of the program are called “Promise students.”
      • Multicultural program
        • This program differs from the Multicultural Resource Center, which is written with each word capitalized.
  • Red Hawks/Rudy the Red Hawk
    • Differentiation of Red Hawks and Rudy the Red Hawk
      • The Gateway Red Hawks refer to members of the Gateway family–its students, faculty, staff and alumni. 
      • Rudy the Red Hawk is the costumed mascot who serves as the spirit leader of the college. 
    • Full name/first use
      • Mascot: Gateway Technical College’s Rudy the Red Hawk. Red Hawk is always two words, not one.
        • E.g. “Rudy the Red Hawk”, not “Rudy the Redhawk” or “Rudy the Hawk”
      • Gateway Community: Gateway Red Hawks (Not “Gateway Hawks”; always use “Red Hawks” together.) 
    • Short name/subsequent use
      • Mascot: Rudy
      • Gateway Community: Red Hawks
    • Capitalization
      • When referring to our mascot, use a capital “R” and “H” for Red Hawk, and lowercase “m” for mascot. 
        • E.g. “This weekend, Rudy the Red Hawk will appear at graduation.”
      • When referring to the wild bird, use a lowercase “r” and “h.”
        • E.g. “The red-tailed hawk is indiginous to Wisconsin.”
    • Mascot gender
      • Male
    • Use of mascot names
      • All names associated with our mascot–including Rudy the Red Hawk and the Gateway Technical College Red Hawks–are reserved for select spirit-focused promotions and elements. 
  • Semester
    • Use “semester”, not “term”
    • Semester should be capitalized when referred to with the season, otherwise keep lowercase. 
      • E.g., “The Spring Semester begins tomorrow” vs. “We hope you’re having a great semester!”
      • Note that this deviates from AP Style, which prescribes “fall 2017 semester”–season, year, then semester, all lowercase. Our college style treats each semester as a proper noun.
    • Exception for Press Releases–only capitalized when year is included. 
    • If necessary to list the year, write “2019 Fall Semester” rather than “Fall Semester 2019;” following English usage, we add the year as an adjective that describes the compound noun “Fall Semester.” 
  • Title/Credential Formatting
    • Of faculty: faculty member vs. instructor
      • “Faculty member” is used at departmental level. 
        • E.g. “She is a faculty member in the Automotive department.”
      • “Instructor” is used at college level. 
        • E.g. “He is an instructor at Gateway.”
      • Never use “teacher” or “professor”
    • Credentials
      • Gateway never uses the title of “Dr.” unless referring to a medical doctor. Anyone else with a doctoral degree should list their credential after their name with a comma.
        • E.g. “John Brown, PhD”, Tim Jones, EdD”
      • The number of credentials following a name will be determined as appropriate for the situation and as space allows. 
      • Do not use periods in credentials. 
        • E.g. “Jane Doe, MS”, not “Jane Doe, M.S.”
      • Examples of academic credentials: 
        • AAS-Associate in Applied Science
        • MS- Master of Science
        • EdD- Doctor of Education
      • Examples of professional credentials: 
        • CNA- Certified Nursing Assistant
        • EMT- Emergency Medical Technician
        • CPA- Certified Professional Accountant
    • Job Titles
      • When used in a paragraph, job titles are capitalized when they come before the name and lowercase when they come after: 
        • Marketing Specialist John Smith
        • John Smith, marketing specialist
      • Titles that include commas: 
        • On business cards, titles include a comma: Manager, Communications and Community Relations
        • In publications, “of” may be used instead of a comma: “Sally Jones, Manager of College Relations”
      • For recruitment materials, Marketing may make an exception to capitalization of job titles.