List of Terms: O-R

O’ Connell Center, (Stephen C.)

Not O’ Dome. Total seating capacity is 12,500.

off-campus


Office of Instructional Resources

Because UF also has the Office of Institutional Research, use OIR on second reference only if confusion would not result.

Office of the Dean

Not the dean’s office.

OK, OK’d, OK’ing, OKs

Do NOT use okay.

on

Do NOT use “on” before a date or day of the week when its absence would not lead to confusion: The meeting will be held Monday. He will be inaugurated Jan. 20. Use “on” to avoid an awkward juxtaposition of a date and a proper name: John met Mary on Monday. He told Reagan on Thursday that the bill was doomed. Use “on” also to avoid any suggestion that a date is the object of a transitive verb: The House killed on Tuesday a bid to raise taxes. The Senate postponed on Wednesday its consideration of a bill to reduce import duties.

on campus, on-campus

On-campus is a unit modifier: students live in on-campus housing; on campus shows adverbial location: she has a job on campus.

online

One word in all cases for the computer connection term.

Ordway Wildlife Preserve, (Katharine)

A 9,000-acre, open-air laboratory in Putnam County, donated to UF in 1980. A total of 6,145 acres was donated by the Goodhill Foundation and another 487 acres from the Swisher Foundation. The gift, in total, is worth more than $5 million.

organizations and institutions

Capitalize the full names of organizations and institutions: the American Medical Association; First Presbyterian Church; General Motors Corp.; Harvard University; Harvard University Medical School; the Procrastinators Club; the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi. Use lowercase for internal elements of an organization when they have names that are widely used generic terms: the board of directors of General Motors, the board of trustees of Columbia University, the history department of Harvard University, the sports department of the Daily Citizen-Leader. For more details, see the AP Stylebook.

over, more than

The first refers to spatial relationships, the second to numbers or amounts: The shelf is over my head. The group raised more than $60.

P.K. Yonge Laboratory School

Part of the College of Education, K-12.

Panhellenic Council

The governing body for the 26 UF sororities. Use council on second reference.

Paynes Prairie

A state preserve south of Gainesville.

people, persons

Use person when speaking of an individual: One person waited for the bus. The word people is preferred to persons in all plural uses: Thousands of people attended the fair. What will people say? There were 17 people in the room. Persons should be used only when it is in a direct quote or part of a title as in Bureau of Missing Persons. People also is a collective noun that takes a plural verb when used to refer to a single race or nation: The American people are united. In this sense, the plural is peoples: The peoples of Africa speak many languages.

percent

Spell out, except in headlines. Always use figures with percents.

Petitions Committee

Note ’s’ on Petitions.

Ph.D., Ph.D.’s

The preferred form is to say a person holds a doctorate and name the individual’s area of specialty. See academic degrees and doctor.

Phillips Center, (Curtis M.)

Preferred for internal communications, but Phillips Center for the Performing Arts for news releases. Formerly Center for the Performing Arts.

Plaza of the Americas


plurals

For documents forwarded to the news media, check the AP Stylebook for Latin phrases. Otherwise use the Latin: symposia, NOT symposiums; colloquia, colloquiums; millenia, NOT milleniums.

postdoctoral


postgraduate


preprofessional


presently

See currently.

President J. Bernard Machen

President J. Bernard Machen - Took office in January 2004. Use Bernie Machen for all press releases.

President, President’s Office

Capitalize if used as a reference to an official title: President J. Bernard Machen. The president said he would attend.

Presidents of the University of Florida

Terms of service:

Preview

Orientation program for entering freshmen given each year during summer terms A & B.

pro tempore

Capitalize before a name: He talked with President Pro Tempore John Doe.

professor

Associated Press style is lowercase before a name.

programs

See majors.

Public Education Capital Outlay

PECO on second reference. State-appropriated funds for education-related construction. Money originates from a state tax on utilities.

Public Records Law

F.S. Chapter 119 addresses access to public documents.

quotation marks

The period and comma always go within the quotation marks. The dash, the semicolon, the question mark and the exclamation point go within the quotation marks when they apply to the quoted matter only.

quotations

Surround the exact words of a speaker or writer when reporting in a news release: “I have no intention of staying,” he said. For dialogue or conversation, each person’s words are placed in a separate paragraph, with quotation marks at the beginning and the end of each person’s speech:

“Will you go?” “Yes.” “When?”

race

Capitalize names of races and ethnic groups: Caucasian, Hispanic, lowercase black and white when used to refer to races.

ranges

The form: $12 million to $14 million. NOT: $12 to $14 million, unless the lower range actually is $12.

ratios

Use figures and hyphens: the ratio was 2-to-1, a ratio of 2-to-1, a 2-1 ratio. As illustrated, the word “to” should be omitted when the numbers precede the word “ratio”. Always use the word “ratio” or a phrase such as a 2-1 majority to avoid confusion with actual figures.

reference works

Capitalize their proper names. Do NOT use quotation marks around the names of books that are primarily catalogs or reference material. In addition to catalogs, this category includes almanacs, directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers, handbooks and similar publications: Congressional Directory, Webster’s New World Dictionary, the AP Stylebook. But: “The Careful Writer” and “Modern American Usage.” See composition titles.

regions

See directions and regions.

registrar

Office of the University Registrar or the registrar’s office on second reference.

registration

Lowercase advanced, regular, late, employee and non-degree.

Reitz Student Union, (J. Wayne)

Reitz Student Union acceptable on first reference, student union or Reitz Union on second reference.

representative

See legislative titles.

researcher

Common title. Do NOT capitalize in title preceding a name.

residences (student)

Preferred usage over dormitories. There are 24 single-student residence areas on campus (without counting each Beaty Tower separately). More than 85 percent of UF freshmen live in the residence halls. There are five graduate and family housing complexes on campus. One-fourth of UF students live on campus.

Rinker School of Building Construction, (M.E.)

Part of College of Design, Construction and Planning.

room

Uppercase in such uses as Reitz Union Room 346.

room numbers

Use figures and capitalize room when used with a figure: Room 2, Room 211.

ROTC

Acceptable on first reference for Reserve Officer Training Corps. No periods.