Degrees and Programs

Capitalize when referring to departments as stand-alone words
              e.g. Chemistry, French, Women’s Studies

However, departments are lower case when in a sentence.

Examples:

She works in the chemistry department. 
He is a professor in the geology department.
Ashley is a philosophy student.

Use an apostrophe and spell out academic degrees.

Example:

She has a bachelor’s degree.

Please note there are no commas between multiple degrees or after the name:

Examples:

Mary Ann Daye BComm’85
Mary Ann Daye BComm’85 MBA’87

Other possibilities:

Multiple degrees from the same institution:

BA’98 BEd’99 MEd’00 (no comma’s between degrees or years)

BComm’62 DComm’11

Multiple degrees from different institutions:

BA’01 (SMU) LLD’05 (Dal)

This is where it can get complicated but for SMU the most common combinations tend to be:

Professional Designations like CMA, CPA, CA, post-nominals like KC, and Honorifics. While listings vary by institution, here is a good rule of thumb:

  1. Religious order
  2. Theological degrees
  3. Academic degrees
  4. Honorary degrees, honours, decorations (NOTE: if the degree is listed after the name, then they are not addressed as Doctor in prefix.  However, in salutations, they can be addressed as Dr as in Dear Dr XXXX).
  5. Professional licenses, certifications & affiliations
  6. In the case of King's Counsel (KC), the KC stays with the name and then the degrees are listed.

These next points are applicable when referencing Judges

  1. Retired judges who are not currently conducting public inquiries are no longer active members of the Judiciary, and should not be referred to as "Justice" or "Judge So-and-so".
  2. First reference can be to "Retired/Former Justice/Judge John/Jane Doe" and then following references to "Mr./Mrs. Doe."
  3. As per "Outside the Court" textbox: "While in the courtroom and when writing to them; however, judges should never be addressed as "Sir" or "Madam, Mr. or Ms."

***This information is from Courts Nova Scotia.***

Senator Jane Smith KC BComm'64 LLD'07 and Dear Senator Smith (since he was a Senator, it is ok to still address him as such but do not include Honourable unless still sitting).

Most common examples of degree formats

Degree

 Abbreviation

 Degree & Year

Bachelor of Arts

BA

BA’86

Bachelor of Commerce

BComm

BComm’86

Bachelor of Science

BSc

BSc'87

Bachelor of Education

BEd

BEd'87

Master of Business Administration

MBA

MBA'87

Executive Master of Business Administration

EMBA

EMBA'88

Master of Arts

MA

MA'89

Master of Science

MSc

MSc'89

Master of Education

MEd

MEd'98

Master of Finance

MFin

MFin'98

International Master's of Teaching English

IMTE

IMTE'22

Certificate in Human Resources

CertHRM

CertHRM'98

Diploma in Engineering

DipENG

DipENG'05

Doctor of Laws

LLD

LLD’98

Doctor of Commerce

DComm

DComm’98

Doctor of Letters

DLitt

DLitt’98

Doctor of Humane Letters

LHD

LHD’98

Doctor of Civil Laws

DCL

DCL'15

Doctor of Philosophy

PhD or PHD

PHD’98

  • anyone who has graduated with a degree of certificate
  • an Honorary degree recipient
  • a graduate of the original high school that existed in the 60's and earlier
  • an Associate Alumni as bestowed by the Alumni Association

Alum – abbreviation of alumnus or alumna
Alumna – female graduate of the university
Alumnae – plural form for female graduates of the university
Alumnus – a graduate of the university
Alumni – plural form for graduates of the university

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