named professorships
Unlike standard faculty ranks such as “associate professor” or “assistant professor of practice,” named professorships should be capitalized even when not directly preceding a faculty member’s name:
Willa Cather Professor
Charles Bessey Professor
Susan J. Rosowski Professor
George Holmes University Professor
The preceding named professorships, as well as others not listed here, can be bestowed on faculty from any college or department. Others, however, originated from gifts to specific departments or units:
Hewett University Professor
William B. Allington University Professor
When a faculty member’s affiliation is listed after a named professorship that is open to all departments, that affiliation should be lowercase, as the affiliation is not part of the professorship’s proper name. When the affiliation follows a department-specific professorship, however, that affiliation is part of the proper name and should be capitalized.
NOT: Willa Cather Professor of Sociology
BUT: Willa Cather Professor of sociology
NOT: Hewett University Professor of chemistry
BUT: Hewett University Professor of Chemistry
See here for more information about named professorships.
names
On first reference, individuals should be identified with first and last names, usually proper name (as opposed to a nickname or "known by" name), and academic title, if appropriate. On second reference, use last name without the title. If two people in the story have the same last name, use both first and last names for both people on all subsequent references.
Children: On second reference, use the last name of a person over age 16. This means all students should be referred to using their last name, never first only. Can use first name only on second reference to children 15 or under.
Make an effort to add accents and other so-called diacritical marks to names, as appropriate:
Ángel García
Miguel Peña
Anja Müller
Note that a person who hails from the same country or socio-cultural background as another person — even someone sharing the same name — may not necessarily use the same diacritical marks.
Some people, particularly those visiting or emigrating from Asian countries, will adopt an Anglo-familiar first name. In such cases, ask the person how they would like their name to be written in a story. If including both the native and anglicized versions of a first name, place the latter in quotation marks:
Xiwei “Emmi” Zheng
nano
A term that describes objects or phenomena ranging from roughly 1 to 100 nanometers. Do not confuse with “micro,” which describes a larger scale. No hyphen when using the prefix in the following cases: “nanoscopic,” “nanoscale,” “nanometer,” “nanosecond,” “nanomaterial,” “nanotechnology,” “nanoparticle.” Hyphenate in all other uses.
National Agroforestry Center
A school within the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, part of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
nationalities and races
Mention a person’s race or nationality in a story only if it’s relevant.
Capitalize the proper names of nationalities, races, tribes, etc.: Arab, Arabic, American, African, Asian, Cherokee, Italian, Jewish, Hispanic, Otoe Indian, etc.
The term "Indian" refers to people from India. Use Natives for those in the United States. Better, still, to be specific and refer to tribes – Cherokee, Omaha, Ponca, etc.
Lowercase colors; use black and white in preference over African American and Caucasian (per AP style).
Natural Resources, School of
A school within the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, part of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
NCard
No hyphen, N and C capitalized with no space.
The NCard is designed to be students’ and faculty/staff permanent University of Nebraska-Lincoln photo identification card. It is valid as long as a user is affiliated with the university. The NCard system is campuswide and is used by campus departments and offices for identification, access, and optional services like on- and off-campus purchasing and discounts.
Nebraska
Acceptable as a synonym for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Use the full “University of Nebraska-Lincoln.” On second reference, “Nebraska” is an acceptable identifier for the state's flagship university.
Before 1968, what is now known internally as "UNL" was the University of Nebraska. Graduates of this university before 1968 are graduates of NU, NOT UNL.
She played basketball for Nebraska in 1991.
He received his bachelor of science degree from NU in 1950.
She enrolled at Nebraska in 2016.
Nebraska Educational Telecommunications
On East Campus, this department produces NET Television and NET Radio. It’s located in the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Center. Abbreviated NET; note that NET does NOT stand for Nebraska Educational Television.
Formerly known as NPRN and NETV, in 2005 the identifiers for NET were streamlined to NET Radio and NET Television. The stations carry and are member-affiliates of PBS and NPR public, member-supported non-commercial programming. NET also conducts NETV Educational Services.
Nebraska Innovation Campus
Nebraska Innovation Campus is a research campus designed to facilitate new and in-depth partnerships between the University of Nebraska and private sector businesses. It is located adjacent to City Campus on the site of the old Nebraska State Fairgrounds. Use NIC on second reference.
Nebraska Today
Nebraska Today is the official publication of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, delivered via email and the web. Communicators may SUBMIT A STORY to University Communication.
newspaper names
Capitalize the in a newspaper's name if that is the way the publication prefers to be known. Do not place name in quotes. Lowercase the before newspaper names if a story mentions several papers, some of which use the as part of the name and some of which do not. Where location is needed but is not part of the official name, use parentheses: The Huntsville (Alabama) Times.
nicknames
Depending on the purpose of the report and audience, a nickname may be preferred. Or, the combination of a formal name and nickname (in quotation marks) may be used. Choose whatever is clearest to the reader without being cumbersome. Do not put a nickname in parentheses.
All are acceptable:
Biology professor R.L. Pardy received the universitywide award for teaching excellence.
Professor Ted Pardy reported on UCARE activities.
Professor R.L. "Ted" Pardy will give the biology lecture.
NOT: R.L.(Ted) Pardy
Nondiscrimination statement
The Nondiscrimination statement is official language referring to the university's policy of nondiscrimination and inclusion. (See Equity Access and Diversity); required on university documents and publications.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln does not discriminate based on gender, age, disability, race, color, religion, marital status, veteran’s status, national or ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.
North Stadium
Attached to the north end of Memorial Stadium, this building is home to the athletic department offices.
Note that when referring to other directions around the stadium, those are lowercased because they are not actual buildings.
His season tickets are for the west side of Memorial Stadium.
NU, NU system
Use as the abbreviation for the four-institution University of Nebraska system. "NU system" is often used to differentiate between the system and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This is because NU is also a widely accepted abbreviation for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and its various components, including its athletic program.
NU Foundation
Formal name of the university’s foundation, the University of Nebraska Foundation. Use this on first reference. Use ‘foundation' (note lowercase) on second reference or when speaking of the foundation in general.
numerals
In general, follow Associated Press style on using numbers. Exceptions can be made especially for more formal documents.
GENERAL RULE: Spell out one through nine; use numbers for 10 and above.
The college has nine honor students. The college has 480 students.
There are many exceptions.
When to use figures: Use figures for addresses, ages, aircraft, clothes sizes, dates, dimensions, highways, before the words million, billion, etc., money, percentages (except when they start a sentence), recipes, speeds, temperatures (except zero), time, weight and years (except when they start a sentence).
The class starts at 12:30 p.m.
Tuition dropped 5 percent last year.
He expects to pay $1,000 more in fees this year.
She should graduate in spring 2003.
Numbers with suffixes (-nd, -th, etc.): Spell out "first" through "ninth" in street names and amendments to the Constitution. Otherwise, use numbers in all cases (1st, 3rd, 20th, etc.) for political stories and court specifications (3rd District Court, etc.).
Nursing, College of
Official name of this college; can use the more informal “nursing college” (note the lowercase) in more informal references. This college is in Lincoln but is administered by UNMC.