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 Retired judges who are not currently conducting public inquiries are no longer active members of the Judiciary, and should not be referred to as "Justice" or "Judge So-and-so".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