Guidelines

The following is a list of general formatting guidelines for stationery items:

VCU and VCU Health stationery follow AP style.
All ampersands (&) must be spelled out (i.e, and).
Suffixes (Jr., III, etc.) should be formatted without commas: John F. Smith Jr., MD, MBA.
A listing for fax, email, parent department and building name are optional for stationery items.
When two departments are listed for joint appointments, they should be formatted one of two ways:
- Department of _____
  and Department of _____
- Departments of ___ and ____ [if space permits on one line]
All email addresses should be in lowercase.
Remove periods from all credentials (i.e., PhD).
Full name or nickname allowed but not in quotation marks or parentheses.
Pronouns are optional.
Web addresses should be formatted as vcu.edu or vcuhealth.org. Don’t include www, http:// or https:// unless the URL will not work without them.
Credentials are allowed on the first line (bolded line) of business cards only.

What to avoid

The following may not be included on stationery items:

Abbreviations (few exceptions)
Additional graphics or logos
Parentheses
Resume-type references (i.e., Habla Espanol on business cards should be changed to Spanish Translator so it is a title)
Taglines, slogans or other marketing/promotional phrases
Titles before names (Dr., Mrs., Mr.) except for clergy, military and police (Rev., Sergeant)
VCU or VCU Health before department, division, office, program and other group names