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IRT Style Guide
'Write' this Way
Whether an Outlook or SacSend email, memo, report, slide deck, web page, or other instances, all written communications should consistently model the Sacramento State experience, as well as the IRT division "voice."
This style guide hub provides helpful resources to ensure your correspondence supports university standards.
Style Guide Resources
General Style Guidelines
We use the following guides (with some exceptions) for creating communications materials:
University Communications Writing Style Guide
IRT-Specific Style Guidelines
Because we serve a diverse community of faculty, staff, and students - of often varying technical aptitude - it's sometimes necessary to depart from general guidelines to account for the highly technical nature of our division's work and complex terminology. Each category below provides guidance on IRT-specific style uses.
IRT Communications Channels
The following are the current communications channels we use for proactive and reactive messaging to campus.
Communications Request?
Submit a request for project communications by completing a New Request Worksheet and following the instructions:
| Channel | Managed/Submitted By | Used For/Audiences |
|---|---|---|
| 411 | IRT Service Desk; anyone can submit | Internal outage alerts and crisis management |
| SacSend Emma |
IRT Communications & Marketing Manager; provisioned users | Proactive/reactive messages to Faculty, Staff, Students, Auxiliary, and custom (imported) internal lists |
| System Alerts My Sac State |
Provisioned users including: Web & Mobile Services IRT Service Desk IRT Communications & Marketing Manager |
Alerts appear as a top banner or "message pending" on My Sac State - used for more urgent messages such as outages |
| Monday Briefing | IRT Communications & Marketing Manager | Managed by UComm; submit proactive items for faculty and staff audiences only the Thursday prior to a desired Monday run date |
| Social Media | IRT Communications & Marketing Manager | When referencing the three social media platforms we participate in, the handle is the same: "find IRT on [social media platform] @sacstateirt" X |
| Digital Signage Computer Labs Sac Connect |
IRT Communications & Marketing Manager; Mark Konrad, Web & Mobile Services |
Campus digital sign opportunities |
IRT'isms
Division Name
Even if a logo is present in the communication, always spell out the full division name on the first reference followed by the acronym in parenthesis:
Information Resources & Technology (IRT)
Other things to note:
- After the first reference, all subsequent references can now simply be the "IRT" acronym without parenthesis
- Because the ampersand is in our branded logo, we depart from University Communications' ampersand guideline and never swap out the "&" for "and"
| Full Reference | Acronym | Incorrect |
|---|---|---|
| Information Resources & Technology | IRT | Information Resources and Technology IR&T IT |
| Departments/Teams ex: IRT Campus Applications team |
(CAT) CAT team |
Always use "IRT" as the prefix to any department name Do not capitalize the word "team" in a department reference |
IRT Departments
- Always add the "IRT" prefix when referring to internal IRT departments.
- Formal/executive communications: IRT Infrastructure & Operations
- Informal/casual communications: Add lowercase "team" after a department mention - such as the "IRT Service Desk team" to sound more informal
| IRT Department Name | Acronym/AKA/Shortened Name |
|---|---|
| Administration Vice President and Chief Information Officer |
Admin Office VP & CIO |
| Academic Technology Services | ATS |
| Campus Applications Team | CAT |
| Web & Mobile Services | Web Team, Digital User Experiences |
| Information Security Office Chief Information Security Officer |
ISO CISO |
| Infrastructure & Operations | Cloud Systems, Identity Management, Security, Network Services, Telecom |
| Project Management Office | PMO |
| Service Desk | Customer Services, Service Desk/Service Desk Team |
| Project Management Office | PMO |
IRT "Voice"
General Writing Tips
Write for all readers. Some read every written word, others just skim. Grouping related ideas together, using descriptive headers and subheaders, and choosing bulleted lists over large copy blocks help engage readers.
Focus your message. Create a hierarchy of information. Lead with the main point or the most important content, in sentences, paragraphs, sections, and pages.
Be concise, brief, and specific. Use short words and sentences. Avoid unnecessary modifiers and vague or jargoned language.
The IRT "Voice"
Because we often deal in complicated processes, acronyms, and software jargon that we understand, it's easy to confuse our audiences with too many details.
The goals for the IRT division "voice" when writing primarily for external audiences is to:
- Be accurate - ensure the ideas, processes, and experiences you convey are accurate. What we include in written materials becomes a "contract" with our audiences and can create issues if not thoroughly vetted prior to distribution (or if forwarded in an email, quoted by others)
- Be inclusive and approachable - not be overly technical or "sound like IT"
- Make 'IT' easy - break down complicated steps/instructions to make it easy for varying technical abilities to follow
- Engage - talk to them, not at them
- Be proactive - address known (and emerging) issues or frustrations
- Demonstrate value - why our work/software/new process will improve their experiences
| Instead of... | Better |
|---|---|
| Customer, user, person, individual | Personalize it with "you" and "your" ex: "each user's computer" to "your computer" |
| Salutations such as "Dear [Faculty, Staff, Student]" |
Consider no salutation if message is targeted, or: Hello, [Name] (if able to customize) Hello! (if unable to customize) Hi! (if able to be informal) |
| Negative Language | Replace "can't," "shouldn't," or "don't" with positive action words such as "can," "recommended," "best," "optimal" |
| End of Life, Retired, Sunset | Swap with dynamic words like: transitioning, migrating, leveling up |
Software & Tools Names
Sometimes we refer to a software program or tool differently when used internally vs. to campus audiences. This can be due to a legacy reason ("SacLink" referring to Sac State accounts), or due to changeability in a software/tool used to manage a specific function (a tool is retired, we change contracts, etc.).
The Software Catalog groups all currently used campus software and tools alphabetically for easy search. Here are commonly nicknamed "AKA" terms used when communicating with campus audiences.
| Software Name | AKA |
|---|---|
| Canvas | Most often use "Canvas" but also "Learning Management System (LMS)" |
| Cascade | "Web Content Management (WCM)" |
| Common Human Resources System | (CHRS) - the HR data management system powered by PeopleSoft for all 23 CSU campuses |
| Duo | Most often use "Duo" or "Duo Multifactor Authentication" or "Duo MFA" |
| Emma | "SacSend powered by Emma," or simply "SacSend" |
| OnBase | "Forms" "Workflows" |
| Outlook | "Campus email" or "Sac State email" |
| PeopleSoft Campus Solution (SA/CS) Common Financial System (CFS) Human Resources (HCM) |
Generally: "My Sac State Portal," "Portal," or "My Sac State Centers (Faculty, Employee, Student)" |
| Qualtrics | "Campus survey tool" |
| SacLink | Legacy term for an individual's "Sacramento State account" |
| ServiceNow | "Get support," "Put in a ticket," "Knowledge base article(s)" |
| Trumba | "Campus event calendar" |
| Global Protect Virtual Private Network (VPN) | Most often "Global Protect VPN," "Campus VPN," or "VPN" |
IRT Branding (Graphics)
IRT collateral follows the specific visual guidelines in the Brand Center.
Font
When producing Word documents, slide decks, or spreadsheets, the university's primary font type is Myriad. As this font suite isn't always included on most campus devices, opt for Garamond or Calibri.
Creating Graphics
For larger designed items, connect with the Communications & Marketing Program Manager for guidance. This includes collateral such as:
- IRT letterhead for official memos/correspondence
- Flyers
- PowerPoint slide decks (use University-branded templates)
- Signage (printed, digital)
- Swag/branded items
Email Signature
University Communications offers the following format best practices for building your email signature in Outlook.
Include a logo? Including either the Sacramento State logo or Information Resources & Technology sub identity logo in your signature is optional, and can be downloaded here:
Social media icons? Optional, but given the small following for IRT channels, it's better to not include @sacstateirt tagged icons. Alternatively, use university social media icons/tags if it supports your message.
Writing Knowledge Base (KB) Articles
The IRT Service Desk Team has developed a primer for those tasked with writing Knowledge Base articles, known as KB's.