You can view and download OTC’s Editorial Style Guide and Social Media Style Guide on this page. We also provide a link to the Website Standards and Guidelines. Please note that while many of the OTC Style Guide criteria transition to web, not all do.

Please familiarize yourself with the guidelines established in these publications to help the college establish a uniform, system-wide style of writing and communication that appropriately reflects our standards of excellence. If you have any questions concerning OTC’s style guides, please email communications@otc.edu for assistance.

OTC Editorial Style Guide

Click the image below to read the Editorial Style Guide

OTC Social Media Style Guide

OTC Social Media Administrator Requirements

If you plan to create a social media account for a unit or department of the college, please contact Mary Sue Hoban, creative communications manager, at hobanm@otc.edu.

A dedicated account will be used to create the social media site ― this ensures that the account information does not belong to any one individual of the college. After the site is created, you will be made an administrator of the site, and login information will be shared with you. This process allows us to remove individual administrators from the site when they leave the college. It also allows us to promote all the social networking resources in one place.

Existing sites created prior to these administrator requirements may continue to exist. The Coordinator of Public Information should receive login information for these sites.

Please note: The Coordinator of Public Information will review social media sites periodically to ensure the sites remain active and follow the college’s social media guidelines. If a social media site becomes inactive or does not follow OTC’s guidelines, the site administrator will be notified and the social media account will be deleted.

Responsibilities of an OTC social media administrator include the following tasks:

Follow the OTC Social Media Style Guide.

Monitor the site on a daily basis to answer questions and respond to posts in a timely manner.

Post regularly on the site to drive engagement. Regularly posted, high-quality content ensures the page’s validity as an important communication outlet.

Remove inappropriate comments, spam posts, etc.

Before you begin the process of creating a social media site, consider the following questions:

  • Who will manage the page?
  • What are your goals for this site?
  • Who is your target audience?
  • What content will be shared?

Overall, the college discourages smaller units from setting up social media pages that might not have enough content to post on a regular basis. Inactive social media sites serve little to no purpose. With that in mind, units should consider setting up social media sites that represent a larger unit ― such as a department or center ― as opposed to a program or initiative.

Participating in social media is very time-consuming. Social media administrators should check sites frequently to respond to questions and posts. Administrations should also post quality content often to encourage participation and stay relevant to users. If you are unable to dedicate this time to social media, you should not start a social media site for your unit of the college.

OTC Website Standards and Guidlines

OTC has a expanded set of guidelines specifically for the website. Please note that while many of the OTC Style Guide criteria transition to web, not all do.

To see a complete list of WEB Standards and Guidelines click here.