It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.
This page is copied here for the express purpose of modeling an Academic Communities essay off it and must, before this explanatory note is removed, have an attribution notice to that effect placed on its Talk Page
This article is intended to supply guidelines for what are here termed Academic Communities (mostly notable university colleges, see the linked page for a fuller explanation). As a consequence of national differences of nomenclature and educational philosophy, appropriate terminology in the United States may differ significantly for that which is appropriate for articles relating to Commonwealth institutions, particularly those of the United Kingdom. However, these guidelines are intended to be universal and corrections should tend to inclusive language, easing reading and understanding. In particular, the unqualified term 'college' should generally be avoided, having substantially different, mutually exclusive connotations around the world.
Notability
This section contains an essay on notability, consisting of the advice and/or opinions of one or more WikiProjects on how notability may be interpreted within their area of interest.
This is a topic of primary importance. Academic communities do not, by default, include all residential colleges. No article should be included unless it is independently notable and any institution which is primarily a dorm, unless otherwise notable, should not be included (as per general notability policy). The purpose of any comments regarding notability here is to provide a discussion point for a more precise definition of notability.
Reliable sources
As with all college and university articles, special care is required for citing self-published sources. In particular, "the cited information must be authentic, not be self-serving (see Neutral point of view), and not involve claims about third parties". This is generally harder in the case of Academic Communities, which are often able to maintain a far more insular existence than colleges (US) or universities, and may have an alumni body of hundreds, rather than tens of thousands. Nonetheless, most notable institutions will have some independent sources and these should be sought out for inclusion.
From the college and university guidelines, a partiuclarly useful point:
...colleges and universities do publish a wide variety of important and authoritative information that should be included in any article. The Common Data Set, a fact book/almanac, President's reports, course catalogs, and/or faculty handbooks are excellent and authoritative sources of information on the college or university and can commonly be found on the websites for the provost, registrar, or institutional research office. A university's library or archives office may have a list of published articles or books about the university's history that can be used as reliable sources as well.
University histories and promotional material may provide some useful comparative charts or summaries of standard statistics, particularly through their prospectus, but bear in mind that, at least in the case of university-owned institutions, this is still often, or is tantamount to, self-published material and, especially in the case of admissions literature, may be susceptible to boosterism.
Neutral point of view
As this is such a fundamental principle and so often the major flaw in Academic Community articles, particularly, the following is reproduced rather than linked:
Watch out for overly general and vague statements such as "there are many who think University of X's business program is great" or "Y College is widely recognized as a preeminent institution". Such weasel words are not particularly factual and usually nothing but the author's opinions in disguise. Try to provide more specific information, and back the statement up with references to reliable, independent sources like books, magazines, studies, etc. In addition, the use of peacock terms and other words to avoid is strongly discouraged (e.g., "University of Z is a highly prestigious…" or "Z College is a renowned…") Remember, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not an admissions pamphlet and these pieces of fluff actually lower the prose to an unprofessional level.
If you cite college and university rankings, be precise and honest. Refactoring rankings (71st nationally according to the source, but 2nd among colleges in the state) to boost the score constitutes original research and is not permitted. Claims that an institution "ranks highly" or is "highly exclusive" are just as vague as claims that it is "prestigious" and "excellent." Rankings should be neutrally worded without modifiers or disclaimers, represent a comprehensive cross-section of rankings by national and international publications, be limited to a single section in the article, and be reported as numeric values with years and verifiable sources. In the lead, do not use rankings to synthesize an image of the institution, whether good or bad. Give one factual statement summarising overall "most recent" rankings obtained in key surveys (for example, "In 2010, institution 'A' has been ranked #3 by The Economist, #5 by The New York Times and #8 by Financial Times."). In the lead, do not give the sub factor rankings obtained in each survey (for example, details like "ranked #x in placements" or "ranked #3 in research" should not be given in lead at all).
The layout of an academic communities article is more variable than perhaps a college or university article. Where one institution may have an extensive and notable set of historic buildings, another may have a notable rare books library or public art gallery. Some may have particular widely-documented traditions, some may have particularly notable fellowships. However, the article will benefit by keeping disparity to a necessary minimum, through structuring standard elements in a standard manner. As such, where possible and where each is appropriate, the elements below are recommended in the given order.
For a more structured example, please see the Sample article.
Infobox — these should, at the least, be common to the university. As there are often substantial differences between academic communities within different universities, deriving off a university-wide communities Infobox is perhaps useful and allows future development. The Template:Infobox Otago college is designed to be fairly broad and may be useful for universities without particularly specific requirements (e.g. Oxford, Cambridge)
Lead — standard recommendations regarding the lead apply. Particularly, make sure any ambiguity is avoided in the type of institution. For a persuasive illustration of the consequent confusion, see the Oriel College talk page.
History — this is often essential in establishing notability (more fully than is possible in the lead) and should be as full of useful, relevant, well-structured information as possible
Buildings — may overlap, or be implicitly subsumed into history. However, if the buildings are themselves notable, this is best kept with a full description. Particularly, chapels, independently notable libraries, or notable residential facilities can be mentioned here.
Governance — if appropriate, include some past and present fellows, where notable, masters and and any significant points regarding the college's governance generally
Student life — notable traditions, where independent sources exist
Alumni — this is generally the appropriate term for an academic community. If in doubt whether the term is appropriate for the institution, double-check whether the institution really qualifies for inclusion under the description of academic communities. As ever, individuals who do not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline should not be included.
External links — link to the official website of the institution, preferably in the English language
Navigation Templates — often, there will be a university template including any academic communities by name
Student life
As always, inclusion of a society or tradition is dependent on notability and the availability of independent sources (for instance, Michael Palin, in his autobiography, discusses his experiences taking part in Selwyn College, Otago initiation activities as part of a documentary series; a useful source) Boat clubs or choirs may (and often may not) merit their own article, as they may be independently notable. Many boat clubs in Oxford and Cambridge act as significant financially-independent interests, though elsewhere, it is quite possible that only the university-wide boat club would do so.
