F

facilities See Appendix E.
   
faculty

This noun takes a singular verb.

“The faculty is meeting here.”
“The faculty members are arguing.”
“The faculty is arguing.”
“The faculty of Arts & Sciences has reached a decision.”

   
farther, further

Farther involves actual distance:

“The arrow traveled farther than any other had.”

Further is for figurative distance:

“That couldn’t be any further from the truth.”

   
fax Do not use all caps.
   
fellow/fellowship Capitalize when referring to an award or prize (e.g., Mellon Fellow), but lowercase when used alone as a descriptive term (e.g., the fellowship).
   
fewer, less

Words on Words said it well: Use fewer for countables and less for collective quantities.

“She now eats fewer meals and less candy.”

The sense of collective quantity prevails in sums of money, periods of time, and measures of distance and weight: less than $200 a week, less than six months, less than three miles, less than 200 pounds.
   
fieldwork Preferred use
   
finalize Per Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, do not use this “pompous, ambiguous verb.”
   
financial assistance

Preferred to financial aid.

The proper name of the University office is Student Financial Services.

Financial Assistance (SFS) is acceptable for use in indexes.
   
foreign students Avoid this phrase; use international students instead.
   
foreword The beginning of a book or report; not forward or foreward
   
Founders Day No apostrophe
   
freelance Preferred use
   
freshman

The American Association of University Students and numerous colleges and universities prefer first-year student to improve the status of women on the nation’s campuses.

If used, an adjectival use takes the singular form (e.g., freshman courses, freshman year).

   
fundraising (noun and adjective) Preferred use