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See S²

AECL professor earns national teaching award

Students enter 404 Agricultural Hall in groups, chatting as they make their way to wheeled chairs colored in America’s Brightest Orange. Some swivel to work on shiny, silver computers while others continue talking as they organize their notes.

“Hello, friends!” Shelly Peper Sitton says as she enters the room with a smile accompanying her joyful greeting.

“I feel like I’m home when I walk into the computer lab,” said Sitton, Oklahoma State University agricultural communications professor. “It is an extension of my office.

“We go there to get work done, and the learning happens while we’re working,” she said.

She walks to the front of the room and opens an Adobe Illustrator document on the projector screen. She begins designing a logo, explaining the process as she goes.

“Shelly is a teach-by-doing kindof person,” said Erica Summerfield, Sitton’s graduate teaching assistant and agricultural communications master’s student. “When Shelly and I walk into class, we know what we are teaching about but don’t have an exact plan.”

Sitton teaches layout and design, feature writing and editing, and the program’s capstone course, which produces the Cowboy Journal.

Sitton plans and verbalizes her lessons as she teaches so students can see and hear the processes happening inside her head, Summerfield said.

“I don’t pre-think or have graphics going in,” Sitton said. “It takes longer, but I start from scratch, too. Students do not see the mental hoops I go through if everything is too prepped.”

However, sometimes not every example goes well, Summerfield said.

“I struggle, too,” Sitton said. “When I began I was a perfectionist, but age has a way of helping you understand you don’t have to be perfect.

“Owning my own mistakes helps others see they can make mistakes, too,” she said.

Sitton teaches differently than other professors, said McKenna Knight, agricultural communications and agribusiness junior. Sitton gives students an opportunity to learn the design process for themselves, she said.

While working on the finishing touches of a design project, Knight said she was frustrated when Sitton suggested extra changes.

“Shelly told me and the whole class she wants us to want to get more out of the class than just an A on a project,” Knight said.

Knowing someone is helping students beyond their grades is comforting, Knight said.

My mom taught me to love people just like they were my own family members - Shelly Sitton AECL professor

“Shelly expects a lot from you, and she lets you know it,” Summerfield said. “But, she will not leave you hanging.”

Whether for a design or writing piece, Sitton takes time to give individual feedback to each student, Summerfield said. Students understand her input matters, she added.

“It all comes back to relationships,” Sitton said. “I am tough and have high expectations because the world does, and I want students to be prepared for the real world.”

Sitton works hard to build relationships with students so she can challenge them to think critically about their work and the creative process, said Dwayne Cartmell, agricultural communications professor and Master of International Agriculture Program assistant director.

“Many students talk about being bad at layout and design,” Cartmell said. “But, they really are good and just need to be challenged.”

Deep relationships make it possible to challenge students and help them be well-equipped, Sitton said.

“I get in the trenches with these kids,” Sitton said. “The graduate teaching assistants and I are side by side with them even when it means extra time.”

Sitton knows students outside of the classroom, too, Summerfield said. The lines between her work hours and her office hours are blurry because of the flood of students waiting to see her, Summerfield said.

“It doesn’t matter if she has a million things to do,” Knight said. “When students ask for help, she is always willing to help.”

Many students come to Sitton seeking advice about topics inside and outside the classroom, Knight said. People look up to Sitton and value her opinion, she added.

“An open door makes for great relationships,” Sitton said. “That is why it stays open.”

The agricultural communications faculty members work hard to make all the students feel like “our kids,” Sitton said. Students need to know they are valued and loved, she said.

Hugs and words of encouragement are some of the ways Sitton tells students she cares about them, she said.

“My mom taught me to love people just like they were my own family members,” Sitton said. “The greatest compliment I have received was being told I am like her.”

While growing up on her family’s cattle ranch, Sitton saw her mom show compassion to everyone, said Trent Peper, Sitton’s brother and Peper Patch Farms co-operator.

“She gets it from our family and the people we call family,” Peper said. “Shelly picked up our mom’s attitude of ‘if you’re in my house, you are family.’”

Life is about building relationships, Sitton said. As a student adviser and teacher of the capstone course, she sees many of “her kids” during their first and last days on campus, she said.

“Not every student is the same, and not all are good at the same things,” Sitton said. “I try to help individuals get where they want to be.”

To recognize her impact during the past 27 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture presented Sitton with the National Award for Excellence in Teaching and Student Engagement.

“The USDA identified Dr. Sitton as one of the preeminent instructors teaching agricultural students in the country,” said Thomas Coon, Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources vice president.

The USDA created this award to recognize exceptional teaching by someone who has a majority teaching appointment, said Cynda Clary, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources associate dean of academic programs.

Sitton received this award because of her long-standing impact on her students and her profession, Clary added.

“What isn’t shown on Shelly’s course list is the time she spends being available to students,” Clary said.

The award recognizes professors excelling in and out of the classroom, Clary said. Sitton embodies this with excellence and passion, Clary added

“It is overwhelming,” Sitton said. “I was in shock when I found out because I didn’t think there was a chance. The first thing I did was call my son, Jacob, because he and his brother, Matt, have

had to share me with several thousand students to let me do what I do.”

Sitton said when she found out, she felt humbled more than anything.

“This award isn’t about me,” Sitton said. “This award is about the program. Faculty and students support each other, and that makes all of this possible.”

Sitton is focused on students and making the students and program look good, Summerfield said. When they succeed, she feels like she has succeeded, Summerfield added.

Shelly Sitton demands the best because she cares about people, said Jacob Sitton, Shelly Sitton’s son and 2018 agricultural communications alumnus. She sees people’s potential and does all she can to get them there, he added.

“She didn’t treat me any differently,” Jacob Sitton said. “Anything she did for me, I know she would and does do for all students.”

Shelly Sitton also works hard to create a family atmosphere, which brings

people in and keeps them here, Jacob Sitton said.

“I guess I have a couple thousand siblings because the students who have gone through the program are all Mom’s kids,” Jacob Sitton said.

Since starting in 1992, Shelly Sitton said her years at OSU have not felt like work because she loves what she does.

“It’s been a dream come true,” Shelly Sitton said. “It took my breath away when I found out I got this job, and I still get chills thinking about it.”

Shelly Sitton said being hired at OSU is a “God-thing.”

“CASNR and OSU are my home,” Shelly Sitton said. “I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

JACKSON MAYBERRY Oklahoma City, Oklahoma