Ag Professors Recognized For Teaching Excellence

July 31, 2013
SHSU Media Contact: Marissa Nunez

Stanley Kelley, Marcy Beverly and Robert Lane were recognized this summer by the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture for their work in the classroom. —Submitted photo

Three professors from Sam Houston State University’s Department of Agricultural and Industrial Science have been recognized for going above and beyond their call of duty in the classroom.

Stanley Kelley has been selected as the winner of the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Regional Outstanding Teacher Award, while Marcy Beverly and Robert Lane have been named as the recipients of the organization’s Teacher Fellow Award.

NACTA comprises members from various agricultural programs across the country and aims to recognize teachers who excel in their work and exemplify the very best in agricultural higher education.

“To be recognized by my colleagues is a wonderful feeling; to know that your peers nominate you for such an elite award is very humbling,” said Kelley, who received the award for the entire southern region.

Nominees for the Regional Outstanding Teaching Award were required to have first received the Teacher Fellow Award before being eligible for nomination. After a review by a panel of NACTA members, each application was awarded points by category, and the nominee with the highest overall score is chosen as the winner.

“This award is the next level, the next tier to the teacher fellow award so what it has demonstrated to me is that I have continued my excellence in teaching,” Kelley said.

This past year has been one to remember for Kelley. In addition to his outstanding teacher award he has been the recipient of the USDA Excellence in Teaching Award and the American Association of State Colleges of Agriculture and Renewable Resource’s Distinguished Educator award.

“I feel that I have been blessed to have been nominated, first and foremost, but then to have reached these achievements, particularly these three this year, is just overwhelming,” Kelley said.

Associate professor of animal science Marcy Beverly and professor of soil and crop sciences Robert Lane were honored for personifying the group’s goal of classroom excellence as the recipients of the Teacher Fellow Award.

“I am very honored to receive this teaching award. There is no more humbling honor than to be recognized by your colleagues and students, ” Beverly said. “Our students are on the front line in evaluating our teaching abilities.”

In order to receive this award, nominees had to submit an application containing a summary of student evaluations, statement of their teaching philosophy, a copy of their curriculum, and a self-evaluation. Each application was then reviewed by a committee of NACTA members who awarded points based on the criteria of each application.

The nominees who scored a minimum total of 720 points out of 900 were further reviewed by a panel of three members, who then chose the winners.

“Being named a Teacher Fellow by NACTA is a great honor for me and for our university,” Lane said. “I think almost everyone enjoys being recognized for their work, and when that works is a person’s passion it is that much more gratifying.”

Beverley received her bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University before coming to SHSU, where she received her master’s degree in agricultural business. She later returned to Texas A&M to complete her doctorate in animal science.

She is currently an active NACTA member and serves on the American Society of Animal Sciences Corbin Award committee and is a southern section member. She is also a reviewer for the Texas Journal of Agriculture and Natural Resources and is a member of the Agriculture Consortium of Texas.

Lane earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural education at SHSU before receiving both his master’s and doctoral degrees in agronomy from Texas A&M.

Outside of teaching, he is an agronomic consultant for A.C.E Services and BPL Enterprises, Inc., for which he provides research and professional consulting services. He is also a member of NACTA, and the American Society of Agronomy and is a part of the American Registry for Certified Professionals in Agronomy, Crops and Soils and many other esteemed agriculture organizations.

Lane said from winning the awards is something neither an application nor a point system can document; the real satisfaction is from the acknowledgment of the students of all the hard work and dedication they have given to better the future of each and every Bearkat.

“As a department, I think we look at ourselves as part of a team engaged in producing graduates that will be successful in their careers while becoming productive leaders and citizens,” Lane said. “When I hear from employers that our graduates are outperforming those from other institutions, then I know my colleagues and I are doing a good job.”

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