ACC Staff Spotlight: Jennifer Sheldon

Have you met Jen Sheldon, ACC's Senior Communications Specialist in the Admissions Office? Learn more about how Jen is Moving Mountains at ACC!

Tell us a little bit about yourself

I’m a proud ACC alumni from 2010 who was raised in the Littleton area. I started at ACC focusing on graphic design and multimedia with my Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Applied Science (AAS), and then moved into Communication Studies at Colorado State University (CSU) Fort Collins, focusing on interpersonal and intercultural studies to visual and media arts for both my Bachelor of Arts (BA) and my Master of Arts (MA). I’m also a lifelong artist and storyteller, and that has translated into a passion for marketing and outreach, creating a compelling narrative to engage students with their contacts and resources at ACC.

What is your job at ACC?

Senior Communications Specialist in the Admissions Office

What do you do at ACC (explain your role)?

As part of the Admissions Office, I help students with their applications, and also write the outreach incoming students receive, from application reminders to welcome emails.

How long have you been at ACC?

I’ve been working at ACC since July 2015, but I was a student from 2006 to 2010 and earned an AA and AAS before transferring to CSU-Fort Collins for my BA and MA.

Are you a part of any clubs / organizations / committees at ACC or outside of ACC? What are they and why did you choose them?

I was a member of ACC’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter as a student, and as a staff member I am on our Communications Committee to help improve ACC’s outreach to students across the campus. I have always taken the opportunity that being in honors societies has provided, from ACC through Phi Beta Kappa at CSU-Fort Collins, and with my passion for great communications and emails, I have enjoyed working with other departments to see where we can all improve our outreach to be more informational and supportive of our students.

Why did you choose ACC?

Growing up I lived close to ACC and started taking classes before I graduated from high school. But I stayed with ACC because of their great staff and instructors, their dedication to students, and the number of opportunities for my education, including my two degrees that I transferred to CSU-Fort Collins. When I was job hunting, I came back to ACC because I remembered what it was like for me before, both as a student and as a work study, and I haven’t looked back since.

What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?

When I started at ACC back in 2019, we had virtually no automatic communications coming out of the Admissions office; right now, we have almost 300 different email templates in about 50 different lines of outreach, along with SMS texting templates, that now function automatically to support students at whatever stage they are at all year long.

What is your mountain (ultimate goal)?

To publish my own murder mystery novel; I have always loved mysteries and writing, and right now it is a hobby I enjoy alongside my work.

What's your favorite ACC memory so far?

Having one of my drawing class art pieces picked for a student gallery showcase back in 2007, which was my first ever gallery showing.

Tell us a fun fact about you / Something people may be surprised to find out about you.

At home, I love making my own homemade pasta, including ravioli, lasagna, cannelloni, and spaghetti. I enjoy trying new recipes and flavor combinations, and I’m learning to incorporate more food into the dough itself to give my pasta a colorful new life!

Top 5 Hobbies

• Drawing and designing (traditional and digital art)
• Writing
• Murder mysteries
• Baking and cooking
• Dungeons and Dragons campaigns with friends

What is your advice to future and current students at ACC?

My advice would be to take the time to plan out your path but be open to opportunities to learn and grow as they come up. I earned my first associate degree because I knew I wanted to transfer to a 4-year university for my bachelor’s degree, but I had to wait a year before transferring. Instead of taking a gap year, I decided to earn my second degree in graphic design at ACC.

When I transferred the following year, I ended up changing my major one semester in as I learned more about my interests and the programs available to me. It turned out that my second associate degree saved me a year (in time and money) by filling in part of the graduation requirements of my new major – a total surprise, especially since I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do while I was at ACC.

Do you know a student, staff member, faculty member, instructor, or alumni that you would like to nominate for an ACC Spotlight? jessica [dot] horning [at] arapahoe [dot] edu (Let us know!) Or if you would like to be spotlighted on the ACC blog, complete our Spotlight form.