Razorbug Drives Home Online Student Success
The University of Arkansas is passionate about our land-grant mission to serve our home state and its people. In May 2023, more than 550 U of A students graduated from online degree programs. Some walked in commencement in Fayetteville; some did not.
In a symbolic gesture, the U of A Global Campus drove the Razorbug - one of the university's most visible symbols - across the state for the second summer in a row to deliver framed diplomas to 13 U of A graduates who studied online while living and working in rural Arkansas. These are graduates who could not study in Fayetteville because they did not want to uproot their families or quit their hometown jobs.
The 2023 tour ended Aug. 17 in Little Rock, where 10 more May 2023 U of A graduates from Central Arkansas were honored. Help us by spread the joy by sharing a link to this page filled with student success stories.
Cindy Miller
El Dorado, AR
M.Ed. in Educational Technology
“This was the degree I wanted so there really was no other option for me. I just wouldn’t have been able to get my master’s. The flexibility was key to being able to be successful so I really appreciated that.”
Keri Reynolds
El Dorado, AR
M.Ed. in Human Resource Development
“I met some amazing fellow students, and we are still in contact today and I will stay in contact with those four to five individuals and that’s been my highlight throughout the entire program.”
Doug Stringfellow
El Dorado, AR
“The MSOM’s technical basis was a natural fit for me working in manufacturing. Part of my job is project management. I lead a team of our engineering and maintenance group so the degree and the certificate fit right in line with my day-to-day work.”
Jose Gonzalez
Green Forest, AR
“If you don’t think you have time to go to college and there’s an online degree option, you could try it. I was able to earn my degree online because it was more flexible, you have time to do your homework whenever you’re free and it was just more flexible with your schedule.”
Russell Murray
Camden, AR
M.S. in Engineering Management
“You always hear engineers don’t have social skills, people skills and such. We spend four years doing math. In undergrad, we dread group projects, but at work, essentially group projects are what you’re doing all day every day. We work with interdisciplinary, multifunctional groups, and you have to manage and work your way into a solution you like.”
Christian Rodriguez
Camden, AR
M.S. in Engineering Management
“I learned about allocating resources, how best to allocate them. I really liked the leadership principles class. I think I work better with people, matching people with the right projects. I feel a lot better about all that than when I started.”
Bob Korpella
Mountain Home, AR
M.Ed. in Human Resource Development
“What the difference was – my only frame of experience was going for my bachelor’s and that was a lot of studying and reading and some discussion in class but this was a whole different ballgame. And I loved it. It was a whole lot of research and I loved doing that, as a writer, and it was a lot of writing, which I also love.”
Eddie Goines Jr.
Batesville, AR
“Taking classes from the leadership classes to quality management, project management, it’s all things that currently apply to what I was doing. It gave me a better understanding. They just really helped me grow and develop as a leader here at FutureFuel.”
Tabitha Kolb
Jasper, AR
M.Ed. in Educational Technology
“This degree will allow me to incorporate even more activities and opportunities for my students in the classroom and being from a small school that’s invaluable for these students who might not otherwise see that.”
Sydney McFarland
Yellville, AR
“I would tell someone else, just do it. Whatever fears you have, whatever is holding you back, just pursue it and pursue it with everything that you have because you’re only going to regret it if you don’t.”
Randy Scaggs
Norfork, AR
Ed.D. in Adult and Lifelong Learning
“The things that I would study and learn I would be able to put immediately into practice. And it kept me on the cutting edge of the current literature as far as research goes. I was able to apply that immediately day in and day out in my job.”
Rachel Eakins
Paragould, AR
Bachelor of Human Resource Development
“We’ve always been Razorback fans. I thought it would be an awesome thing to graduate as a Razorback and I knew that the University of Arkansas had a great online program so that’s why I chose to go with the University of Arkansas.”
Katie Bailey
West Memphis, AR
“It helped me hone in on my self-discipline, I would say, because you’re not going to class, you don’t have the professor there, your peers right next to you, so you really have to have a lot of self-discipline about it. I would say I took that to my job. So, whenever I had a project due, it was already built into me from the university; I knew how to get a project done.”
32
Counties Visited
2,250
Miles Traveled
8
Days of Presenting
14
Academic Presenters
5
Front-page
Newspaper Stories
2
Television Reports
Little Rock Event
Crys Aguilera
North Little Rock, AR
M.Ed. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
Stephanie Crowell
Roland, AR
M.Ed. in Educational Equity
Susan Ferguson
Jonesboro, AR
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Dinella Michelle Griffin
Little Rock, AR
LPN to BSN
Ryan Henry
Alexander, AR
M.S. in Operations Management
Ethan Lee Kissinger
Sherwood, AR
B.S.B.A. in Supply Chain Management
Tillar Lewis
North Little Rock, AR
M.Ed. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
Allie Sheppeard
Sherwood, AR
Master of Social Work
Marla Smith
Little Rock, AR
M.Ed. in Adult and Lifelong Learning
Theresa Tiner
North Little Rock, AR
RN to BSN
( Allie Sheppeard with Alishia Ferguson )
( Stephanie Crowell with Mandel Samuels )
( Crys Aguilera with Janet Penner-Williams )
( Dinella Michelle Griffin with Michael Hevel )
( Ethan Lee Kissinger with Cheryl Murphy )
( Ryan Henry with Rich Ham )
( Marla Smith and family )
( Susan Ferguson with Michael Hevel )
( Theresa Tiner with Michael Hevel )
( Tillar Lewis with Janet Penner-Williams )
The Razorbug Diploma Tour wrapped up Aug. 17 in Little Rock with an event celebrating 10 graduates of online degree programs. Faculty and staff members presented them with framed diplomas inside the Walton College Executive Education facility in downtown Little Rock.
About the Razorbug
What is it?
The Razorbug is a conversion car, starting with a red Volkswagen Beetle and adding a Razorback's snout, tail and razor-edged spine to the original body.When: Created in 2005
Purpose: Recruiting students and celebrating events
What's it like to drive the Razorbug?
Fun! It is like traveling with a celebrity. People love to have their photos taken with this red-hot, four-wheeled mascot.
Presenters
|
Ed Bengtson |
Jasper |
|
Alishia Ferguson |
Little Rock |
|
Megan Garland |
Yellville |
|
Rich Ham |
Little Rock |
|
Michael Hevel |
El Dorado |
|
Dean Kate Mamiseishvili |
Paragould |
|
Patty Milner |
Evening Shade |
|
Cheryl Murphy |
Little Rock |
|
Leonard Nethercutt |
Batesville |
|
Greg Parnell |
Camden |
|
Gary Peters |
Green Forest |
|
Kevin Roessger |
Norfork |
|
Mandel Samuels |
El Dorado |
|
Janet Penner-Williams |
Little Rock |
Collaborators
|
Academic Colleges: |
Presented the diplomas |
|
Office of Admissions: |
Loaned us the Razorbug |
|
Office of the Registrar: |
Printed diplomas |
|
U of A Bookstore: |
Ordered the diploma frames |
|
University Relations: |
Helped promote the tour |
|
Video: |
Amy Sandefur Productions |
|
Global Campus: |
Multiple Teams: Graduation data, travel arrangements, media production, information technology, photography |
|
Little Rock Facility: |
Walton College Executive Education |
