• Razorbug Diploma Tour •

It is no surprise JoAnn Vann works as a family and consumer sciences cooperative extension agent. At the age of 4, she was sitting at her granny's feet learning to sew clothes for her dolls.

Vann has been employed in her position for 12 years at the Clark County office of the Cooperative Extension Service based in Arkadelphia. Much of what she learned in a master's degree that she recently completed applies to her job, Vann said.

She earned a master's degree in agricultural and extension education from the University of Arkansas delivered online last spring. The Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the U of A collaborates with a consortium of universities to offer the degree.

The Razorbug Diploma Tour came to Arkadelphia on June 18 for Donna Graham, director of the School of Human Environmental Sciences in Bumpers College, to present a framed diploma to Vann outside her office. Her family and co-workers celebrated Vann and her accomplishments.

As a child, Vann's family lived next door to her grandparents, and her grandmother ran the family trucking company, often taking extra work such as working in a local sewing factory during financially challenging times.

"She was always ironing, mending, doing alterations, making her own dresses," Vann recalled. "She made me and my sister's clothes, she made doll clothes, she made our prom dresses. She was willing to take her time and show me how to do it."

Times have, of course, changed since Vann was a little girl. She said making your own clothes now is an estimated to be three to four times more expensive than buying them, not even counting the time you spend. But, she said, extension agents have adapted family and consumer sciences — what used to be called home economics — to provide valuable information to children and families today.

"Sewing on a button and learning to wash clothes as part of chores are important for kids to know," Vann said. "There are skills we teach to extend the life of clothing such as mending and hemming."

The Cooperative Extension Service family and consumer sciences division focuses education in four program areas: food and nutrition, including cooking lessons, food safety and food preservation; consumer resource management, such as financial planning and estate planning; family and personal relationships, including child-care training and lessons on building a strong marriage; and health and aging, including exercise, managing stress, and chronic pain self-management. Within those four areas, programming spans a lifetime. Classes range from parenting education for expectant mothers to youth-focused money management to living well with diabetes.

"We cover every aspect to manage your home, whether for individuals or families," Vann said. "Each county has a person to assess the needs of that community. We try to improve quality of life using research-based information based on whatever people need. We tailor everything we do to today's needs. We wear a lot of hats but it's a lot of fun."

The Cooperative Extension Service strives to make a difference in the communities they serve from organizing volunteers when communities face emergencies to holding events for 4-H and Extension Homemakers clubs, Vann said.

Van attended Henderson State University in Arkadelphia out of high school, earning an undergraduate degree in family and consumer sciences. She minored in business, and she worked first in retail followed by banking before realizing these weren't paths for her. She took the opportunity to join the Cooperative Extension Service as soon as it was available.

"My heart was in helping people," Vann said.

In graduate school at the U of A, Vann encountered significant challenges during her studies, including health issues, the pandemic and the passing of her father. She took a semester off but found her professors to be very supportive.

"Everything worked out perfectly," she said. "I set goals for myself, and although it was challenging as a nontraditional, older student, I would say you can do an online program even if you are not familiar with technology. There may be less interaction with other students (than in a face-to-face program), but there are forums where you can challenge each other. I made friends all across the country I would never have met if I was on campus.

"You need to have a plan, be prepared to be disciplined," Vann continued. "It's very possible to work full time while getting an online degree, and the degree is the same as one earned on campus, same exams, discussion and coursework."

She emphasized the importance of using the syllabus to keep track of due dates and reaching out to professors when work obligations arise. Because she worked at her job nights and weekends occasionally, she appreciated the faculty's weekly communication and their responsiveness.

"It's a wonderful experience," Vann said. "Don't wait. Don't let your fear stop you; you can do it. This was my first time to take online courses. You do have to have a little bit of a sense of the technology, but if you can use a (smart) phone you can figure out these online classes. The only way possible for me to get this degree was with it offered online."

The 2024 Razorbug Diploma Tour, in its third year, travels the state in the summer to celebrate the accomplishments of graduates of online degree programs. The Razorbug, a 2005 Volkswagen Beetle converted to look like a Razorback with hooves, snout, curly tail and razor spine, was on loan from the Office of Admissions. Global Campus staff drove the Bug more than 2,100 miles through western, southern, eastern and central Arkansas to present 16 diplomas in 15 counties. Only two of the graduates earned bachelor's degrees. The rest were master's degrees and one doctorate. In academic year 2024, the U of A awarded 1,013 online degrees and certificates.