Online education gives El Dorado grads opportunity for growth
Diploma deliveries bring UA’s Razorbug back to town
Two recent University of Arkansas graduates were formally awarded their diplomas on Thursday, when the second-annual Razorbug Diploma Tour made its way to El Dorado in recognition of the school’s online learning opportunities and the students’ successful completion of master’s programs.
Keri Reynolds and Doug Stringfellow, both of El Dorado, were visited at their jobs by the Razorbug, a Volkswagon Beetle decked out in the university’s iconic Razorback snout, tail and razor-edged spine.
“The tour is promoting online education through the University of Arkansas,” Stringfellow explained. “You get the same degree, same pathway, same everything, so it’s pretty awesome what they’re doing.”
Stringfellow, head of process control technology at LANXESS, earned his master’s degree in operations management. He previously earned a bachelor’s degree online through the American Public University, he said.
“I started out in an MBA (master of business administration) program, but my job was more tech than finance, so I ended up changing it from the MBA to operations management,” he said.
In his role at LANXESS, Stringfellow is responsible for supervising 49 employees and ensuring automated processes are maintained.
Before he started working there 18 years ago, he was a tradesman for 15 years, at various points owning his own heating and air company and working as an electrician and a refrigeration technician. He earned technical certificates straight after graduating from Hampton High School, including a certification of proficiency in refrigeration technology from South Arkansas College in 2003, when it had an HVAC program, he said.
“Then I was promoted to supervisor at LANXESS, and after that, I started looking at online schools. My wife had decided she was going back to school for her master’s in teaching, and my sister-in-law was going to American Public University,” he said. “I saw this degree and thought, ‘That sounds like something for me.’ I started with one class, passed, and decided from there to go fullfledged into it.”
Stringfellow’s bachelor’s degree is in technical management, which he described as “a management degree for manufacturing.” His master’s degree, he said, covers multiple disciplines.
“It can be chemical plants, construction, retail and everything else. Operations management is how to let the firm make value for its shareholders – produce products, efficient services – everything that goes with making the company financially stable, secure and (promoting) financial growth,” he said.
And, because he was a high-achieving student, he received a 100% reimbursement for his studies – which, out-of-pocket,
would have cost him about $14,000, he said.
Reynolds also received assistance from her employer, F.A.C.T., Inc., when she decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree through UA in communications in 2019, shortly after earning her associate of arts through SouthArk.
“People assume you just talk, but it’s more about reading people and being able to meet needs,” she said. “It also gets into psychology and what you need to provide a staff supporting role, and all those fit directly into my master’s.”
The diploma she received on Thursday was for earning her master’s degree in human resource and workforce development (HRWD). And though it wasn’t attributed to her new degree, in March, she was promoted at F.A.C.T. to operations coordinator, a major step up from her start at the nonprofit as a receptionist.
“It’s a wide-covering program that focuses on the literal development of humans and organizations, career development of people within an organization, training,” she explained. “While I was finishing (my bachelor’s degree), I took an undergrad class in HRWD and the material really clicked for me and I saw how I could utilize it in my career. From there, I applied and then succeeded really well.”
Before she began working at F.A.C.T., Reynolds was a stay-at-home-mom, raising her now 16-year-old son Brody. Before that, she said she worked various odd jobs, mainly at T-Models, which her grandparents owned, as well as Smackover State Bank.
She decided to re-enter the workforce when Brody was 10, and when her aunt, who also works at F.A.C.T., told her they had an opening for a receptionist, she jumped on the opportunity, she said.
“Then, in my free time, I helped the IT (information technology) manager, he was just bogged down and overwhelmed, so they created a new position to split my time between IT, finance and social media,” she said. “Then the executive administrative assistant position opened up – sadly, the woman in that position had passed away – and then over the years I accumulated additional duties, … and they promoted me to operations coordinator to be a more appropriate job title.”
F.A.C.T. is a nonprofit Head Start agency whose services include pre-school and parenting resources. Reynolds said the services provided there are free to its clients, who are low-income or otherwise disadvantaged.
While neither Stringfellow nor Reynolds had the typical “college experience,” neither said they suffered for it. Reynolds even said she was “relieved, because I wasn’t trekking across campus with books on my back.”
“The professors do a great job of connecting you with other students,” she added. “In a classroom, I would have missed a lot, but online, I heard from everyone, so even though it was online and kind of distant… I gained five or six people that I’m still close to now. I really gained a great network of friends and opportunities.”
Stringfellow said that while juggling work, school and family responsibilities – he and his wife Melissa have three children: Josh, 21, Emeri, 13, and Brantley, 10 — was a challenge at times, once he completed his degree, he missed being so busy – at least for a while.
“I’m a morning person, so I would wake up at 4, 5 in the morning, do all my homework before everyone woke up, then my daily activities. I pretty much was doing something every day of the week. I’m finally sleeping in past 6 o’clock on the weekends,” he said. “I’ve heard all my life that when people get out of school, they have a sense of emptiness for a minute because their schedule went from full to nothing, and that’s a fact. It’s a weird feeling that you don’t have so much to do. But you quickly get over it.”
Reynolds also balanced work, school and family, even carrying her school work on vacations to keep up.
“I routinely would get up at like 4 in the morning and study before I went to work. I would have an hour lunch sometimes, and here at work we have a backyard; I would have my backpack and a towel, and would just throw it in the grass and study there,” she said. “On weekends, I would start at 6 a.m. on Saturday and work a few hours, take a break, then do more school work.”
As for their visit from the Razorbug on Thursday, both said it was special.
Stringfellow said one of his co-workers, Lori Ragan, had her diploma delivered by the Razorbug last year, and so when he was selected for a delivery this year, he knew what to expect and looked forward to it.
“I had seen them do it last year, online – I follow all their media accounts —, but I was not expecting them to reach out to me and say ‘You’ve been selected.’ It was great,” Reynolds added. “The ladies handling the whole thing were amazing, kind, warm.”
Heidi Wells, a content strategist for UA’s Global Campus online learning program, was part of the university’s team that travelled to El Dorado for the diploma deliveries. She said the online opportunities at UA have provided opportunities to many more students than the school would otherwise be able to.
“When I have the opportunity to speak with U of A students who are studying in online degree programs or graduates of online degree programs like Keri Reynolds and Doug Stringfellow, I am amazed and inspired by them. They want to learn in order to improve their lives and help others,” she said.
“Online degree programs allow them to continue working in their jobs, and many of them are taking care of families, too. They tell us the support of their families and people at their work helps them be successful, along with the flexibility to study when it fits their schedules. Seeing the pride and happiness these graduates – and their supporters – feel at our diploma presentations is a joy for us,” Wells concluded.
For more information about UA’s online degree programs, visit online.uark. edu.