Anginay Jones, who grew up in eastern Arkansas, earned an online master’s degree in operations management from the U of A, which helped her land a “seat at the table” for a job at multinational technology company Google.

“I often say I’m addicted to school, but I’m not always,” she said with a laugh. I want to be able to get promoted at work and be in these different places and see what’s going on in these different roles.”

The Jones family attended the presentation in Earl on August 3 during the RazorBug Diploma Tour through eastern Arkansas. Her 4-month-old puppy, Dash, wriggled in excitement and wagged her fluffy tail in joy as her family clapped and cheered for her owner. Jones also writhed in glee when his girlfriend, Megan Whobrey, an adviser to the engineering department and his coordinator for academic services, presented Jones’ framed master’s degree in front of the family’s home.

A stop in Crittenden County was the first cloudy day U of A faculty and staff experienced during the RazorBug tour in the heat of the summer, presenting framed diplomas to graduates of the online degree program It first passed through western and southern Arkansas in June for the purpose. In May he had over 440 students graduate from the online program. The RazorBug is a modified red Volkswagen Beetle with a Razorback nose, tail, and razor blade spine. Used for recruitment and special events since 2005.

To be successful in an online degree program, Jones says you have to find the driving force within yourself.

“Why am I doing this?” And once you understand why you’re doing this, use that drive for fuel. I want to be recognized, as I always say, I want to sit at the table, I know if I can walk into the room and have a seat at the table, and then I You can go there and prove yourself with personality and me.

Jones graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from U of A’s on-campus program. The flexibility of her online graduate degree allowed her to continue.

What is her advice for others considering an online degree program?

“It’s the perfect time to do this,” said Jones. “The reason I say that is because the flexibility of having the program online is great. You can do it at your own pace. It’s just me and my little dog, so no need to have kids, a husband, etc.” No, so I was able to be flexible and take my time and progress the course the way I wanted to.”

She was able to take what she learned and apply it to her position as a Product Manager at Google.

“So it was amazing,” said Jones.

The RazorBug Diploma Tour was organized by U of A’s Global Campus. Global Campus supports universities offering over 75 online degrees, certificates, micro-certificates and licensing programs. These programs are featured on the U of A ONLINE website online.uark.edu.