Online Degree Powers Opportunities for Electrical Engineer

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University of Arkansas Tyler Huggins, center left, accepts his diploma from Kerry Melton of the College of Engineering while his wife, Anna, to his right, celebrates with other family members in Bono on June 26.

Tyler Huggins is thinking about the future, and he is ready.

A native of Clinton in Van Buren County, Huggins met his wife, Anna, while both were attending Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. Huggins finished his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 2021 and went to work as a design engineer for a manufacturer of conveying equipment.

After working for about a year and a half, he decided he wanted a master's degree that focused not only on the technical side of engineering but also on the management side. The Master of Science in Engineering Management delivered online by the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas fit the bill.

Toward the end of the master's program, Huggins changed jobs, going to work for Craighead Electric Cooperative, a not-for-profit electric company with offices in Jonesboro, Walnut Ridge and Paragould that covers eight counties in northeast Arkansas.

"The project management side of my first job was interesting to me," Huggins said. "There is a little less management in my job now, but I am looking forward to the future. Careerwise, I think it will come back to that. There are manager positions available here (at the electric cooperative)."

Huggins, 25, finished the degree last spring, and the Razorbug Diploma Tour visited him and his family in the community of Bono northwest of Jonesboro to present his framed diploma on June 26. Kerry Melton, teaching assistant professor of engineering, made the presentation in front of the cheering group on a rainy day.

Huggins liked the emphasis on project management in the M.S.E.M., and he believes that will help him compete for future promotions.

Huggins grew up liking math, science and related subjects at school, and he developed an interest in electricity as the son of an electrician. During his undergraduate degree, he received an internship with Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. in Little Rock, strengthening his interest in the generation and transmission of electricity. He started working at Craighead Electric toward the end of the master's program.

"I really wanted to get into the power industry, so when they had a job opening, I jumped at that," he said.

He manages Craighead's smart grid network, Huggins said. This consists of devices used to monitor, control, and analyze the distribution power grid. Even with this being a technical position, Huggins still relies on and works with many other people in a team environment to accomplish his job.

Several of his instructors formerly served in project management and leadership roles, he said. Courses he took on leadership and other soft skills along with the interaction with classmates, meeting new people every 8 weeks as new courses started, helped him build those strengths. He liked the team aspects incorporated into the master's degree.

"Every class involved some aspect of group work," Huggins said. "There were people from all over Arkansas and other parts of the country. I have friends on LinkedIn I keep in touch with."

The online delivery of the degree also made it possible to complete while working at the jobs he held during that time period, Huggins said. The first job required some traveling, and he could study while flying or in hotels, he said.

"At first I thought it was going to be scary," he said, "but it's not as scary as it sounds enrolling in a master's program. They make it really easy to be able to get your work done and also balance a full-time job and a family. I really enjoyed the program and meeting people."

The 2005 converted Volkswagen Beetle with hooves, razor spine, curly tail and snout is the centerpiece of a ceremony repeated the past three summers in small towns across western, southern and eastern Arkansas. U of A faculty and staff celebrate the accomplishments of graduates who earned degrees online without leaving their jobs, families and communities. The U of A offers more than 90 degree and licensure programs delivered partially or completely online.

The 2024 Razorbug Diploma Tour is in its third year. The Razorbug 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.

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