For 38-year-old Eric Tews, the choice to earn his degree at UA Little Rock was a matter of convenience and quality education.

A Wisconsin native and 20-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Eric earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resource Management in Spring 2015 while stationed at the Little Rock Air Force Base.

Eric said the convenient location and reputation of UA Little Rock’s College of Business were among his reasons for entering the program. “It was close to where I live and had a reputable business school, so it worked out good,” he said.

The option to take online courses proved to be advantageous for Eric’s work schedule as well.

Of one course he took online, Quality Assurance, Eric said he enjoyed that he could take a course that was especially important to his career and also taught by one of his favorite professors, Dr. Joe Felan.

“[In] the aerospace industry, quality assurance is a huge thing,” Eric said. “It was nice to have an actual class teaching the fundamentals of quality assurance, because it’s something that relates to my job now and what I want to do in the future.”

Eric said he plans to spend his last two years in the Marine Corps working toward his master’s degree while stationed in Pensacola, Fla. Then, he hopes to use his education and experience to find a career in the aerospace industry.

“I’m hoping to work in supply chain management in the manufacture and delivery of aircraft for a large aerospace company like Boeing or Northrop Grumman,” he said.

Advice for online students

On time management: “The biggest challenge is having the discipline to just stay with it ….

I would just make a schedule for myself — set time aside each day, the same way I would if I was taking a traditional class … to study and do schoolwork.”

On communicating with classmates: “Be persistent. Email doesn’t work; text or call to make sure everyone is on the same page.”