Marketing, Development and Public Affairs

EOU NEWS

Connie Jenkins named Outstanding Online Student in 2008

Thursday, July 3, 2008

News Contact: Laura Hancock
Source: Marketing, Development and Public Affairs
541-962-3585 | lhancock@eou.edu

 

LA GRANDE, Ore. (EOU) — Completing a college degree became a long-anticipated reality for Connie Jenkins as she stepped into the sun to walk across the field at Eastern Oregon University's commencement ceremony on June 14.

The excitement Jenkins felt at the thought of receiving her diploma had been building for over 16 years, one credit at a time. 

"I'm so glad I participated in commencement. It was the icing on the cake!" said Jenkins, the recipient of EOU's 2008 Outstanding Online Student Award.  

Jenkins first started taking courses through EOU in 1989 and became a registered student in 1992. In the process of pursuing her degree, Jenkins got married, moved twice, built a house, started a family and maintained her full-time job with the U.S. Forest Service.

"I only took one year off from school, and that was when I had my son," Jenkins said.

 

Her son, Dakota, is now 13. Balancing classes with family life was tough sometimes, but Jenkins' husband Jeffrey, who also works for the Forest Service, and Dakota supported her decision to continue.

"I have a passion for rocks, and so does my son," Jenkins said.

Whenever the opportunity presented itself, Jenkins would bring Dakota along for course work that involved outdoor projects.

"Every chance I have, I encourage him to start thinking about going to college," she said.

When Jenkins was a teenager she had to drop out of high school. As the oldest child in a family supported by two working parents, she was needed at home to help care for her younger siblings.

"I loved school and I knew I wanted to go back and finish one day," Jenkins said.

And she did, earning her GED in 1986. When she enrolled at EOU six years later, Jenkins was living in Grant County. That's when she met Chris Cronin, regional director of the EOU center in John Day. Cronin told Jenkins about EOU's external degree program. The flexible format was just what she needed, including the transfer of general education credits from Blue Mountain Community College.

Jenkins began taking geographic information system and cartography courses offered online and at several onsite locations throughout the state. Early on, the Forest Service even helped to pay for her tuition as part of a training program. Jenkins settled on a bachelor's of science degree in liberal studies with combined minors in geography and geology.

In 2001 Jenkins' job took her to Enterprise where she is the Geometronics Services Specialist for the Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla and Malheur national forests. Her responsibilities include updating and revising Forest Visitor and Ranger District maps utilizing GIS software.

Diane Highberger, long-time director of EOU's center in Wallowa County, was Jenkins academic adviser for five years. Sharon Nelson, EOU's Union County regional center director and marketing coordinator, also worked with Jenkins in the months leading up to graduation.

"It's been a pleasure to work with Connie while she completed her degree," Nelson said. "She carefully balanced raising her family and responsibilities at work with her classes. Connie has great attention to detail, which can be attributed to her success at EOU as well as in her career."