Vance NCO earns master's in distance education - online

  • Published
  • By Joe B. Wiles
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  It took many a Saturday morning, sitting at her computer with a hot cup of coffee, but Master Sgt. Rachel Echard finally achieved her goal - a Master of Science degree in Distance Education.
 
Although the academic work was long distance, the graduation ceremony was on stage at the University of Maryland in May, along with her fellow long-distance learners. 

To top it off, Sergeant Echard received notification that an academic paper she co-authored with Dr. Zane Berge, an expert in distance learning, was published in the Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education this month. 

Good work for someone who has wanted to be a teacher since she was in kindergarten. 

Sergeant Echard is a manpower analyst with the 71st Force Support Squadron here. And no, she isn't the one who decides what slots are cut. "We're just the ones who have to give the bad news," she said. 

She has pursued long-distance education since joining the Air Force in the early 1990s. "I earned an associate's degree in classrooms through the University of Maryland in Munich, Germany, while a military family member. My father was in the Army," she said. 

But after joining the Air Force, her schedule no longer allowed regular classes. So she turned to the University of Maryland's long-distance program and completed a bachelor's in Information Systems Management. 

Her desire to be a teacher coupled with her comfort with computer systems logically led her to pursue the master's degree. "The University of Maryland's master's program in Distance Education was a perfect match. It gives me the education I need to teach and the technology that I enjoy very much," Sergeant Echard said. 

After she retires from active duty, Sergeant Echard would like to continue in distance education, teaching either at the high school or college level. "But that will require a doctorate degree," she said. 

Fortunately that degree will be more a question of time than money, as the University of Maryland's Distance Education doctorate is offered at no additional cost for alumni of the distance education masters program. "Air Force tuition assistance has paid for most of my education so far," she said.

Sergeant Echard will take a break for at least six months. She wants to think about it before dedicating herself to the next leg of her education. Even published authors need to rest sometime.