Unity College, Educating the next generation of Sustainability Professionals with President Dr. Melik Khoury

0:03 Amazing, great story, a love it, but there's a, there's a bigger. There's a bigger story here to write. I mean, let's talk about you guys started the the the, you know, the path and all of a sudden 1,500 institutions later Now, what are we talking about? Yeah, I mean well now it's in the trillions of dollars and you know once the major players kind of bought into it, you know, the larger institutions. I mean I'm also proud to say that the state of Maine was the first state in the nation to divest. So it's really interesting that Unity was the first college. Main was the first state in. Now, some of the major universities, I think for the longest time it to your point, there was a couple of confounding issues, when was the fear of loss of return And I think the more colleges winning more people know investment is just that the I think the other piece was there was a lot of bad information that once you decided to divest you somehow were under pressure to divest all of your stocks immediately. Welcome to the environmental transformation podcast where we talk with industry leaders, climate Champions and sustainability professionals, who are making an impact in their businesses.

1:25 Today, each leader solving complex challenges and provide Solutions within the respective areas of expertise. Here's our host, Sean Grady. Eighty Nation. If you're looking to obtain CEUs or certification maintenance points to maintain that credential you have will go to my website at www.ge.com and check out our training page for just $10. You can watch an episode, take a quiz and receive a certificate of listening and earn one ceu or CMP. It doesn't get any easier than this and you get to choose the topics. You want to see. I'd also like to give a shout-out to the five contestants.

2:08 Who won the eat? Nation t-shirt giveaway from celebration of Earth Day. Scott Wisher, Ramen Rafiki Vinnie, Kashi, Bruce McConnell, and Richard Cartwright. Thanks for listening, guys, and being part of 80 nation and representing the program. If you would like to obtain a t-shirt yourself, go to the website and check out our Gear Page. And you can see the types of shirts we have for sale. Anyways, go to the website at Great e.com and check out for yourself. Thanks for listening. Welcome to the environmental transformation podcast. I'm your host Sean gradient, today's guest is Malik. Corey, dr.

2:56 Malak Cory is the president of Unity College. He's been there for the past 11 years and we're excited to talk with him about uni, Community College, being America's environmental College. Hey Malik, welcome to the show. Thanks Sean. Pleasure to be here. Oh yeah, I'm really glad to talk with you and learn more about Unity collagen. You know, Unity College is located in the main. And let's see. It's in. Let me see. What was the town? They're called again. New club. Multiple locations. We have in unity itself in New Gloucester, in Thorndyke, in Meuse, River and online. Okay, I love it.

3:42 Online, it's good, hybrids, a new way of doing things. We've kind of, since the pandemic, everybody's gone to a hybrid model. So I'm glad you guys are there to. So, well, before we jump in, tell us a little bit about yourself. Dr. Corey and what you've been doing and that what, you know, what you, how you got involved with becoming the president of Unity College. Absolutely, I actually started Unity College and I've performed multiple roles and when my predecessor announced his retirement, Fire. Meant the college was going through a metamorphosis of kind of show you part. Not a small private colleges that don't have major endowments.

4:23 Have been trying to find their footing in this new world. And I was asked by the Board of Trustees. If I could help transform our mission to, you know, be more accessible more affordable to more people out there in the great wide world. And, you know, with the fact that everything around us Every job, every career impacts the environment in some way, sure it was h a worthy challenge, I was happy to take on. Well that's great. Well, tell us how did Unity College become America's environmental college? Is that when I saw that I was like, huh, okay? You know, Unity College has always been a Maverick in being in first of many things, you know, it was actually founded in 1965 as a Entrepreneurial College, okay? And as The Story Goes, it was back in when the interstate was being built and it kind of bypassed the, you know, the town and they were like, so what are we going to do is an economic driver but very quickly in the mid-70s as the climate crisis, you know, really became a scientific issue of our time. The faculty staff and trustees at a time says, you know, how we And shade ourselves from the rest of the world. We've always been an institution that has focused on, you know, what is called considered to be green. Careers, how do we differentiate ourselves from the other kind of more traditional liberal arts?

5:57 Colleges that, you know, kind of really focus on just basically everything. And so, you know, the community back then really said, you know, we are a school that really focuses on biology we really focused on conservation. We really focus on really trying to solve the climate issues of our time, let that be our Niche. And so, you know, the concept of America's environmental College was born and then over a number of about 20 years that the evolved also into incorporating sustainability science. As the as the kind of the core element in incorporating and building out our curriculum.

6:38 So, it was really a no-brainer for the College looking at where the world is going and our place in it, that's really great. Because, you know, I course, I went to IUPUI, Indiana, university-purdue University of Indianapolis and I majored in Biology and I love my earth scientists. And you know, that's really kind of Drew me into the environmental field, you know, as a young graduate and I started out working for the state of Indiana environmental agency and I love that. You know, I love the environmental Focus that I received in. College, but to have, you know, a college like yourself primarily focusing on Environmental Studies.

7:19 That is impressive because I don't think there's a lot of schools that says, hey this is our Niche and this is what we're doing, that's what we're all about. Absolutely, I think, you know, in many ways the fact that many in Academia still CD environmental science as a niche or program, you can elect into or as a value-added I believe is a bit of a misnomer. I mean, think about an industry That does not involve the environment whether it's nursing or G or and the like so, you know, one of the ways that I explain this is that, you know, the liberal arts, you know, was invented by the Greeks. As you know, it was militarized by the Romans and he was democratized by the Americans.

8:03 But the the idea that the environmental Sciences how we engage with this one planet, that we live in is somehow on the side or Or some Department in the corner, doesn't make sense to me and most people who work at Unity because it has to be kind of baked into the very fabric of general education, The Core Curriculum, regardless of the field. And that's I think has been our mission is to kind of graduate more environmentally aware sustainability minded professionals. Regardless of which field they go into, right? Right? No, I mean so When I looked at, look at your website and I was kind of doing a little op-ed research here for this interview. I said, you know, I wonder how many undergraduate and master's degrees.

8:51 Do you guys offer? So, you know, give me a little flavor, let the listeners know what type of undergraduate and master's degrees. Do you guys offer at Unity College? Absolutely. All of our programs graduate undergraduate. Micro-credentials certificates associate degrees all are kind of live in the Environmental Science World Old and sustainability in some of our larger programs are like marine biology, animal behavior, conservation law, and Vern concept, sorry conservation, law enforcement sustainable business management with different focuses just to name a few, you know, we have a, you know, a little under 20 programs and and you know, I'm really looking forward to the fact.

9:33 Actually, we are launching our first vet tech program. This fall in our Technical Institute for environmental professions, which is our The area that does put a two-year degrees. And we also going to be launching environmental engineering, you know, distance education program. So we're constantly evolving into looking at what are the careers that the kind of the green economy is going towards? Well, I mean, you know, you'd have to be sleeping under a rock to know that not to notice all the, the new, you know, focus on sustainability and, and circular economy and climate change and Addressing you know zero net carbon, you know, Industries are really adopting and and really driving now sustainability into all their programs as they manufacture and operate from from my vantage, point being in the Professional Services world. You know.

10:30 We're helping clients do a lot of these things. It is the way of the future. I mean, you know, this is going to be driving the industry for the next 20 to 30 years. He's With, you know, new new Young professionals need to come into the the workforce and help help, you know, industry, you know, meet these expectations and they need trained individuals. And this is what you guys are doing. Absolutely, I mean, I, you know, I like I mentioned earlier, I think that the concept of how any organization Corporation a foundation, impacts the environment and economy. If you are graduating, we got us the And you don't have a grasp even at to Sheree grasp of how those three elements, you know, kind of symbiotic if you will.

11:21 Yeah, interconnected therapist. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So well. So do you guys offer some online programs for, you know, actual current professionals that are in the actual Workforce, they need to scale up, you know, and and, you know, basically become better familiar with different types of You know. Technology or topics things like that. What tell us we'll talk a little bit about that absolutely when we designed this kind of new Enterprise model if you will one of the things that we wanted to make sure was that we really focused on differentiated audiences, using differentiated pedagogies and we know that the adult Market, if you will working professional second career, folks Place bound, folks, can't always kind of do the residential. So, one of the subsidiaries that we have is called the sea Education and it's all online.

12:16 There are no red, no residential expectations. Instead our faculty and staff and instructional designers work with students to incorporate their local ecology within the fabric of their experience. And so, you know, we offer micro credentials, we offer Workforce Development, we offer certificates, will be offering Associate's degrees, coming this fall and then of course, our Baccalaureate programs ranging from sustainable. Business to environmental justice. So, our distance education program is the best suited if you will, to support the working, adult who might be placed bound, or who needs a level of flexibility in their curriculum.

12:59 That might not be best suited for a semester approach, where you have to take five classes to qualify for federal and state aid. That's good to know because there's a lot of professionals that are out there that are, you know, struggling In to skill up. I mean, like, for instance, you may be working in say health and safety or environmental space. And now, all of a sudden sustainability becomes the focus and you just became the sustainability leader. It's raw, it's your company. And, you know, you didn't know anything really about that in the past and now you have to become, you know versed, well versed and you know, sustainability reporting and and greenhouse gas calculations and they'll call a lot of things like that, that professionals are struggling to skill up. And, you know, if you've got Programs like that, that is great news.

13:48 And you know, not only do we have programs like that but one of the Optics in our students is the amount of folks who are taking our courses as non degrees, because they want that one course that really applies. But they don't really need a degree because you already have one. We're also seeing an uptick in demand for non degree offerings. For example, we just partnered with the ocean Conservancy in in d.c. Along with a few other companies where we are, providing their Workforce with basically sustainability and Leadership principles in working the environment. Our model also allows us to partner with organizations and Taylor curriculum.

14:29 Be the credit bearing or non-credit bearing specifically for their industry, which is actually much more valuable than simply saying. This is what we offer have your employees. Well, I've got, I've got an opportunity I could discuss with you. So I belong to The Institute of hazardous material managers and they their credentialing body. And you can obtain your certificate of say, your hazardous material management, or your dangerous goods management or your Safety Management. They have a student program that they are partnering with universities and colleges to basically provide a student credential for somebody coming out of college immediately. They have a credential that they can put on their resume when they enter the workforce.

15:13 The hey I'm a No, the student or an associate, I think they call it an associate type certified, hazardous material manager and you learn you know all the attendants of Rekha you know d.o.t. all the various you know regulations it's a fantastic program. If you've got some interest I'd be able to be happy to hook you up with that group and see if you get some staff, might want to help train some some young professionals and hazardous, waste management. That's a big circular economy. You know, component there? No, absolutely. I mean, we always happy to partner with folks you know as you know growth comes in you build your partner and you acquire. So Partnerships are key. And you know, we now actually work with four companies, where we do their employee Workforce Development for non-credit bearing trainings.

16:02 As they are beginning to see the value of having their employees have a basic certification or and my credentials. You know, we also partnered with credly to allow us to give some of Our partners, the ability to kind of have the macro Prudential on their website on their LinkedIn pages and the like as a new, as a differentiated way to for employees and students to show their competencies. Yeah. No, I love it. I mean and you know, I think it's a big it is a differentiator for a student to come in. Say well I've got this credential, I'm not just, you know, just have a bachelor degree, that's it, you know, so that's really great. This episode is sponsored by piece people advancing science to protect our environment and improve our health. Pace provides an unmatched depth, and breadth of testing and analytical capabilities along with Professional Services for your in-house lab needs, they have the expertise capacity and delivery infrastructure to provide the certified results you require when and where you need them with over 40 years of innovation, more than 500 certifications. And accreditations pace is serving. Customers through over 100 lab and Service center locations with mobile lab on site and emergency response service options available.

17:20 Add paste, a honor, their commitments, so you can order yours. The next time. You are presented with environmental testing and analytical needs turn to Pace to learn more. Go to www.petland.com that's www.petland.com. Well, you know, Unity colleges, you know, you've got this Enterprise, which I believe is kind of like the Operations, the business management of the Enterprise there at Unity College, but how does it support sustainable education? You know, the business unit and their objectives. Absolutely, I mean, we are designed, we know what we found when we started is that most colleges our size traditionally historically. Small, private colleges, you know, we've got one business model, right?

18:07 A residential program. And anything that we want to do is kind of adds a burden to the to, the folks who already I have a full plate and in many cases those particular folks tend to have expertise in a certain type of education, which tends to be more, the traditional kind of freshman transfer residential approach. So, we came up with the Enterprise model, it's very similar to. If you are a public school, a system office or, you know, if you are a corporation, a corporate headquarters, if you will, kind of like centralized services in Human Resources, budget quality control assessment. Ain't that that allows for fractional kind of support for different subsidiaries that can focus with their own faculty, their own staff, their own PLL and not have to compromise across the board. So our Enterprise model supports currently four, distinct subsidiaries it supports distance education and this is education is really focused around asynchronous online Place bound adult students that is who they cater to That is who the instructional designers.

19:16 The Faculty that is the pedagogical approach. We have what we call hybrid learning, which is your more High Residency program that allows for expeditions residential Etc and allow students to take both face-to-face or online based on their needs and that they tend to focus more on your more traditional freshman and transfer. We have the technical institute for environmental professions. That's launching this fall and they'll be focused specifically on a OC 8 degrees and certificates at a very differentiated price point designed around Regional Workforce Development. In the areas of green careers, for example will be launching event. Tech will be launching data analytics for environmental professions because we're seeing that as a really key is big one right now.

20:03 I was going to touch on that one. We will touch on that one. Yeah, absolutely. And then finally, we have a sustainable Ventures, the School of Business and system of Ventures which really focuses on The concept of low residency and you know, this idea that those who can do also teach. So we have a working large up in Meuse River. We have a farm in Thorndyke, we have an event center of but Unity a campus tour. So think of it in the traditional sense as an exhilarating but also as an opportunity to really lend itself to providing kind of the non-credit, bearing arm of the college. All of Of those allowed to operate independently, through our decentralized functions and then they all are supported by the Enterprise for centralized functions and then we can add and subtract subsidiaries as new markets and new pedagogies, develop, that's great.

21:01 Now, I really like it. That's good. Well, looks like you've got the core system, therefore support established. Well, that's really great. And you've got these four region or four groups, business units that are helping Drive the bit, the the education. Engine there. You know one of the things that caught my eye as I was kind of perusing. Your website was the you guys were the first institution of higher education to divest 18 million dollars of your endowment from fossil fuels. Let's talk about that. Let's let's get into that. What you know that must have been a serious conversation with the the leadership there to make that decision you know because Quite frankly, you got, you got some, you know, Revenue you got money there, you're trying to maintain and you got to keep growing the and the investment and keep funding the college. And, you know, wrong moves, might have some impact and, you know, talk about, you know, all that behind the scenes, if you could a little bit and what went into being the first college to do this, because this is pretty, pretty impressive. Absolutely.

22:07 I mean, I'm very proud to say that we are celebrating our 10 year anniversary of divesting. Our endowment from fossil fuels this Fall actually back then he was 12 and a half million. It's now grown to 18 and a half, okay? But as America's environmental College mean, somebody had to lead the way and you know, unlike many colleges or what you see in the news where there seemed to have been a lot of contention around decisions like this, it was actually pretty straightforward. My predecessor gets the full credit for making this decision. I don't want to take that away from him and you know, he Partnered with three fifty.org. And the idea was, you know, how can we not divest?

22:50 And, you know, the the issues that we had was less about the decision and more of the implementation plan because back then there was no fossil fuel free portfolio. So, that's making the decision was actually supported at all levels students, faculty staff trustees. The, the the real conversation was how Are you going to get there and do it in a financial way that you're going to still be successful at, you know, getting a return on your investment. Exactly. And that was the biggest concern, right? Is that, you know, if we do this are we going to know? What is the what's the likelihood we going to lose? What, you know, what precious endowment we do have.

23:33 I'm very proud to say that over the last ten years, we have performed at or better than the index and you know the Board of Trustees back then said, you know, we can sacrifice one or R 2 percentage points to do the right thing and it ended up not being quite the, the, the sacrifice, the key was the implementation plan, the Board of Trustees created investment committee. As you can imagine worked with a investment firm because we do not have parties. Yeah. And the investment perspective is no fossil fuel, free index. And so the first list that the college created was that, honestly, this they created a list of 200, the The top 200 fossil fuel free companies that says we would invest in those. That's really how we started and the investment firm was willing to work with us because they saw that somebody had to be the first and then we give ourselves three years to fully divest because one of the misnomers with investment decisions is people assume the day you divest, you just going to throw your socks out.

24:39 The window know things have to come to maturity in the like we were able to do that in about a A year. So we didn't have to take the three years and and, you know, the rest is history as they say, that is amazing. I mean, it's funny this this, you know, topic came up. I don't know if you've seen the movie or the show billions, but recently, I was watching an episode and, and they are trying to help a university divest. I don't know if you saw this episode, but then I remember the episode I was laughing when I saw it. Yeah, yeah. So I was watching it and then this came up and, you know, they're trying to make this decision to divest and things like that and and then I read your your website that you did this. I was like wow this is so like, you know, you know, Deja Vu or serendipitous that this cut, this topic came up that I was watching you know that there's a lot of Institutions really trying to you know, make this decision just like you guys did to divest to make, you know, basically put your money where your mouth is, you know, you're really trying to make an impact. And the environment you want to support, you know, you know, companies that are doing it the right way. You want to help reduce climate change and things like that and you guys did it amazing.

25:53 Great story, a love it but there's a there's a bigger. There's a bigger story here to write. I mean, let's talk about you guys started the the the, you know, the path and all of a sudden 1,500 institutions later Now, what are we talking about? Yeah, I mean, well now it's in the trillions of dollars and you know once the major players kind of bought into it, you know, the larger institutions. I mean I'm also proud to say that the state of Maine was the first state in the nation to divest. Its really interesting that Unity was the first college main was the first state in. Now, some of the major universities, I think for the longest time it to your point, there was a couple of confounding issues, when was their fear of loss of Turn. And I think the mole college is what in most people know investment is.

26:41 Just that, the, I think the other piece was, there was a lot of bad information that once you decided to divest, you somehow were under pressure to divest all of your stocks immediately. And so, you know, over the last 10 years, my predecessor myself, we've spoken to student by student populations, cfo's colleges trustees. And we've said, you know, make the decision, stop digging the hole and then create an implementation plan that works best for your portfolio based with your financial advisors and you investment firms. Because if you have a stock for example, that doesn't match or bond, that doesn't mature for three years, and you make the decision today. All that means is once it's mature, don't we invest it. In fossil fuels, we invested in the right approach, we have to Stop digging.

27:37 And I think those misnomers that fear of the unknown, you know, it's funny. Now it's almost business as usual. But somebody had to be first and if Unity College over the next 150 years gets remembered that it made it okay? For the big players to have a roadmap with, which they can be more comfortable in that. I think that was a decision. Well made and yes. It was only 12 and a half million. Well, I mean it was everything. Well, it was everything. I mean that was, you know, you in your small College, you know that endowment needed to last. It needed to help you grow.

28:18 And you guys were putting your neck on the line to make this work and it did. And then all of a sudden now you've got major institutions. I saw this chart on your website that showed the other institutions of them contributing and you've got you know, Stanford and Yale and Harvard. I mean these guys are holding like 50 some billion dollars in endowment. I'm sitting there going that's where the big money is and these guys have, you know, divested and that's where the 39 trillion dollars is adding up over time with all these institutions. There's some big hitters in here, you know, what does it feel like to be, you know that leader of that pack that you know, started it all. I mean if you want to ask all of the employees trustees it's Pride.

29:06 I'd write its but honestly I think at the end of the day it was the right thing to do. Right? It how I think that somebody was going to have to make that decision and I and I'm glad that my predecessor and the Board of Trustees and the community back then well brave enough to make that decision but no matter what happens. Unity College has cemented its name in kind of the the climate Century if you will. That we Started this Revolution and it was peaceful, it was positive. It was well planned and we made it, okay?

29:47 For the big players, 10 years later to, to have the courage to follow suit, I always joke with my board, wouldn't it be nice if every college that decided to divest since then gave us a little bit of a royalty, but, you know, it's a good, you know, maybe one of those billions of a Harvard, you be just fine. Just round up, and send it our way. But in all seriousness, I want to know who to build a couple more business units for their prize. Exactly. But, you know, II You say that that group of folks were in the right time in the right place made the right decision and we should always be proud of them.

30:28 Yeah, it's great. I mean if you're listening to this podcast I'll bet you may be thinking how can I level up in advance my career? If you want to get that promotion, increase your regulatory knowledge gain. Professional recognition and earn more money. Then it's time to obtain. In an industry credential from The Institute of hazardous material management. The I hmm offers eight credentials that are antsy approved for students experience, skilled employees without a degree and for the degree, professional looking to set themselves apart from the pack, their credentials, focus on three main areas, the certified hazardous material manager, the see. Hmm.

31:08 The certified dangerous goods, professional the CD GP, and the certified safety and health manager. The CSS. Hm, if you Comment, I, hmm, credential professional, then you will be in the top 1% of your profession and your credential will have a global reach. Check out their programs, they offer at www.ihs.gov/scholarship today. Well, that's really good to hear that, you know, you worked with a great investment company to help you kind of maintain and, and, and basically, you know, do you know out perform some of the previous Returns on investments for your endowment that made the decision so much easier? I can sure, I'm sure you know talk a little bit about Unity support of 350 org dot org and as an ally to the fight against climate change because I think there was a lot of support there and I saw a little YouTube clip for Three fifty.org, just recently and you know, they're really pushing for a global type boots on the ground, Grassroots support of these types of changes.

32:19 Absolutely. I mean, Unity College and three fifty.org, you know, it was a, it was a match made in heaven. If you will, at the right time, three fifty.org back, then was pushing this agenda quite strongly. And, and when my predecessor who was who was a climate change expert himself met, and They had this conversation. Three fifty.org, was able to bring some legitimacy and some data to the table to partner with Unity College. That gave us of the confidence to do it. So, you know, we are very proud of the work that they've done. We were glad that they were here at the right time to help us and it is a, it's an organization that if you're seriously considering making this decision, it's a great partner to talk to, that's good. Well, let's dig in a little bit.

33:09 On some new trends in the industry and I'm front and center watching a lot of these things because, you know, most people know I do environmental Consulting and have her 20 years and data analytics is leading the way for, you know, evaluating environmental information, whether that's sustainability, climate change, you know, greenhouse gas, all this kind of things, talk a little bit about, you know, house Unity College, helping train young and seasoned Professionals in the learning, you know. These types of skills because it's going to be a valuable skill to have absolutely, you know, historically you need to college, has always been an environmental science, institution. And I say that quite deliberately because I think there are many out there who confuse environmental science with just environmentalism.

33:59 Hmm. And I think that while for, you know, in our 55 year history, we've done a really good job in the Incorporating within the fabric of our curriculum, you know how to use data to make informed decisions, whether it's in statistics in biology and the like the concept of data science as a standalone subject matter is something that we recognize over the last few years. That is missing in our curriculum portfolio. We've also realized that it's not a bachelor's degree. So we so we have data analytics Incorporated. Within the fabric of our Baccalaureate programs and our masters programs, but we are creating a data analytics for environment professions in our associate degrees. We are also creating a certificate program, and will also be creating non-credit micro credentials. Because there are many people out there who already have baccalaureates who already have jobs that really need the skill set and we will provide it using our hyflex, our competency-based, our distance, education pedagogy I will allow these folks to be able to take these competencies will only help them because, you know, climate change as you very well. Know, is a symptom of overpopulation, poor policy. Lack of data in decision making

35:30 with agriculture with energy and the like, and what? As a as an institution based in science, if we can help. folks in all areas of the workforce, get a certificate about how to use data to quantify and objectively and empirically, document, everything from Energy used to doing data analysis, for incorporating. You know, starting a new Farm. I think that is a very, very important piece that is evolving. And we are launching those programs this fall because it's not enough to just say I'm graduating with a degree and I can I understand data, but really understanding the data science is a growing career field. That is going to be in high demand just like Logistics will be as well.

36:21 Yeah. I mean it really is mi mi yeah, Malik. I mean we get a lot of people who come into the industry and they are looking for young professionals to already, have some skills to be able to, you know, basically put together some, some dashboards of, you know, for from a data analytics perspective and some runs some, you know, trending analysis and having Sevilla visualizations, you know, at their fingertips, to interpret the information. In there trying to solve, you know, and understand. And I think that is a skill set that young Professionals of. They come into the market with that in there in there. You know, back pocket. They're going to be, they're going to start to, you know, become very quickly assets to that call any of those companies, you know?

37:06 Absolutely. I mean, for example, at Unity College, we've always Incorporated GIS as part of another another great. Yep, another great technology to know. Yeah. So so, so you're right, I mean visual representation of data on The standing Trend analysis being able to create predictive modeling, being able to those, I would say, Unity College, our faculty have always been very good at incorporating that but I think it's time we kind of supersize that and, and through your point, you know, we need to stop looking at environmental sciences and the issues of climate change as predominately partisan political issues. The it is a, it is, it is, it is a problem that we have to solve using data and using science.

37:51 Yeah no I agree with you. I mean it's you get good data and good science mean, that's what people need. They need to be able to measure and monitor and track this information and you need good. You need to good Solutions, you need software, you need, you know, data analytics, you need this, these tools and and professionals that come with into the market. With that those skills are going to be high valued professionals. Did you know e-tank is the only environmental Rental Equipment company in the industry that offers a 100% certified clean guarantee at no additional cost. Well, this gives customers the Peace of Mind knowing that container contents from the previous renter, isn't going to cross contaminate the contents of the current customer and potentially cause liability concerns.

38:36 You know. E-tank also provides a one-of-a-kind complete maintenance program for all its rental items, including liquid, tight roll off containers, fluid transfer pumps, and filtration Some components to learn more about the types of containers at pump, see tank supplies. Check out their website at www.ato.gov.au. So the next time you are faced with an environmentally challenging project, give e-tank a call to help solve your problem. It's just that easy. Another area that I didn't have it on the list here. Some questions I wanted to ask you though, but another one that kind of came to mind, was, you know, a business, a business degree, you know, there's a lot of professionals coming in the environment of space and, you know, running in managing business as part of this process, you know, of, you know sustainability or if they go into Consulting I can tell you you almost have to have an MBA to manage businesses, and invoices and clients and without those skill sets as I mean it's great to have the scientific understanding but Dia the business side is crucial for success of a lot of professionals coming in where you guys with you know Business Degree supports or you know associate business degree or minor thing like that with part of your education.

39:54 Absolutely. I mean to your point you know if you if they eat is not the tenants of sustainability science, right? Is you know economy ecology and you know humanity and and so we incorporated about 5 years ago. So Sustainable business management, which focuses are some very specific Industries because to your point, you know, the environment, everything we do, whether you're selling textiles or you're running a hotel right? You are managing a business. Yeah. And you aren't interacting with the environment. Yeah. And so we launched a sustainable business MBA. So instead of it being an elective, it is kind of kicked in understanding the concept of differentiated economies. And how, you know profits and you know, managing a piano, you know, balance sheet, you know, how do you attract, how do we change the conversation that somehow involved in environmental science and climate change does not somehow coexist with business?

40:59 Yeah, I think that's the that's been the biggest coup. If you will, that the climate change deniers of done, is they made it look like pro-environment is untied. Business. Yeah it's really weird because it didn't I go hand-in-hand, right? Yeah, you've got to have a balance there and I mean, you know II, see that and live it every day and of course, you know, we're I'm passionate about getting up and you know, trying to help the environment but same time you know there's a business aspect to this too and you get to have someone, you know, good understanding about it. So it's good to see that you guys are incorporating. Those things into your curriculum and those offerings because it's a valued aspect. I would say, you know, one of most of our students, as you can imagine are not taking the business major, but they are taking the business concentrations, they are taking the business electives because it's amazing.

41:51 How many folks historically that I've spoken to said, oh, I graduated from Unity College in your adventure program, I graduated, but then I realized that I needed to go back to school because I needed some basic business principles. So it became it became a no-brainer five years ago. The way that data analytics is now becoming a no-brainer Now, one of my favorite sayings is no margin no mission. Yeah, so even as a non-profit, right? If whether the, whether the funding comes from, tuition from Grants, from gifts from the federal or state government, if you don't have the right resources, then you can, we can support students and that that goes the same for any industry.

42:32 That's right. That's right. You know because there's so many you know professions like you know sustainability professionals. I don't know if you saw recently, you know Deloitte just said they're investing, you know, 1 billion dollars in And, you know, sustainability business. Well, I'm as onto, yeah. I mean, these guys are all business, you know, companies are key. Know, they counting Big D, big accounting, firms KPMG, Deloitte, you know, PWC, you know, all of them ey they're they're they're bringing in sustainability and environmental, you know, aspects to the accounting World business world. So it's it goes back to the fundamentals of a university or College.

43:13 Right, you need to know how to think, how to read at a right. But at the same time, you know, the concept of Ethics, the concept of of business, it is, it is, you know, the future while I do believe that specialization is key having a well, balanced portfolio of Education that makes you understand the relationship. You know, between, you know, people profit and Planet. I think gives you a competitive advantage and if you think one is completely independent of the other two. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Good. That's good. Well, let's talk a little bit about, you know, the unity School of environmental business and state sustainability Ventures. Tell me a little bit about this McKee or yeah, the McKay farms and research stations.

43:55 Sure, the McGee for Mary cessation is part of a portfolio of sustainable businesses. That is it as a number of locations, we have across the state of Maine and hopefully, someday nationally and hopefully, someday globally. So we've got the farm that was donated to us and we use As a commercial Farm but at the same time we use it to promote sustainable practices. We use it for students to be able to do research on it. And the like and it is a it is an axillary that we have that helps our institution along with moose Sky Lodge which is 150-acre Lodge up in Meuse River that is we use as a large but also a place for students to go and study what, you know? Hospitality wildlife biology and the like, so McKay farm. And we sensation is part of an ecosystem, of small, sustainable businesses that we have, as we are trying to create a, the idea that those who can do also teach and our hope is to expand the portfolio of small sustainable Enterprises that we have to really kind of reflect a revenue generation. Sorry, a revenue-generating manifestation of our curriculum. So we Just teach it.

45:14 We do it. Yeah. No that's great. And you give you give your students Hands-On, you know, practical application of learning trades, and skills. You know, I saw some of the the greenhouse work you're doing growing plants and feeding the community with some of the vegetables and things like that, you're growing. I mean, holistic approach, I'm sure you doing composting and things like that. I mean, that's all part of that whole regenerative type, you know, farming, that's really cool. And then, you know, are there any, are there any, you know, Key Programs that you're most proud of their, you know, Unity, you know? Yeah. I know a little bit about to be proud of and the fact that our entire curriculum, regardless of major is, you know, the concept of sustainability science and environment is baked into to you know, kind of whatever the major is is is something that every President should have at the University.

46:09 You know. I I long for the day when Are in the days when it was writing across the curriculum and math across the curriculum, its environmental sustainability across the curriculum. But I'm proud of the of the of this new kind of non standard model that has that has a really allowed our faculty and staff to kind of have these. Differentiated subsidiaries that allow to meet students where they are keeping tuition down. I mean, we've been really leading into this for just about three years now, and we've already seen our average age, go up from 21. To about 30, our Multicultural, enrollment from a 50-year history of about eight percent to over 20. The amount of students no longer taking alternative loans in order to get a degree because we're not forcing everybody to have a residential program. It's up to them.

46:58 So I'm proud of the model that the, we have built that really pushes accessibility and affordability where one class at a time. Qualifies you for federal and state aid, allowing a differentiated socio-economic population to have Access to Environmental Education, instead of many environmental colleges. Sometimes I viewed as a little bit kind of like, you know, for a specific. The mug demographics that isn't viewed by kind of mainstream population as legitimate green careers. So we're very, very proud of that on a more practical basis. I'm also proud of the fact that we have started to incorporate and investing in R&D for Exxon, are into the fabric of our curriculum. So we know that the future graduates of Unity College are going to have to work in an augmented and a virtual space. And so we have a plan to incorporate 30% of our curriculum is going to have some sort of a our or VR element with the curriculum so that when they graduate, they have had that experience the way.

48:12 Microsoft Word and PowerPoint was really cool in the 90s. The way Google Docs in the early 2000. We think XR is the future and any student who graduates with that competency is going to have an edge in the workforce in grad school or as an intrapreneur. And the it's really been interesting and if you go on our website, we'll see. We it's also really allowed the reduction of barrier to entry. You know, the medical field has used it. Where students get to work. Work with animals and work with crime scene investigations in a much more affordable way than the more expensive kind of Hands-On way, which is allowed us. I mean, you know that that the, you know, the VR is so great because it gives you that ability to have the mental reps of understanding how to actually do something even though you physically aren't doing it.

49:05 But you're visually, you know, walking through the process and you know I've got a client of mine who they They do VR training of their their, you know, operators on a huge platform and they learn all the ins and outs of this design of this platform in the. And it's designed exactly to the specifications of the real life-size platform. And they just go and do training on changing out Valves and things like that and they get all those mental reps to know what to do, and what do you know of, you know what? It's what it's like to experience that process. It's a pretty powerful process, so I threw Be great to be doing that. Yeah, actually it's been so positive the feedback, we've gotten from students and incorporating that into our curriculum that we are actually currently in a beta for our first student Commons.

49:55 So that. So we are going from the curricular aspect of xr2, a co-curricular aspect of sxr that we hope to launch next year to give our students faculty and staff, A Whole New World to interact with kind of learning from the gaming industry, but also incorporating it into And as an educational world. So we have be Towing like solar farms and oceans and and all the different kinds of vegetation in ecosystems that gives students a preliminary access to interacting in a really interesting way. Something that historically you only see in the gaming industry that we're trying to really incorporate into the educational platform. Oh, Malik tell me how can, what's the best way for listeners to learn more about Unity College? And Possibly enroll to take these awesome courses that you're offering.

50:46 Absolutely. And the best way to get to us is just through our website Unity dot edu, you and ity Dot edu and our website will self guide you to different. Subsidiaries are different information and we'll be more than happy to chat with you. Whether you are a student, a company looking for a partner to build you some Workforce Development, or a donor, who would Like to help, you know, students, learn without the burden of having to be able to weaken. Yeah, I love it. I love it. Well, Malachy. Thanks for coming on the show today. I mean, we learned a lot about Unity collagen and, and all the things that you guys are doing, I guess, you know, I didn't, I didn't really, we didn't touch too much on faculty, but I'm assuming you've got a pretty good bench there at the school and I don't know how many faculty you have, but, you know, that's a big part of being able to do.

51:42 Deliver these, these educational offerings. So I'm glad you guys have a good bench there. What? We're going to get this out next week. We'll push this out. The make sure we promote it internally and externally. I'm going to put it on LinkedIn and Facebook and then we'll tag you guys and then if you guys can do the same and share with your network, that'd be fantastic. And I really appreciate you coming on. And also leading the way for other universities to divest out of fossil fuels and their endowments. And then You know, still be able to make a profit and you thrive. I love it. I had the pleasure was mine. Set. Thanks Sean. We really appreciate you giving us the opportunity to tell our story. Yeah, this is great.

52:23 Well, I'm looking forward to some follow-up and feedback and we'll stay in touch. Same here. I want to thank Our Guest, dr. Malak Corey for coming onto the show today. If you want to learn more about Unity College, in the degree programs and certificates they offer, check out their web site at www.uh.edu. Will also put a link to their contact information on my website to listen to Future environmental transformation podcast? You can check us out on a podcast Spotify, Google podcasts and other podcast networks or better yet from my website at www.ge.com K great e.com.

53:05 You can also also follow me on Instagram or the environmental transformation podcast, Facebook page. Well, if you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to subscribe and tell your friends. We'd also love to hear feedback from the ET Nation. So please leave a review for me on my website and or on the Apple podcast platform. Well thanks for listening and until next time and make a positive impact in someone's life today.