Unity College's new sustainability majors

Unity College faculty passed the two new degree programs last Thursday by a very wide margin of votes. Thanks to all faculty for the support and help in getting these exciting new programs up and running.

Time now for some students. Some good students!

If you are a prospective student who has not attended college before and are interested in these programs, please see the Admissions Department. You can apply on-line, and they will make sure you see me at some point if you visit the college for advising and career counseling.

If you are a transfer student, especially if you have a lot of credits, you are asked to see me or the Registrar, preferably both, so we can make sure you can graduate in a timely manner.

If you are a supporter or friend of the college, we ask you please to forward the url to this blog post to anyone who you think will be interested.

Here are the catalog descriptions for the two programs. Email mwomersley@unity.edu if you have any questions:

Sustainable Design and Technology
(Beginning Fall 2008)

This Bachelor of Science program will allow students to develop their talents and skills as applied scientists and planners in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and response to climate change. The emphasis will be on technology and accounting.

Students learn to evaluate and implement emerging technologies and to design, quantify, and account for programs of energy efficiency and climate emission reductions for government, for private businesses, or for households. The emphasis will be on practical skills based on solid general theory.

Upon graduation, students may choose work in the emerging job market in government sustainability implementation and planning, to work as lobbyists and advocates in the same arena, to work in the housing market as implementers and auditors of sustainability and energy efficiency measures, to work in industry as an environmental compliance officers, sustainability coordinators or sustainability officers, or to go on to graduate school in the fields of public policy, planning, architecture, environmental law, environmental and industrial design, or climate mitigation.


Agriculture, Food, and Sustainability

(Beginning Fall 2008)

This Bachelor of Science program of study is designed to prepare students for future study and careers in the growing fields of sustainable agriculture and
food systems.

The approach will be interdisciplinary and experiential, drawing on several disciplines that intersect in the field of agriculture and food systems study, including biology, ecology, economics, critical social sciences, and history, as well as applied sciences such as horticulture, livestock management, and marketing.

The program will have a significant field and experiential component, utilizing the college’s farm and garden resources as well as those of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), whose headquarters are in Unity. Field studies will also take place on MOFGA member farms in the region and around the state of Maine.

Graduates of the program may choose careers in sustainable crop production, sustainable livestock production, food business enterprises, and nonprofit advocacy and management in areas such as food and agriculture policy, community agriculture, food security, farmland preservation, food and health, and
community development.