America’s Environmental College 1

Office of Admissions Summer 2012

A n A d m i s s i o n s N e w s l e t t e r f o r G u i d a n c e C o u n s e l o r s a n d P a r e n t s

Field Notes

Bachelor of Arts

Art and Environment

Environmental Writing and

Media Studies

Bachelor of Science

Adventure-Based Environmental

Education

Adventure Therapy

Biology

Captive Wildlife Care and Education

Conservation Law Enforcement

Earth and Environmental Science

Environmental Policy, Law, and Society

Marine Biology

Parks and Forest Resources

Secondary Education

Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable Energy Management

Wildlife Biology

Wildlife and Fisheries Management

ACADEMIC

PROGRAMS

“Are you visual and tactile? Can you imagine using ocean stones to cre-ate temporary art, or cutting up bright plastic detergent bottles and seeing how far you can take the recycled material creatively?” These questions were asked; and to date hundreds of high school students have said “tell me more about it”. The fall of 2012 launches a brand new major, Art and Environment at Unity Col-lege. The program is one of the new majors approved by the Academic Master Plan that was finalized this past winter. In an interview with Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. William Trumble, or Bill, as he prefers, offered this insight into the thought process behind the new program.

“We are focusing on many exciting ways to expand our offerings to students. We voted to add this pro-gram because there are lots of ways to communicate environmental needs. This is our opportunity to broaden our environmental voice across the spec-trum. We see Art and Environment as a more com-plete package of abilities to communicate and be more relevant than just traditional, limited communi-cations courses. This program will give us the oppor-tunity to add multiple new voices to move the mes-sage of environmentalism and sustainability to new audiences.“

Dr. John Zavodny, Associate Professor of Humanities and Director for the Center of Environmental Arts and Humanities is excited about the subject of the new Art and Environment major at Unity College as he shared these thoughts: “This non-traditional art program offers the ability to effect change and communicate environmental concerns through innovative means. While the core platform is art, students will also need a passion for the environment. The program will be inclusive of the practicing art community and seek to leverage local resources and the rich mid-coast art heritage that exist here to immerse students in the world of art. The strong art core partnered with science-based exploratory techniques will advance public environmental art. At heart Art and Environment students are in the business of telling stories that are powerful and relevant to today’s world.” Students will be able to choose courses from a wealth of art tracks in drawing, painting, ceramics, photography, and digital media. Rounding out the degree students will choose an environmental focus from either advocacy, food and farms, sustainable society, or biodiversity. Without doubt, Senior Leadership at Unity College knows that art and science are not mutually exclusive, but rather each discipline complements the learning of the other. With the expanded arts offerings and newly revised programs, the value of a Unity College education has never been higher.

New Major at Unity College: Art and Environment

By Diane Laliberte, Senior Assistant Director of Admissions

America’s Environmental College 2

Andrea Miller ‘13 : Study Abroad Semester in the Galapagos Islands

Danielle Dyer Tetreau ‘03:

Finding Personal and Professional Balance

As a wildlife conservation major, Tetreau took a broad range of coursework. But, it was in Professor John Zavodny’s philosophy class, Eastern Thought for Western People, where she found something she least expected; “personal and professional balance” Academics at Unity thoroughly prepared Tetreau for her for-profit positions. Internship op-portunities provided invaluable hands-on experience. “I learned to speak to instructors as people rather than professors,” Tetreau said of the small class experience for which Unity is

known. Both the internships and one-on-one with professors gave her a step up when meeting with regulators, clients, and other professionals. Tetreau conducts wetland, vernal pool and rare plant surveys, collecting and mapping natural resource information. “Conducting scientific research and doing surveys, to provide the best possible data for state and federal permit applications, ben-efits the clients most interested in developing projects with minimal impact,” Tetreau said. “It’s the best balance of economic de-velopment and natural resource conservation.” Danielle works with many who do not know much about the College. “I always feel a sense of pride when I tell people I went to Unity (“Where’s that?” and I reply “Well, it’s in Unity, Maine”), where tree huggers and foresters live peacefully together,” Tetreau said. In her profession as a consultant, that philosophy of harmony and collaboration has served Tetreau well in her deal-ing with both regulators and clients.

Field Notes

“I always feel a sense of pride when I tell people I went to

Unity College………”

I arrived in Quito, Ecuador on January 4th and stayed there for one month. While in Quito I took tropical ecology at the Universidad of San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) and explored mainland Ecuador. After a month on the mainland we headed to the island of San Cris-

tobal in the Galapagos were, just as in Quito, we live with a host family. San Cristobal is the third largest island and has a popula-tion of around 7,000. Blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and height stand out here like a sore thumb, compounded by the fact that my Spanish is getting better, but never the less still atrocious, makes getting stared at inevitable. We are take classes at the USFQ University here. The first class was Evolution, where we were able to use the Galapagos as our living laboratory. The next class was Intro to Marine Ecology were we learned all about basic marine biology as well as many of the threats to the Galapagos marine ecosystems and what is being done (or lack thereof) to protect it. The third class that just ended on Friday was Native and Introduced Plants of the Galapagos. As I'm sure you know invasive species is a HUGE issue on the islands. Our next and final class is Human culture of Maritime Communities, were we will be looking closely into human impacts on the Galapagos. I have seen giant tortoises, Galapagos penguins, Blue footed boobies, frigate birds, marine iguanas, land iguanas, lava lizards, and a host of other land animals. I have snor-keled with Galapagos sharks, Hammerheads, giant manta rays, eagle rays, sea turtles, parrotfish, and so many others. Who knows what else I will see during my remaining three weeks here?

“In terms of the wildlife that I have seen so far in the Galapagos: amazing! “

Danielle Dyer Tetreau

America’s Environmental College 3

Unity College is known for its focus on the environment and the scientific fields. Many of the majors require students to take various wildlife classes. One of the primary wildlife instructors is Professor Dave Knupp. Knupp has been teaching at Unity for 40 years. He has a Bache-lor’s degree in Forestry & Wildlife from West Virginia University and a Master’s degree in Wildlife management from the Univer-sity of Maine. He teaches Wildlife Techniques, Wildlife Identifi-cation, and North American Wildlife courses and teaches a sem-inar in fur trapping, one of his many hobbies. When you have a professor who has taught at the same institution for 40 years,

you have to wonder what kept him coming back. “I like teaching,” Knupp stated, smiling. “It keeps you young, hanging out with the young students. [Teaching at Unity] overtime has increased my awareness of the shift in the type of students coming to Unity. We originally had mostly rural students and now we’ve moved to a more urban mix of stu-dents. There is a difference between what they know about wildlife, but they are never any less dedicated.” He says that while he has taught extensively at Unity, the students have also taught him.

This is Dave’s last semester here at Unity College. He says this will give him more time to pursue his fall hobbies, which includes spending time with his racing pigeons! The one thing Knupp says he will miss the most is the students. “There was less of a genera-tional gap among myself and the students here,” Knupp says. “The student’s kept me connected; we [were able to] share experiences. I’ll miss actively sharing my life with them, as well as our mutual passion for the outdoors.” There is no doubt that Knupp will be missed by all, and we wish him the best.

Meet Veteran Professor Dave Knupp By Jen Neault ’14

Summer Saturdays

June 9, 2012

July 14, 2012

August 11, 2012

Fall Preview

September 29, 2012

Fall Open House

November 10, 2012

Spring Open House

March 9, 2013

Campus Visit Hours

Monday –Friday

8:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Please contact the admissions

office to schedule your visit

800.624.1024

visituc@unity.edu

UPCOMING

EVENTS

Field Notes

The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, which began in 2006, focuses on the role that colleges and universities have in reaching out and helping to solve problems in their local communities. This engagement helps students see the value of their commitment to changing the world around them for the better, and helps to foster a long term commitment to facilitating change. On March 12, 2012 Unity College was named to the President’s Higher Education Commu-nity Service Honor Roll receiving the accolade of Honor Roll Finalist. This is a very prestig-ious accomplishment for a small college in rural Maine, given that of the approximately 4500 colleges and universities in the U.S., less than 650 were chosen for consideration. The ability to achieve such recognition for community service is a direct result of the hours of time students devote to improving their community in a variety of different ways. Re-cently Jen Olin, Community-based Learning Coordinator remarked “Though small we may be, involving our students in community-based work—academically and otherwise-- does indeed make a difference.” The Unity College mission statement says in part “….Unity College graduates are prepared to be environmental stewards, effective leaders, and re-sponsible citizens through active learning experiences within a supportive community….” We are all proud of the difference our commUnity make in living up to this ideal.

Unity College Named to President’s Community Service Honor Roll

Professor Dave Knupp

Open House offers information from current

students, faculty and staff.

America’s Environmental College 4

Unity College to Host 8th Annual Guidance Counselor Lobster Bake

Admissions Office

PO Box 532

Unity, ME 04988

800.624.1024

www.unity.edu

admissions@unity.edu

Unity College will be hosting its eighth annual Guidance Counselor Lobster Bake on July 13, 2012. A recent conversation with Associate Director of Admissions communications, Kristi-na Williams, shed some light on this event. “We’re located in mid-coast Maine; a mecca for tourists in the summer. We decided to combine the opportunity for hard-working guidance counselors to take a vacation while learning more about the college at the same time. We offer counselors and their families a place to stay, traditional Maine cuisine, and shared cama-raderie with fellow professionals. At the same time, they can earn professional development credits while learning about our programs through one on one time with our faculty and admin-istration”. For more information or to register, contact the admissions office at 800-624-1024 or email our event coordinator, Emily Valli, at evalli@unity.edu. Online registration is also availa-ble at http://www.unity.edu/Admissions/Guidance/GuidanceCounselors.aspx We hope to see you under the trees.

Field Notes

Merit Scholarships Increase

$5,000 Dean’s Scholarship

$5,000 Transfer Scholarship

$7,000 Presidential Scholarship

$10,000 Centers for Academic Excellence Scholarship Please refer to the financial aid section of our website to determine merit qualifications

Fall 2013 Semester Deadlines

Early Action —December 15th Notification will take place in early January

Regular Admission—February 15th Notification will take place in early March

Transfer Admission—April 15th Rolling admissions

**Call the admissions office for the application fee waiver code

Unity College FAFSA Code: 006858

Admissions Updates