Unity College has announced that it will open a new technical center this fall on the campus of Pineland Farms in New Gloucester.
The college says the new center will offer certificates and associate degrees in fields such as veterinary technology and the solar industry.
Unity President Melik Peter Khoury says the new center is part of a larger effort to reach different types of students, including students of color and military veterans.
"This is just another evolution of another population who might not be interested in a baccalaureate or a masters program," he says. "That's really what kind of came out of this — that creating this enterprise model that allows different facets of the institution to serve different types of students."
Khoury says the new center can accommodate up to about 1,000 students, but he says the school will allow students to choose remote, in-person or hybrid classes.
Last year, the college announced that it planned to move away from a traditional, in-person learning model toward a "hybrid model," and would explore selling assets, including its campus in Waldo County.
That campus is currently closed because of COVID-19, and Khoury says the school plans to wait to get a clearer picture of the pandemic before deciding next steps around reopening.
