The university builds, tests, and holds AI accountable, including for its environmental footprint, while keeping people at the center of student support
Unity Environmental University is taking a different approach to AI in higher education: don’t wait for the playbook, help write it. Unity is building and testing AI across learning, student support, and operations, and measuring each use against what it delivers and what it costs, including its environmental footprint.
Unity President and CEO, Dr. Melik Peter Khoury, will share that approach as the keynote speaker at PERSIST Summit in San Diego, November 1-3, 2026, hosted by EdSights. His session, “Reimagining Student Support at Scale with AI-enabled Personalization and Human Intervention at the Moments that Matter Most,” will show how Unity connects technology, data, and people to respond to learners’ needs.
“AI’s energy use, water demands, and material footprint deserve scrutiny. So does its potential to advance research, widen access to education, and solve environmental problems,” said Khoury. “We’re obligated to understand this technology, whether or not we build it ourselves. The field is young and still moving. That is a reason to build expertise, not to avoid it.”
Una: AI support at every stage of the student journey
In March 2025, Unity became the first U.S. university to go live with Salesforce’s Agentforce, introducing Una. Una has since grown into a suite of AI assistants, each built for a specific moment in a student’s path:
- Una Explorer helps prospective students find information about programs, tuition, financial aid, and applying.
- Una Navigator answers questions about a student’s own status and next steps, and asks before it changes anything.
- Una Guide works inside coursework, asking questions that help students work through difficult material rather than handing over answers.
- Una Scenario puts students in a role to lead conversations with fictional characters. Instructors review the full transcript to see how the student reached their conclusions.
Drawing on connected institutional information, Una offers around-the-clock help with everyday questions. Proactive text check-ins surface emerging academic, financial, or personal barriers, so recruiters and advisors can step in earlier, when a conversation can change a student’s path. Una points students to a person whenever a question needs human judgment.
Built in house, designed for efficiency
Unity’s learning and AI experts developed ALIGN in house to power Una Guide and Una Scenario. ALIGN builds AI into how a course is designed, giving each experience a clear structure that supports experiential learning, helps students meet defined outcomes, and keeps students doing their own thinking. ALIGN is designed to work well with low-energy models, and Unity reports that it runs on up to 1,000 times less energy than typical student-facing AI models.
That efficiency is one part of a broader standard. The International Energy Agency reports that electricity consumption from AI-focused data centers grew by 50% in 2025. Unity uses a range of AI tools where they provide real value, and it tests each use against its benefits, its limitations, and its footprint.
People stay responsible
Unity’s approach keeps AI in a supporting role. Una handles first questions and late-night ones, and Unity’s advisors, faculty, and staff pick up whenever a student wants a human conversation or a decision needs human judgment. In coursework, instructors can see how students reasoned, not just where they landed.
Results and recognition
Under Khoury’s leadership, Unity has reimagined its model of higher education and now serves more than 10,000 students across its educational offerings. Recent recognition includes:
- The Chronicle of Higher Education named Dr. Khoury to its inaugural 2026 “People to Watch” list, describing him as “The Small-College Disruptor.”
- Dr. Khoury received Insight Into Academia’s 2026 Trailblazer in Higher Education Award.
- Unity received Insight Into Academia’s 2026 Top Colleges for Innovation Award and Higher Education Innovation’s 2026 Institutional Award for Entrepreneuring Excellence, its highest honor.
- Unity ranked No. 1 in Maine and in the top one percent nationally on the 2025 CollegeNET Social Mobility Index.
Why it matters
For students balancing work, family, and financial pressures, timely support can decide whether they finish a degree. Unity pairs personalized AI with human support to identify barriers early and help students stay on track, and it holds that technology to the same evidence-based standard as any other institutional decision.
