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Welcome to Digication
Scholars Conversations.

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I'm your host, Jeff Yan.

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In this episode, you will hear part two
of my conversation with Jose Rodriguez,

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Assistant Vice President of Community
and Belonging at College Unbound.

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More links and information about today's
conversation can be found on Digication's

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Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Full episodes of Digication Scholars
Conversations can be found on

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YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

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Now, you actually mentioned it.

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You know, a little while ago,
you, Community is in your title.

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Your official title is Assistant Vice
President of Community and Belonging.

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Can you tell me a little
bit about what that means?

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What do you, so what do
you do at College Unbound?

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Uh, so, Community and Belonging.

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Um, so, I mentioned that we're growing.

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And a lot of what happens with growth
is that you lose those core values

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that matter most to the, to the school.

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So you mentioned The Met and
big picture as a whole, uh, big

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picture learning as a whole.

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So I'm going to take a page
from them in that it does not

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matter what state you go to.

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If you walk into a big picture school.

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It feels the same.

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So whether it's The Met in Providence, The
Met in Newport, or Met, uh, in San Diego.

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It feels the exact same.

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Teachers, uh, instructors are
teaching in the same manner.

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Kids feel the same.

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Kids are empowered.

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That's the same thing that I'm trying
to mirror here at the college level,

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no matter where we are, um, whether
virtually, on the ground, uh, Seattle,

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Chicago, does not matter where we are,
you're going to get that same feeling,

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that feeling of belonging, that, oh, I
can be my authentic self in this space

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because no one's going to judge me.

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If anything, people are just
gonna encourage me more.

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People are gonna, you know, that old
takes a village mentality is gonna come

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into play and people are just gonna
show up for me whenever I need them.

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That's what I'm hoping to mirror,
regardless of where we're at.

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Now, so.

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Just, I want to provide a
little context for folks.

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The big picture learning that was started
by Dennis Littky, who's also started,

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you know, College Unbound, um, this
time with Adam Bush, um, the big picture

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learning started, you know, back another
couple more decades, I want to say.

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And, but at this point they started at a
humble location in Providence, downtown.

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Um, and then, um, It, it was
successful enough that it, the

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model has been, has been reproduced
in all these different cities.

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I think there are, last I remember
counting was somewhere in the 150

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to 200 locations worldwide, not just
in the United States, but worldwide.

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Correct.

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Um, and, and many, many thousands
of students and, and, um.

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Extremely successful and other, you know,
one of those magical place where, you

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know, have extremely high graduation rate
and college attendee rates, attending,

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you know, attendance rates, um, as is a
really massive, massive, huge success.

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And you had already talked about.

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College Unbound already in number of
cities and that's one of the things

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that you are trying to maintain,
which is this culture, you know,

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that you have created so successfully
at the Providence location.

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But there's something more to me also
about this, these locations in, in my,

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You know, in my circle of, um, higher
education friends and, and colleagues,

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when they're thinking about a new
location, we're talking new campuses,

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new, new, new dormitories, new cafeterias,
new gym, new swimming pools, um, right?

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And, uh, new football stadiums.

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Research labs at College Unbound, you do
some, you do this very, very differently

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and in a way that you can, you know,
I, I think that a lot of it passes, you

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know, is has a lot to do with how, um.

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Many traditional college, we think of
the way to almost like budget and fund

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a college requires all those, all the
brick and many, many, many bricks and

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mortar in order to build that experience.

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But college has done things
really, really smart.

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You want to talk a little bit about that?

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You know, the partnership that
you have with various, you

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know, organizations and so on.

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So, and that, that is also part of the
community and belonging work, right?

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Making sure that we're aligning
ourselves with organizations that,

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uh, mirror, or that are identical
in mission and vision, right?

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Uh, so some of the earlier partnerships
were with, um, the Nonviolence Institute

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in Providence, the, uh, the United Way.

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Um, and the reason why is, you
know, they, these places had a

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population of folks who worked.

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Boots on the ground, doing tons of
work and didn't have a college degree.

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The second part of that is that
they had the space, they have

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conference rooms, they have, you
know, offices that aren't being used.

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So because CU's model lends itself to
being able to teach wherever there is

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a need, if you have a conference room,
we can come in and, you know, that

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then becomes college inbound, we don't
have a building, uh, and I don't think

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that Ever intended to have buildings.

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I think that the motto is that we
will always teach in community.

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So wherever learning is happening,
that's where we're going to be.

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And that also helps with keeping
costs down to the student, right?

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We're not, we're not thinking about
the having to cover the overhead of

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all these massive brick and mortars.

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Uh, so yeah.

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That the savings then does, uh,
show up in what a student pays.

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Also, with the utilizing these
community spaces, it also are places

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where folks are already familiar with.

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Um, so there's a level of
comfortability that comes with that.

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So, more eager and more willing to
participate because it's already

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a place that they've determined
to be a safe place for them.

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I remember having that conversation with
Adam a number of years ago, and I remember

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him telling me that, Oh, yeah, we're
talking to the housing authority in, um, I

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forget which city that he was talking to.

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And, and I said, Oh, well,
what are you doing there?

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Are you going to build something
in the housing authority?

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And he was saying, No, no, no, no,
we are going to partner because.

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These are going to be the, our
students are going to be the ones

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who already live in these, you
know, these, uh, these areas.

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So, instead of having to have the students
even come to our campus, we go to them.

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I think that is so smart.

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It's so incredibly smart.

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It's good for everyone because, you know,
having just generally speaking, I mean,

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we just look at just simple numbers here,
having one teacher or several teachers

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to go to a community instead of having
a whole community of people come to

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your campus, it's just more efficient.

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It is.

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It is a level of efficiency, uh, to that.

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But again, I just have to
lean on the fact that it also.

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Uh, so, and people feeling safe,
uh, particularly because most of

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our students have been harmed by
education in some aspect before, right?

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So trying to undo that harm is making
sure that the student feels safe.

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And if the place where they are is
where they feel safe, having them

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go to another location so that
we can say we have that location.

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To me, would just be silly, right?

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And sometimes impractical.

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Yep, exactly.

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Right.

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If you can go to the United ways
conference room, where they already had

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that, they, they, they're actually, they
just finished their work over there.

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They can just do that.

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And versus having to go cross town
somewhere, drive for 30 minutes.

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But.

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Find parking, you know, you know, that's,
those are all things that really count.

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Don't you think?

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I think a lot of people
drop out because of that.

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And

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those are things that are already proven
not to work for the working adult.

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Those are the things
that make people quit.

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Uh, like, so I drove
around for 35 minutes.

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I couldn't find parking.

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I'm already late.

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I'm just gonna miss this class.

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And you miss that one class.

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And then before you know it, it's
two and three classes because

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the same thing keeps happening.

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And then again, once again,
you walk away feeling defeated.

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But all of that could have been
prevented if the school would adjust

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to the student as, and not expecting
the student to adjust to the school.

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And there are other things that you
do too, like, I know that, I mean,

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again, we talked a little bit about
the cost, you know, not having to

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maintain a building, the HVAC, the
everything that goes with it, right?

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But you are able then to redirect
your resources to doing things like.

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When you do have group meetups,
you're going to provide food,

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you're going to provide childcare.

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Correct.

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I mean, that's an incredible.

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Yeah.

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And the communal meal again,
it's that trying to eliminate

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as many barriers as possible.

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So thinking about the learning, the
working adult, I get out of work,

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I have to go, I got to go cook.

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Uh, for my kids.

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I gotta, if I'm gonna go to school, then
I gotta bring my kids to the babysitter.

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So we're eliminating those two things.

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Bring your kids with you.

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We'll provide child care.

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Uh, don't cook, because
we'll provide a meal.

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So the only thing that you have to
do on that day that you're supposed

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to be in class is just be present.

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Everything else is going to
be taken care of for you.

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And I, again, community because the
community, the communal meal is as

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important as any academics that you're
going to get one, because it becomes

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a networking, uh, time and also.

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A time for people to share their,
their lived experiences together.

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There is something incredible about that.

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You know, the power of having
all these people, like you said,

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your typical attendees have
incredible lived experiences.

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I think that there is something.

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That people miss.

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And I actually believe that this exists
in all of community colleges as well,

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by the way, in that going to a four year
college, a traditional age college, four

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years college, where everyone is the
same age coming in with the same, very

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similar set of, you know, so the K 12
experiences straight from high school,

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you actually get a lot less diverse
view of the world and perspectives.

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Just, Um, Right, because, you
know, like, just by definition,

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they're all the same age.

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They've none of them had had,
you know, um, a mortgage yet.

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They don't have, you know, like,
uh, it's, it's just a very, very

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similar sort of background going in.

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Um, versus I think that in certainly
in, in College Unbound, you get an

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incredibly diverse, um, different
backgrounds and skill sets and,

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and, and lived experience coming in.

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And, and just what you can learn
from peers, I think it's already

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just absolutely incredible.

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I agree.

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Do you think that College Unbound, or I
don't know whether, you know, let, let's,

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let's do a little thought experiment.

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Could College Unbound be?

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Be possible for, you know, like,
students are going to a more traditional

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college, like, age wise, let's say,
you know, they're coming out of high

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school, they don't have all this
life experience, they, they haven't

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had the, you know, like, I tried
college couple times didn't work out.

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It's failed me.

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Right.

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Oh, I failed out of it.

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Whatever.

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However you look at it.

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Um, they don't have that yet.

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They just coming out of high school.

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Do you think that College Unbound
could work for or version of

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College Unbound could work for them?

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Yes.

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Um, we, when we existed, um, as a.

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as a program within other colleges.

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Unfortunately, we would get cut
first because, you know, it was,

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it was a thing that was easily cut.

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But yes, the same issues that some of our
folks are, are dealing with as adults,

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our kids are dealing with, although they
may not have the added responsibilities

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of paying a mortgage and things like that.

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They are experiencing, uh, for
lack of better wording, sometimes

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imposter syndrome, where they
don't feel like they belong.

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And nothing about, uh, at least my
experience has been nothing about a

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traditional college is meant to make you
feel like you belong unless you belong.

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Like hard to explain it in that fashion.

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So you

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don't have the privilege
to already belong there.

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Just don't get to, if you don't have
the ticket, you're just not supposed

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to be there and that you know,

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no, no one will make

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it.

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Yeah.

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No one's, no one's just
passing out extra tickets.

230
00:13:37,814 --> 00:13:39,234
It's either you got it or you don't.

231
00:13:39,855 --> 00:13:45,345
Uh, different than a place like
CU where, you know, everyone is

232
00:13:45,345 --> 00:13:46,585
going to get the same treatment.

233
00:13:46,605 --> 00:13:49,305
Everyone's going to, going to
get the same sense of belonging.

234
00:13:49,935 --> 00:13:52,175
Um, I, so yes, can it work?

235
00:13:52,285 --> 00:13:52,934
Absolutely.

236
00:13:52,934 --> 00:13:58,475
It's just for colleges that are
dealing specifically with that

237
00:13:58,944 --> 00:14:02,914
demographic, then they just, it's, it's
a commitment that they have to take.

238
00:14:03,344 --> 00:14:07,745
And, you know, And provide, and
to me, it's indicative of social

239
00:14:07,745 --> 00:14:12,695
services that, um, colleges should
also be trying to help with.

240
00:14:15,475 --> 00:14:23,195
Something about, um, this, I mean, I, I,
I kind of feel a lot like, you know, Jose,

241
00:14:23,195 --> 00:14:27,975
like, it'll be like another 10 years goes
by or 20 years goes by and we got to come

242
00:14:27,975 --> 00:14:30,365
back and I'm glad this is recorded, right?

243
00:14:30,685 --> 00:14:34,675
So then we can say like, oh yeah,
back in 2004, we were on the ground

244
00:14:34,765 --> 00:14:36,794
floor of when we were just taking off.

245
00:14:37,895 --> 00:14:43,055
Right, and then, uh, you know,
um, and, and I, I just kind of see

246
00:14:43,055 --> 00:14:46,854
how, you know, these things about,
you know, servicing the different

247
00:14:46,865 --> 00:14:50,805
types of populations, right, could
potentially, you know, really scale up.

248
00:14:51,135 --> 00:14:56,945
But I also am thinking about the,
the, um, the, the way that you.

249
00:14:57,665 --> 00:15:03,235
Currently, I think at College Unbound,
the, the alumni that I meet and people

250
00:15:03,235 --> 00:15:07,575
that, students that I meet are talking
about the projects, it's almost 100

251
00:15:07,575 --> 00:15:12,504
percent always surround themselves on
social justice, something to do with the

252
00:15:12,504 --> 00:15:20,439
community, um, and I, I could see how, and
the degree is in um, What was it again?

253
00:15:20,439 --> 00:15:23,566
It's in, uh, it's a bachelor's
degree in leadership and

254
00:15:23,566 --> 00:15:25,041
organizational leadership

255
00:15:25,041 --> 00:15:31,310
and change, right, um, which is a perfect
fit for, for what you're doing right now.

256
00:15:31,310 --> 00:15:34,029
But I also feel like that
there is a whole sense of.

257
00:15:35,134 --> 00:15:40,514
It potentially going into, Hey, if you
want to study social work, sociology,

258
00:15:40,564 --> 00:15:46,365
like some, something else could be,
could, could also be sprung by the same

259
00:15:46,365 --> 00:15:51,874
set of principles, um, that are probably
closely related to your current degree.

260
00:15:51,914 --> 00:15:52,374
Offering.

261
00:15:54,564 --> 00:15:57,975
Do you see a, do you see a,
see that in, in potential in

262
00:15:57,985 --> 00:15:59,924
the future of College Unbound?

263
00:16:00,905 --> 00:16:07,974
I think that the degree offering opens
itself up to what our, our population

264
00:16:07,974 --> 00:16:09,694
of students are actually about.

265
00:16:09,825 --> 00:16:16,179
Um, so working with a lot of non profits,
uh, Particularly because those are the,

266
00:16:16,260 --> 00:16:20,199
those are the folks doing the work in the
community means just that these are folks

267
00:16:20,199 --> 00:16:22,810
that are already driven by change, right?

268
00:16:23,829 --> 00:16:28,720
Um, and the piece of paper just gives
them that validation that they now can

269
00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:32,759
say, Oh, I have a degree, but they're
already change agents in their own right.

270
00:16:33,810 --> 00:16:40,880
Um, it's always interesting to
see folks within an organization.

271
00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:47,580
Start to feel valued simply because
they start to talk about what they're

272
00:16:47,590 --> 00:16:53,520
learning in school and immediately
start to talk to their peers about it

273
00:16:53,560 --> 00:17:00,309
and like how that just opens them up
to the possibility of not just creating

274
00:17:00,310 --> 00:17:03,220
change in the community but also
maybe I could run this organization

275
00:17:03,670 --> 00:17:05,300
or maybe I should just start my

276
00:17:05,300 --> 00:17:06,309
own.

277
00:17:08,069 --> 00:17:14,839
Yeah, the level of drive,
like you said, It's so strong

278
00:17:14,839 --> 00:17:16,319
amongst your community, right?

279
00:17:16,430 --> 00:17:21,639
That it's almost like, these are
people who have incredible drives, but

280
00:17:21,639 --> 00:17:27,989
for some reason, someone says, put,
you know, they've been doing it with

281
00:17:29,050 --> 00:17:34,810
both hands tied behind the back and,
and College Unbound helps untie that.

282
00:17:34,940 --> 00:17:35,989
Yep, exactly.

283
00:17:36,389 --> 00:17:36,909
Right.

284
00:17:37,439 --> 00:17:42,380
And then they're, they're like, well, now
I'm often to doing, you know, I could, I

285
00:17:42,390 --> 00:17:44,380
could be even more productive than before.

286
00:17:45,100 --> 00:17:47,430
I think that is really amazing
and it's really amazing.

287
00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:53,650
The other thing that I, I had found that
is pretty amazing is that you are also not

288
00:17:53,980 --> 00:18:00,329
holding on to certain one single program
and just sort of be like, this is it.

289
00:18:00,639 --> 00:18:06,610
And I remember talking to Adam, and
you tell me how this works, but that,

290
00:18:06,710 --> 00:18:12,040
for example, you might partner with an
organization, let's take United Way,

291
00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:17,889
and that at some point, you might say,
well, we've helped this entire group of

292
00:18:17,889 --> 00:18:24,065
people, this cohort of people now, that
we will pause potentially for a little

293
00:18:24,065 --> 00:18:25,445
while and then we will come back later.

294
00:18:25,465 --> 00:18:29,754
We may help another use the redirect the
resource to help another organization.

295
00:18:30,054 --> 00:18:33,564
So again, I think United Way
is a good example of that.

296
00:18:33,564 --> 00:18:38,554
So our local chapter of United Way,
we graduated all the folks that they

297
00:18:38,554 --> 00:18:41,415
had who didn't have bachelor's degree.

298
00:18:41,695 --> 00:18:43,334
So then it's like we canno...

299
00:18:43,735 --> 00:18:49,005
Not that we can't go partner with
them again, but we've already got all

300
00:18:49,005 --> 00:18:52,255
their, all their workers, uh, a degree.

301
00:18:52,735 --> 00:18:58,035
Will they do a big hire in the near
future and HR immediately connect them

302
00:18:58,055 --> 00:19:01,715
to us because they know the value of
their employees having the degree?

303
00:19:02,035 --> 00:19:02,795
Absolutely.

304
00:19:03,095 --> 00:19:06,135
So it's, we're going to get,
we're going to get through all

305
00:19:06,135 --> 00:19:09,925
these employees and then we'll go.

306
00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:14,920
Uh, we'll take a pause, uh, we'll wait
a year, maybe a year and a half, go back

307
00:19:15,110 --> 00:19:17,110
and just restart the process all over.

308
00:19:17,660 --> 00:19:23,659
Um, what it does also, it helps
a little bit of, um, anticipation

309
00:19:23,660 --> 00:19:28,200
build up for those folks who came on
after that happened, because now they

310
00:19:28,399 --> 00:19:30,089
have something to look forward to.

311
00:19:30,869 --> 00:19:34,870
But there's something also so incredible
about that efficiency of you using your

312
00:19:34,870 --> 00:19:36,910
resources and going to the community.

313
00:19:37,270 --> 00:19:41,879
So you, you are there when they have
the needs, as opposed to them coming,

314
00:19:42,190 --> 00:19:45,830
you know, you have a fixed place
where they have to come to, right?

315
00:19:45,879 --> 00:19:46,490
Exactly.

316
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,230
Because then that's, you can serve
them so much better that way,

317
00:19:52,639 --> 00:19:56,840
and not having to, you know, find
a building and commit to that

318
00:19:56,860 --> 00:19:58,799
for the next 25 years, right?

319
00:20:01,810 --> 00:20:08,384
What are some of the things that If
you were to, you know, I think there

320
00:20:08,384 --> 00:20:14,205
are a lot of, I think there, I would
say there, I would love to hear your

321
00:20:14,205 --> 00:20:18,154
view on, you know, what you would say
to a couple of different groups of

322
00:20:18,154 --> 00:20:19,645
people, couple of different audiences.

323
00:20:19,645 --> 00:20:21,165
I know there are listeners to this.

324
00:20:21,914 --> 00:20:24,975
One are the.

325
00:20:28,419 --> 00:20:33,669
Currently, someone who's working, teaching
at, let's say a college at a community

326
00:20:33,669 --> 00:20:38,789
college at a four year college, they
might want to do changes to make things

327
00:20:38,789 --> 00:20:43,429
different for themselves, not necessarily
to the level of starting their own

328
00:20:43,429 --> 00:20:45,269
school and creating a college unbound.

329
00:20:46,195 --> 00:20:51,794
They might want to, you know, do something
in their own classes to, to take a,

330
00:20:52,134 --> 00:20:54,165
take a page out of what you've done.

331
00:20:54,354 --> 00:20:56,874
Something incredibly
interesting and successful.

332
00:20:57,294 --> 00:21:00,994
What are some of your, uh,
what would you say to them?

333
00:21:06,094 --> 00:21:07,105
Listen to the student.

334
00:21:08,274 --> 00:21:12,845
I think that regardless of what age the
student is, they usually have the answer.

335
00:21:13,545 --> 00:21:17,785
Uh, and sometimes we have to
get out of our own way and

336
00:21:17,785 --> 00:21:19,215
allow the students to lead.

337
00:21:20,005 --> 00:21:23,995
Um, what is school about?

338
00:21:24,295 --> 00:21:28,315
Uh, because I also teach at CU, so part
of the reason that it's cool to teach

339
00:21:28,315 --> 00:21:35,135
here is because I can adapt my curriculum,
my syllabus to the student need.

340
00:21:35,915 --> 00:21:40,785
Um, so not being so rigid in that this
is the only way it's going to work.

341
00:21:40,785 --> 00:21:44,405
And if I don't do it this way,
then I'm not going to provide

342
00:21:44,405 --> 00:21:46,694
you a good enough education.

343
00:21:46,984 --> 00:21:50,214
So I think that educators across
the board could learn from that.

344
00:21:50,695 --> 00:21:54,694
In that it's not, it's not one
size fits all, unfortunately.

345
00:21:54,694 --> 00:22:00,710
And there are some students that are,
um, Not because they don't know how to do

346
00:22:00,710 --> 00:22:04,150
something or because they don't get the
content, but may not be able to learn in

347
00:22:04,150 --> 00:22:06,629
the way in your particular teaching style.

348
00:22:06,650 --> 00:22:10,740
So have a little bit of movement in that,
like allow yourself some flexibility.

349
00:22:11,139 --> 00:22:14,789
Uh, so that when you do come across
those students, don't discourage them

350
00:22:14,790 --> 00:22:20,160
by, uh, basically not teaching them
the way that they need to be taught.

351
00:22:22,260 --> 00:22:26,870
Or I'll tell, I'll tell them that they're,
they should not consider public speaking.

352
00:22:26,909 --> 00:22:27,540
Exactly.

353
00:22:29,110 --> 00:22:29,510
Right.

354
00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:32,550
And I think that there's a
lot to be said about that.

355
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:36,020
By the way, I, I love what you
said, just listen to the students.

356
00:22:36,020 --> 00:22:37,860
And I also think that
there is something about.

357
00:22:42,485 --> 00:22:46,625
Something that I have constantly
felt at College Unbound when I

358
00:22:46,625 --> 00:22:52,224
visited is that you do not ever for
a moment underestimate your students.

359
00:22:52,325 --> 00:22:52,955
Absolutely

360
00:22:52,955 --> 00:22:53,125
not.

361
00:22:53,455 --> 00:22:53,745
Right.

362
00:22:53,774 --> 00:22:57,054
You believe that they can not
only can they do it, they can do

363
00:22:57,054 --> 00:22:58,815
it as well as anyone in the world

364
00:22:58,905 --> 00:22:59,175
can.

365
00:22:59,175 --> 00:23:00,124
And if not better.

366
00:23:00,544 --> 00:23:00,874
Right.

367
00:23:01,984 --> 00:23:07,425
So it's, it's not a, You come
here to work for me because I'm

368
00:23:07,425 --> 00:23:09,344
the, the head of this class.

369
00:23:09,344 --> 00:23:12,044
I get to say what you have to
do and you just have to do it.

370
00:23:12,394 --> 00:23:15,084
It doesn't feel like that
at all at College Unbound.

371
00:23:15,845 --> 00:23:16,774
Like that doesn't exist.

372
00:23:19,165 --> 00:23:24,675
Um, second, I want to say that,
um, so then let me ask you, and

373
00:23:24,675 --> 00:23:28,055
this is, um, I guess a part of.

374
00:23:29,145 --> 00:23:32,035
You know, probably something
that you do all the time.

375
00:23:32,515 --> 00:23:41,975
What do you say to students, on the other
hand, who are, um, you know, either could

376
00:23:41,975 --> 00:23:47,704
be looking for something like College
Unbound, or are attending a school right

377
00:23:47,704 --> 00:23:50,974
now, and there's not College Unbound,
and they're feeling a little bit stuck?

378
00:23:51,050 --> 00:23:52,709
My

379
00:23:55,870 --> 00:23:59,200
one advice would be what I, what I
wish that someone would have told

380
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:00,980
me and that you are not the problem.

381
00:24:00,980 --> 00:24:07,270
The institution is, um, really, I would
just start to learn how to advocate

382
00:24:07,310 --> 00:24:13,800
for, for, for self and look for,
although that their College Unbound

383
00:24:13,819 --> 00:24:17,090
may not exist in that institution,
there has to be someone within the

384
00:24:17,090 --> 00:24:18,720
institution with similar values.

385
00:24:19,310 --> 00:24:23,390
And it's a matter of identifying
that person, you know, who.

386
00:24:23,895 --> 00:24:29,425
Collaborating with that person on
some advocating, uh, in order to

387
00:24:29,425 --> 00:24:31,795
move whatever it is that you're
trying to get done forward.

388
00:24:31,810 --> 00:24:35,780
And do you...

389
00:24:37,030 --> 00:24:37,270
And

390
00:24:37,590 --> 00:24:41,350
for those who might be interested
in learning more about College

391
00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:42,320
Unbound, what should they do?

392
00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:44,730
They should just come to
your website or come visit?

393
00:24:44,740 --> 00:24:45,460
What should they do?

394
00:24:45,730 --> 00:24:50,379
I would always encourage folks to come
visit, but our website is the best

395
00:24:50,379 --> 00:24:52,250
way to just learn a little bit more.

396
00:24:53,129 --> 00:24:57,250
Um, but also, uh, again, Community
and Belonging is in my title.

397
00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:01,120
So if you're looking to learn anything,
all my information is on the website,

398
00:25:01,129 --> 00:25:02,520
including my cell phone number.

399
00:25:02,980 --> 00:25:10,179
Um, so I'm always willing and able
to take calls, emails, whatever

400
00:25:10,179 --> 00:25:13,560
needs to happen in order to spread
the word of what we do here at CU.

401
00:25:15,429 --> 00:25:16,070
It's amazing.

402
00:25:17,355 --> 00:25:23,255
Well, um, Jose, thank you so, so much
for sharing all of your insights.

403
00:25:23,335 --> 00:25:24,955
You are incredible.

404
00:25:24,955 --> 00:25:26,155
You're an inspiration.

405
00:25:26,245 --> 00:25:33,105
And I think that, um, it's also really,
I think it's so smart of College

406
00:25:33,105 --> 00:25:39,895
Unbound to also hire their own alum
because they are such an amazing, they

407
00:25:39,895 --> 00:25:41,705
are all people with amazing drives.

408
00:25:41,945 --> 00:25:47,885
And they, they are living examples of
what could, what success could look like.

409
00:25:48,175 --> 00:25:56,465
Um, and, and it's, uh, it's a, it's
a, it's truly a, um, uh, you know, a

410
00:25:56,615 --> 00:25:58,785
breath of fresh air in higher education.

411
00:26:01,815 --> 00:26:03,965
Well, thank you for having this space.

412
00:26:04,035 --> 00:26:07,745
It's definitely a, a breath of
fresh air just to be able to have

413
00:26:07,935 --> 00:26:11,425
a conversation about a place that
I love and hold dear to my heart.

414
00:26:13,324 --> 00:26:13,744
Okay.

415
00:26:13,744 --> 00:26:14,164
All right.

416
00:26:14,164 --> 00:26:18,635
Well, um, I hope to, um, hear more
of your success story and maybe in

417
00:26:18,635 --> 00:26:22,630
another 10 years, we'll see where,
where, where, where things are.

418
00:26:22,699 --> 00:26:27,490
Um, and, uh, I, I have no doubt that
it's going to be a massive success.

419
00:26:27,490 --> 00:26:31,440
And it's one of those things that it's
going to be successful in ways that

420
00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:33,459
people don't, don't realize, right.

421
00:26:33,459 --> 00:26:38,119
It's not going to be in some kind
of weird ranking thing, right.

422
00:26:38,129 --> 00:26:40,950
It's not going to be in that,
but it's going to be measured in

423
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,659
metrics that are unusual to people.

424
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,400
And, but once we see it and
then we'll be like, wow.

425
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:47,150
That's meaningful.

426
00:26:47,509 --> 00:26:51,230
I think that's what College Unbound
always just kind of strikes me as, you

427
00:26:51,230 --> 00:26:56,169
know, you're always looking for that
metric that people have missed, looking

428
00:26:56,249 --> 00:26:57,429
for that value that people have missed.

429
00:26:58,239 --> 00:26:58,770
I agree.

430
00:26:59,310 --> 00:27:02,239
Uh, this is the kind of thing that
they'll write stories about, they'll

431
00:27:02,239 --> 00:27:04,109
write movies about in the future.

432
00:27:05,100 --> 00:27:05,690
That's right.

433
00:27:06,030 --> 00:27:06,460
All right.

434
00:27:06,460 --> 00:27:09,160
Well, we'll see, we'll see
who gets to play you, Jose.

435
00:27:10,990 --> 00:27:11,240
All right.

436
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:12,480
We've got a lot to think about there.

437
00:27:12,820 --> 00:27:13,470
Thanks again.

438
00:27:13,500 --> 00:27:18,200
And, um, I, uh, uh, I hope that we
can touch base again soon, okay?

439
00:27:18,310 --> 00:27:18,879
Absolutely.

440
00:27:19,569 --> 00:27:19,999
All right.

441
00:27:20,269 --> 00:27:20,929
Thanks, Jose.

442
00:27:21,430 --> 00:27:21,730
Take care.