Why Purpose-Driven Leaders Outlast Everyone Else | David Barron, UT Tyler

[0:00]  Higher education is the single greatest factor in breaking the cycle of generational poverty. It's not driven by money, but driven by purpose. Because when you go into these roles, you're pouring yourselves into the lives of these students. We're doing these things for a purpose. It's not just to have good numbers, good stats. It's about changing lives. And so that gives you purpose in what you're doing. So I appreciate that. And it helps me get up every day and do the amazing things we do because I know tangibly we are changing lives in what we do, and that makes a huge difference.

Welcome back to an episode here on the

[0:51]  Horn and Hustle podcast. We have our next guest. You want to go ahead and introduce yourself? Tell us where you're from. David, tell us where you're from. Tell us your title so people can get to know a little bit about who David is.

[1:01]  Hi, I'm David Baron. I'm the vice president of enrollment management here at the University of Texas at Tyler.

[1:07]  I love it. I love it. David, you know, I was talking to someone a little earlier. They said I speak to some amazing people. And I'm like, I do. I actually got David coming on the podcast now. And what I love, David, the first time that we got to really chat is the energy, man, the passion that you really have for what it is that you do. How long have you been in this space?

[1:24]  So, I've been in higher ed for 26 years. Got into it by accident, but just loving every minute of it, changing lives.

[1:33]  What is the thing that you love most like that you get to do probably on the regular?

[1:35]  Sure. So, I like to joke and tell people in my role, I just provide opportunity and money, right, to folks to achieve their educational dreams. And so, that education is life transforming for them, their family. So happy to be part of that.

[1:52]  And is this something that you've always had this passion for like growing up? Like you knew you wanted to be in this space? Is it that you just kind of landed here because you were chasing passion and purpose? How do we get here?

[2:01]  Sure. So by accident, I had no idea of, you know, a role in higher education or living in enrollment management. In fact, I was a theology major and going to graduate school. My wife and I were married where our first son was coming along, and my wife got laid off because she was pregnant. I know that's not supposed to happen, but it did. And so she was laid off. And so I needed a job with insurance. And so I graduated. I was trying to find a job and I found one on campus that was in financial aid. And I said, "Well, I can do this." And so I took the job. The reality is I had no experience in financial aid. I had never filled out a FAFSA in my life when I was an undergraduate. My parents had done that for me. And then when we got married, while I was in college, my wife was an international business major. So, she had much more expertise in finance and numbers. And so, she completed the FAFSA every year for me. And so, when I got into financial aid, that's when I learned how to complete the FAFSA. I had never done that before. So, just by accident, real life, right, needing insurance because we had a baby on the way.

[3:05]  What did you learn about admissions and FAFSA as you kind of really start that job? Because I'm pretty sure you said you knew nothing, but you're learning and you're pouring back into those that did not know like you didn't know.

[3:16]  Right? And so, you know, I had taught for a couple years while I was working on my masters, working with students and teaching students. And so, it was really the financial aid, nobody knows about it or knows how to do it, know what to do with it. So, it was a matter of teaching students what they needed to do, how they needed to complete the FAFSA, how to best utilize funds, should they borrow loans, should they not borrow loans, what grants are available. So, helping them remove barriers. I think to access for those funds so that they could reach their educational goals. So that was a great time to share and to pour into the lives of the students at our university at that time.

[3:49]  And now in 2026, you mentioned that you guys are doing something a little different. What is it that you guys are doing to make sure that people are more aware and educated in this space?

[3:57]  Sure. So here at UT Tyler, we've got some amazing out of the box things we're doing where we're partnering with our local ISDs through a program called College Readiness. And so, this happened back, right after COVID. In East Texas, COVID lasted six months. So, as soon as COVID was ending here in East Texas, I reached out to our high schools because at that time, the state had put a regulation in place that all high school graduates had to complete the FAFSA, the free application for federal student aid, prior to graduation. They put this mandate on the schools, but they didn't give them any funding or, you know, ability to do this, but they were going to hold them accountable. So, I reached out to some local high schools. I said, "Help me help you. I want to provide you a college readiness coach, which is basically a peer mentor, someone that's in college that's going to come talk with your students about one, how to apply to college. Doesn't have to be our college. It could be any university. We would help them apply to that college. It could and then help them apply for financial aid, complete the FAFSA, then help them apply for scholarships. And so, we had four schools that piloted that with us that spring semester. And then at the end of the semester, we brought all the high school counselors together for a luncheon and I had our college readiness coach, one of our students speak. And then one of the high school counselors speak that had the college readiness coach, and we had some amazing tearjerker stories of students that were never planning on going to college, but then they talked with our college readiness coach. They decided that was something they wanted to do. Our coach helped them apply to college. They applied for scholarships, got full ride, first in their family ever to go. All the families were happy, the teachers were crying, the student was crying. It was a great experience for that. So then at the luncheon when we shared these amazing stories of the impact, all the high schools wanted college readiness coaches.

[5:44]  So we started with four high schools that first semester and now we're up to 46 high schools where we have college readiness coaches making a difference in the high school students' lives. So, you're seeing admission rates go up just because you're giving some resources, a little bit of education.

[6:01]  Absolutely. And just providing a pathway, right? A lot of folks don't know what they don't know, and if they're first generation how to get into college, how to jump those hurdles and remove the barriers that they need to be successful. And so, our coaches talking to them as peer-to-peer are showing them how they can do that, helping them through it. And part because of these relationships, we're actually removing barriers for the students as well. Part of the process for college admissions is this high school student has to request their transcripts from their high school counselor be sent to the university, and sometimes students don't want to talk to administrators or other things. So with this relationship that we have, we're going into the high school and say, "Hey, Johnny, Susie, and Bill have applied and they need their transcript," and so they'll print the transcript for us and we'll take it to the university and get that taken care of for us. So just removing barriers wherever we can to help them be successful.

[6:51]  That's so cool, man. And what are some of the growth that you've seen just by doing some of that, like numbers-wise?

[6:56]  So, we've seen in the high schools where we had our college readiness coaches, our applications have more than doubled at all of those institutions. This last fall was our largest enrollment in institutional history, our largest freshman class incoming. We've seen probably a 33% increase over the last six years in just our freshman class coming through. So, amazing numbers for us and we're continuing to grow.

How's that young David feel, man? That just walked in for the first time knowing nothing, but here you are just really making a difference. How's that young David feel?

[7:27]  You know, if you'd have told me 20, six years ago that, oh, you're going to have a career in higher education, I would have laughed because I wouldn't have even known what that was. But the reality is it's not driven by money, but driven by purpose. Because when you go into these roles, you're pouring yourselves into the lives of these students and people that can help them better themselves, that can help them reach their goals, achieve their dreams, and to change their full families as they get these educational degrees. So through financial aid, through enrollment management, helping provide these opportunities, it's been really amazing to see that over the last 26 years.

[8:04]  David, I believe that when we talk about just growth, we don't get there alone, right? There's someone that poured into us just like you're pouring into others. What are some of those leaders, man, that poured into you? What are those, you know, things that you remember someone saying to you that kept you going?

[8:21]  Sure. So, you know, even when I started out in financial aid, I probably wasn't the best candidate to be promoted in the eyes of many folks, but what happened was we had a summer start for our students at the university. And we had a process where they filled out a paper slip and you had to turn that in and the financial aid people had to process their aid for that term. And it was a backlog. I saw we had alphabet so I was responsible for student populations and I knew I had to get some done, so I came in extra on a Saturday because if I didn't do that the students wouldn't have their money for their refund to pay their rent to get their books to do those things. So I came in on a Saturday. I didn't get paid and started processing those. Then I saw my co-workers had piles and stacks of students that they needed to process, so I took their stack and I processed those students and I got them done. So when Monday came around, all those students were able to get their financial aid, they could pay their bill, they could start their class. And I didn't know it, but supervisors were watching me. As I did that later on when I applied to move up, they saw the investment that I made in the other students that I got no personal gain from because I cared about the mission. I cared about the students. I wanted them to be successful. And that was one of the reasons that I got promoted pretty quickly in financial aid. And that's really been the core and crux of why I've been promoted and moved up across the different universities in enrollment management because I'm student-focused. I want the students to be successful. And if you're focused on the students being successful, guess what? Success comes in numbers and metrics as you focus on those students being successful.

[10:07]  Hey, if you're getting value from this conversation, do us a favor and hit that subscribe button. We drop episodes like this regularly and we don't want you to miss a single one. Now, let's get back to it.

You are the work ethic. Can't find that kind of work ethic, right? Just going there on a day off, man, and knocking out your colleagues' work as well. But it is the things that you do when no one is watching that makes a huge difference. And, you know, when we think no one's watching, you realize, wait, I was being watched the whole time. And people see the hard work and determination. What are you pouring into others when we talk about the young David's coming in for the first time just may not feel comfortable or may feel a little bit uneducated around some things? What are you telling that young one when they come in with the same kind of thought process?

[10:53]  Really, it's about sharing vision. You know, some of the jobs in enrollment management aren't always seen as fun and exciting, right? It could be just processing paperwork. It could be verifications of tax information. It could be all these things where you're not seeing the outcome that your work is doing. So, I make sure to help them see the whole vision, the impact that they're making. When we have results or we have good positive increases, I talk with all my staff, even one-on-one, and share, "Hey, you may be in processing, but here's what you're doing. Here are the students you're making an impact on. Here are the lives that you're changing because you're faithful in what you're doing on a day-to-day basis." And in selling that mission, helping the folks understand that what they're doing is making an impact down the road helps them to feel value in what they're doing and buy into the process of helping students be successful.

[11:51]  You know, I just love all your answers. You could tell you just love what you do. How is communication within the school? Do you feel like a lot of times you talked about it just people the lack of knowledge, the lack of knowing something goes down to communication. How are higher eds communicating even with kids that are in the school already or they're trying to get kids into the school? Is it email? Is it you talked about boots on the ground? Like how's things getting out there?

[12:17]  Well, I think just like your program here is about channels, right? What channels are they watching? What channels are they listening to? And so it's about meeting the students where they are. A lot, you know, higher education as an industry is a little slow to change. The big ship is hard to steer and turn quickly. But for students, you've got to be able to move nimly. You've got to meet them where they are, help them be successful. I had just an example the other day, a parent that was talking about their student and they were looking up universities and says, "Can you Google so and so?" I said, "Oh, I don't Google. I chat."

[12:54]  What? Okay.

[12:55]  Said you don't use Google anymore. You just tell chat GPT and they give you all the information on the university.

[13:00]  So that's a whole another venue just recently for universities that have to make sure they have the answer engine optimization so that their school is pulling up based on going through an AI or going through a chatbot or a chat process, either ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, whatever that AI engine may be to make sure that they're showing at the top. So it's very crucial to meet students where they are. And there is a lot of emphasis on AI moving forward, but really for results and commitment, it's about personal connection.

[13:32]  Right, it's about reaching out. You would be surprised if a student gets a handwritten note what that means to them because they maybe have never gotten one before in their lives.

[13:41]  When you said ChatGPT, are you a user of it? Are you using AI? What is your thoughts on AI?

[13:47]  I do. I'm a proponent of AI and I've actually spoken at several conferences regarding it. But Microsoft Copilot is my AI of choice right now.

[13:56]  Yeah.

[13:57]  Using it, but I use it not to get technical, but I compile a large language model of my information and it's not public, but it's a private so I can research my own documents, my own presentations, my own things and pull out other information, especially with metrics because I do a lot with metric projections as well, predictive analytics, and helping with my work as well.

[14:22]  I'm glad you're using it, man. Believe it or not, I think I told you when we spoke, high schools are not using it here in Orange County and Florida. Because for whatever reason, I guess, but I think to myself like they're going to colleges, right? Are you guys having classes around AI?

[14:37]  So, we're trying to integrate AI into the classes rather than just have it on AI because AI is a tool. I mean, I look back because I'm old enough here to say, "Oh, I remember when the computer came out and folks thought, oh, you can't use that in the classrooms. That's cheating." No, it's not. It's a tool, right? The same thing with AI. It's a tool and so you need to be taught how to use it and apply that within the courses themselves. And so we're looking at doing that in the curriculum.

[15:05]  You said the computers and you wanted to go to old school. I can't find it somewhere in this room, but a floppy disk. I still have a floppy disk from when I was probably like in fifth grade because you know, back in the days you had to provide and turn in a floppy disk with your work. And I think, man, you know how times have changed that we are talking to a chatbot or a cloud. Actually, I was at brunch yesterday with my brother. My brother just now is starting to learn ChatGPT and AI and he's just there having a blast at Cheesecake Factory like designing things. He's like, you know, picturing took a picture of my niece. He's messing with her and putting things all over her. But he's like, "Man, do you know ChatGPT? Watch." I'm asking a question. And I'm like, man, you're so behind, right? But like, there's still people that are not with time. So, I'm glad to hear that at least your college, your university, that you guys are actually implementing AI because it to me is what's already here and what the future looks like.

And somebody jokingly says, "Hey, one day you're going to have a job description or a job title called prompt engineer."

[16:12]  And I said, "You know what? That is correct." Because in order for you to get good data out of something like that, you have to be able to really give it a good prompt, right? So, man, to know that you're in there and then you've worked around your system, you're creating that kind of structure and system for you, you're doing your thing now, man. Now I see why you're so good at what you do.

[16:31]  Oh, thank you. Yeah, it's important. And so really, it's about how we implement it. I know it's tough at high schools and at other universities right now because the guard rails aren't there yet for some of these technologies and what it's going to produce, but you know, you have to use it and you have to use it in the right way, but there's lots of benefit that can be had.

[16:52]  So, communication. Okay. So, you luckily got communication down packed all different channels. What else do you feel are some of the pain points you've seen universities kind of deal with that you guys have really been innovated and knocked it out the park already?

[17:07]  Well, you know, we talked a little bit about enrollment and there's this enrollment cliff, right? That's due to changing birth rates throughout the US, certain segments of the US, a lot of the US is losing number of students that are going to graduate and be eligible for college. And so what I've seen, you know, in the past 10 years is some schools just double down on the same thing that they've been doing, trying to do the same recruitment, do the same things to get the students. And that's just not going to cut it. You have to change direction. You have to be sensitive to what's happening so that you can get the students you need to get and compete in the market.

So for us, you know, after COVID or really during COVID, that's where we started the college readiness and doubling down on our community partnerships right with our local ISDs, even with our community colleges here for transfer students, working with them to help the students be successful. And when I say partnership, it's a partnership, right? We're giving to help their students be successful, not just recruiting students. So, we've invested in those students through pathways, through funding, through articulation agreements to help them be successful. So, we've invested in those schools with the college readiness coaches. We've invested in community colleges with articulation pathways. Now, we're even looking at three-year degrees, right, to get students in and out quicker so they can earn their educational goals. So, there's lots of things to do, but you can't just communicate via email and buy names anymore. You have to have a firm foundation and pathway for those students to move forward into your university.

[18:43]  I love that. Two things I want to talk about. It's funny because earlier you mentioned COVID only being six months. I'm in Florida so I don't even know that we ever shut down. We were just open all the time. Like I don't know that you know we're I'm still that guy still going to the gym. Okay. When COVID put my face mask on. But yeah, Florida and Texas got a lot of heat for during those times.

But ISD, you mentioned ISD. For those that may not know what ISD is, can you kind of break down those acronyms?

[19:11]  So in Texas, we're independent. So those are independent school districts. So those are the high school basically.

[19:17]  So there may be for Tyler, Texas, there's the Tyler ISD. For Lindell, Texas, there's a Lindell ISD. So those are the school districts for the local areas.

[19:28]  Got it. Got it. Um, you born and raised in Texas?

[19:30]  No, born and raised in Georgia.

[19:33]  Yeah. Oh, what got you to just school or the job opportunity got you to Texas?

[19:38]  Job opportunity. So, I grew up in Georgia and then I moved to Oklahoma where I went to college and met my wife and started in higher ed in Oklahoma. Um, and then went to Columbus, Ohio, where my wife was from for a while and then moved back to Oklahoma and worked for Oklahoma State, the Center for Health Sciences, the medical school there and then from Oklahoma State went to Roger State University, which is part of the University of Oklahoma system in Claremore, Oklahoma, and started an enrollment management career there. Um, and then went from there to Augusta University, part of the University of Georgia system and then here at the University of Texas at Tyler for the University of Texas system. And with those last three universities, I had the opportunity to be over enrollment management. And I'm proud to say that I was able to lead all three of those through their highest enrollments in institutional history, but not just highest enrollments, but also the highest in academic quality as well as diversity in all three of those schools in those three different systems.

[20:38]  Hell yeah. So, you're the man, huh?

[20:40]  Well, I've been.

[20:44]  Give us the day-to-day. What does it look like in your role?

[20:47]  Sure. So, you never know what's going to happen day-to-day, but a lot of it is working through opportunities and challenges to help students be successful. Whether that be working with donors, whether it be working with curriculum changes, whether that be working with changes with the Department of Education and funding models, and working with our process, coming up with new innovative ways, right, to service our students. One thing that we're doing next week, and this is our third year of doing this, is what we call early enrollment. So, we've been working with these students through our college readiness in these high schools. Well, we're going to take the university to them. So, we're bringing our advisors, we're bringing our enrollment folks, and we're going into the high schools for those that are ready to enroll and we're advising them and enrolling them in college for the next fall start so they can get ahead of the game, get their courses online, that they're ready to go and helping them with their financial aid. So, we're going to go to them and help them get registered for classes rather than just say, "Oh, you need to go to this university you've never been to, wander through the halls and find where you need to go." No, we're going to bring the experts to you and help you be successful. So, we're doing that in several different schools next week. It's a road show to help those students get enrolled and registered for classes.

[22:02]  You guys are ahead of the game for real. And what kind of programs do people normally don't know your school have and when they find out they're like, "Oh, wow. I didn't know even this existed."

[22:12]  Well, we have a brand new, I say new as in the last three years, medical school. So, we have an MD program that's just started here in Tyler, which is amazing. We're really blessed to have that. We have an amazing nursing program with some of the highest pass rates in the state of Texas for our nursing. We have engineering, but not just engineering, every class of engineering, whether that be electrical, mechanical, chemical, all of those different pieces, even manufacturing engineering as well. For engineering, we have an amazing college of business, amazing pass rate for our accountancy program. So, we're really blessed with all those areas. And we have arts and sciences. So we have an art program, we have music programs, we have lots of different things. We have our own for this area. We have the Cowan Center which is the biggest event location here to have venues, performances, all of that as well. So we're really blessed to have a lot of great facilities and great programs here on campus.

[23:12]  Oh yeah, man. It's a lot of different things. And what's next for you, man? I can't imagine that you're already working on the next thing because you're so innovative. What is this next thing that you're looking toward to whether it's position, opportunity, technology?

[23:30]  So we are implementing several different things. So one thing that we're implementing right now is through our CRM slate, we're implementing a current student portal. So what we're doing is we have all these different systems right where students register for housing or they see the current events on campus or they have their class management system, learning management system, canvas or blackboard or things where they go and log in for their classes but they have them everywhere. You have to know what the URL is, you have to go to the site. So we're bringing a current instance portal to have everything in one place the student can just log in, they can check their classes, they can check their balance, they can check their aid all right there in one piece. So that's a technological advance for the institution that we're implementing now. That's going to help us with one student access, two for us to track all the students being successful, make sure they're on task to do the things they need to do. So, this is going to be an amazing thing for our students as well.

That's a technology piece. But we're also navigating the changes in federal student aid. That's a big thing that's coming up for all the universities coming up based on changes in loans, Pell grant, things of that nature as well to make sure that our students are sustained and supported as we move forward. We're also looking at some amazing changes on campus. Our president has an innovative plan to bring in more housing to redesign the campus entrance to do some amazing things for the university to help us move forward as a university as well. So all those exciting things are coming to campus. So I'm happy to be part of that.

[25:03]  You guys are ahead of the game for real. And what kind of programs do people normally don't know your school have and when they find out they're like, "Oh, wow. I didn't know even this existed."

[25:10]  Oh, yeah. They can do it on their phone, they can do the website, they can do tablet, however you want to log in, but that'll get you behind the sign-in wall. So, you'll have access to everything to do things securely, whether it be your finances as well, but to view all that and to get through the process. So, it's going to be a big help for our students that haven't had that opportunity in the past.

[25:29]  I want you, David, to speak to me as if I was this young Ephrain and I'm trying to enroll myself in school and I just don't know where to start. For those that are listening, it doesn't have to be this young Ephrain. Maybe I'm Ephrain, 36 years old. I want to get into school. What does that look like?

[25:46]  Sure. Well, first I would just instill in you the importance of higher education, right? Higher education is the single greatest factor in breaking the cycle of generational poverty. It is. And so when you have someone that you've brought up and you've allowed the opportunity to earn their degree, to go out and get a job, you're not only changing their lives, you're changing the lives of their families, of their children, and their children to come because they see this opportunity to participate in higher education, to better themselves, to earn a better wage, and to give back to society. So, the ripple effect of a college degree is amazing. And we it's very easy to see as shown in data and facts. The income potential with a higher ed degree is a million more dollars in your lifetime than if you don't get a college degree. So, it's a very impactful change. And so the importance of the higher ed degree I think is very needed to understand by folks for pursuing that degree but also is providing that opportunity.

So if I was talking to a young student I would say, "Hey, guess what? We have some amazing programs that's going to help you pay for this because it's not just about access, it's about opportunity. And if you don't have aid to help cover charges, then that's not access." And so for UT Tyler, we have an amazing Patriot Promise program. If your family makes less than $100,000 a year in income, that means you as a Texas resident will qualify for tuition and mandatory fees being covered at the University of Texas in Tyler. So there are some amazing scholarship opportunities and that's just ours. There's Pell grant, there's Texas grant, there's other funds available, there's academic merit scholarship. So there's lots of opportunity. It's about exposing students to all the different ways that they can help pay for their education and then also share again through our peer mentors the amazing time that you can have in higher education. I mean, let's face it, I'm a testimony. That's where I met my wife, right, was in college.

[28:00]  And my wife has transformed because of the amazing woman that she is and how she's helped us and supported us over the years.

[28:06]  Because of college. Yeah. No, for sure.

[28:08]  Um, do you by chance, I don't know if you guys have these stats, but like what is the admission rate or the enrollment rate for someone that is not coming out of college and maybe 25 and over and want to just get that education for the first time?

[28:25]  So, for us, it's a little less than maybe up 45% are transfer students that we bring into the university. So, there's quite a few that come back. Another program that we're doing, we're working with adult folks, usually, that are what we call teacher aid or paraprofessionals in the schools, right? And helping them get back through college so that they can be a teacher in those schools and providing access and funds and opportunity for them to do that with online classes or night classes so they can still work full-time and do that as well. But so usually if it's an adult coming back, they have a good success rate because they're focused on achieving that goal.

[29:08]  Okay.

[29:08]  While they're working and they're busy, they may have little fewer distractions than a teenager that's coming down to school.

[29:14]  Yeah. Yeah. I am that guy that has to start to look into it. So I'm asking all these questions because there's people out there that says, "Man, am I too old?" Or this could be difficult or, you know, it was challenging back then. Is it still the same? So, I love that we were able to really gather some more information on how easy it has become. You mentioned leaving money on the table. People always say, "Man, all this money that people are not tapping into, but it's because they don't know." And I love that you guys have become the educators around it, right? Letting you know where the resources are and how to get those resources and help you sign up for those resources. That is huge. A lot of people just need to be kind of held by the hand, and you guys are doing that perfectly, allowing people to just see.

[30:01]  Is graduation rates also going up? What does that look like for you guys?

[30:03]  Yeah, it is. So, we're getting better retention, better graduation because of the programs that we're doing. So, it's really amazing to see the transformation. You know, I talked about this in different interviews and stuff, but when I got here six years ago, we were struggling a little bit in some of these areas. And so, we sort of turned that around. And so for East Texas, we have transitioned from a second choice institution to a first choice institution for students for East Texas, and that has changed quite a bit, and we're moving forward with great pace and we're excited about the future.

[30:34]  So good. David, we can continue talking about what you guys are doing over there, but for people that want to know, tap into the social medias, look at a website, what is the website they can go to? Are you guys on social media? Things like that.

[30:46]  So for UT Tyler, it's uttyler.edu. is our website and so we have different things. We're also on Amazon's college tour. So that is on our website, but you can Google UT Tyler Amazon College tour. That gives you a great insight to all the different programs. Beautiful campus that we have here in East Texas. East Texas is a little bit different than the rest of Texas. We are green and have trees, so more like Georgia, I think, than the rest of Texas. We have a lot of trees and piny woods they call us in East Texas. But a beautiful campus. We have ponds, lakes, really beautiful site to be to see and some amazing athletic programs. So the Amazon College tour is a great display I think of what we have here at UT.

[31:33]  I've never heard that. So this is Amazon partnering with schools and physically creating like that walkthrough tour.

[31:50]  Uh even more they have a host that does them and interview students, interview the president, go across campus, talk to folks in programs. It's pretty amazing.

[31:50]  Wow. You said I can find this on your website?

[31:52]  You can. Yep. In fact, it's easy enough to find. Just do Tyler.

[32:02]  Let's see. Let's see. I love it. I love that we're doing this live time here because I've never heard of this innovation right here.

[32:15]  Yep. You just type it in. It'll tell you UT Tyler the college tour full episode. It's on YouTube.

[32:15]  Wow. Okay. I'm look it up, right? I'm typing it in now. So, we've

[32:18]  Wow, that's so cool. Um, that's it goes back to I see. Yeah. The college tour is an Amazon Prime series hosted by Alex. But wow, look at this. Learn something new every day. This is why I got to talk to people. We got to educate ourselves. This is actually really really cool, man. I really appreciate your time. I love what you've done just in the space of not just for UT Tyler but just other colleges and universities throughout the country. And I can imagine that if you feel accomplished here, you might say, "You know what? Let me go do another challenge," because I think you just love challenges. Is that correct? Or you just been a competitive person your whole life or what's up with all these challenges?

[32:54]  You know, my new provost came in and she had us do what they call Clifton Strengths. I don't remember that, but they assessment. It's like, yeah, I'm competitive. That's the

[33:03]  I'm about to say you seem very competitive. That's why you're like, "I'm here. Let's see what's done. Okay, let's make this even better."

[33:11]  Because you really is about the goal, right? So, we're doing these things for a purpose. It's not just to have good numbers, good stats. It's about changing lives. And so, that gives you purpose in what you're doing. And so, I appreciate that. And it helps me get up every day and do the amazing things we do because I know tangibly we are changing lives in what we do. That makes a huge difference.

[33:32]  Always say it's not about us, man. It's about the next generation. And David, you're definitely pouring into them. We appreciate you. Are you on LinkedIn as well, David?

[33:38]  I am.

[33:39]  All right. So, we can check you out on LinkedIn as well. Same name, right? David Baron.

[33:43]  It's Darren Higher Ed.

[33:46]  If you guys want to check them out on LinkedIn as well, I'm pretty sure you're open to questions or anything like that through LinkedIn. You guys can obviously check out their website and find more information about how you can get enrolled or just if you need just information. We talked about the Amazon, you can take that tour. David, we appreciate you. Any last message for those that are watching?

[34:04]  You know, I think it's important that you have dreams and that you follow those dreams and look for people that are going to help you be successful. In my job, in my life, I want to help people be successful. And I think if you surround yourselves with those folks, there's nothing you can't do. And so, college education is a big piece of that. And I'm glad to be part of that mission.

[34:25]  Love it. Thank you, David. My name is Era. This is David. Make sure you guys go like, subscribe, and comment to see more great conversations like this. Until next time, Lers.