Belk College External Engagement Brochure

North Carolina’s URBAN RESEARCH BUSINESS SCHOOL

Together.

The Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte is a driving force for economic growth in the region, a core resource for businesses, a catalyst for economic development, a developer of talent and a supplier of intellect.

Much of the positive momentum and energy at the Belk College is due to its location in one of the most dynamic business cities in the country. Innovations and opportunities abound in Charlotte. In the past two decades, Charlotte has transformed from a regional business hub to the second-largest ďŹ nancial services center in the U.S. Home to the global headquarters of Fortune 500 companies, the region has enjoyed strong growth with a diversiďŹ ed economic base that includes some of the world’s best-known companies in banking and financial services, energy, manufacturing and distribution, health care and retail.

The Charlotte region and the Belk College are models of innovation and progress, and the two have evolved with a parallel trajectory. With vibrant academic programs and research centers, UNC Charlotte and the Belk College of Business are intertwined in the growth of the region.

Just as the city has evolved, so has the Belk College of Business.

Investing in the Future UNC Charlotte and the Belk College of Business have long benefited from the generosity and dedicated personal involvement of the Belk family and executives at Belk, Inc. Ties between the company and Belk College of Business run deep. The College was named in honor of the Belk family and organization in 1990 to recognize their long-standing personal and philanthropic contributions.

The late Thomas M. Belk, a UNC Charlotte trustee, was the first chair of the College’s Board of Advisors in the

1980s, a position later held by his son, current Belk, Inc. President and Chief Operating Officer John R. (Johnny) Belk, in the early 2000s. The late John M. Belk, then chairman of the company, contributed $1.5 million to the College in 2003 to support expansion of its international programs.

Later, The Belk Foundation provided a $250,000 grant for the Belk College to launch the Student Center for Professional Development (SCPD), a comprehensive career resource center for business students.

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Making an investment in the Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte is important to us. We know from experience that this gift will have a far-reaching positive impact and will directly support the Belk College’s vision to be at the forefront of business education and to foster partnerships with the Charlotte business community that are critical to our region’s economic growth.

John R. (Johnny) Belk

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This gift honors our decades-long support of education while providing the foundation for future growth for the Belk College of Business. Thomas M. (Tim) Belk, Jr.

In 2013, Belk, Inc. donated $5 million to the Belk College of Business to fund endowed professorships, research and teaching grants and a Belk Scholars Program to prepare business students for careers in analytics and business innovation. This gift is the largest in the history of the Belk College.

LEFT TO RIGHT:

Tim Belk, Chairman and CEO, Belk, Inc. Dr. Steven H. Ott, Dean, Belk College of Business Dr. Philip L. Dubois, Chancellor, UNC Charlotte Johnny Belk, President and COO, Belk, Inc.

Dr. Sangkil Moon Associate Professor and Cullen Endowed Scholar of Marketing

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We Connect.

The Belk College enjoys close ties to the Charlotte business community. As a key component of its mission, the College’s programs support the economic competitiveness and vitality of the greater Charlotte region and the state of North Carolina. Additionally, the College provides top-quality education in leadership and management.

The Belk College enjoys strong connections to regional business and civic partners, including the Charlotte Chamber, Charlotte Business Journal and the Arts & Science Council.

Since its founding, the Belk College has been an active advocate for economic development in the region. The College collaborates on economic development efforts with government entities and business organizations to attract, retain and grow commerce in the region.

Located in Charlotte’s vibrant business core, UNC Charlotte’s Center City campus serves as a hub connecting the business community to Belk College’s students, faculty and alumni.

Students in the Belk College benefit from an active alumni network. The Belk College has more than 26,000 alumni. Of these, 17,000 live and work in the Charlotte region, and there are also significant numbers of alumni in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and the New York metropolitan area.

Alumni are represented in every state in the U.S. as well as in more than 65 countries worldwide.

26,000 Alumni

17,000

Alumni working & living in Charlotte

Alumni are represented in

ALL 50 STATES Alumni are represented in more than

65 COUNTRIES

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It was a pleasure to have learned economics in the Belk College of Business, which provided a solid education, emphasizing problem-solving skills and everyday professionalism. I have very much enjoyed collaborating with Belk College professors on teaching and research, and am thrilled to be a triple graduate of UNC Charlotte and to be in partnership as an alumnus and colleague.

” Dr. Caleb Stroup, ’01 Assistant Professor of Economics at Grinnell College

After graduating from UNC Charlotte with a master’s and bachelor’s degree in economics and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, Caleb Stroup went on to Vanderbilt University for his Ph.D. in economics. He is now an assistant professor of economics at Grinnell College.

He continues to keep in contact with UNC Charlotte in multiple ways. This past summer, he came full circle in the Belk College of Business by guest teaching a class to a younger generation of economics students.

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We Collaborate.

The Board of Advisors, comprised of accomplished business and civic leaders from top companies in Charlotte, works closely with the Belk College to ensure its relevance to the business community. With wise guidance from today’s business leaders, the Belk College of Business remains at the forefront of educating the business leaders of tomorrow.

The greater Charlotte business community has relied on the UNC Charlotte Economic Forecast for invaluable economic data since 1981. Babson Capital Management joined the Forecast in 2010 as a sponsor to host the quarterly reports at events for the public and the media.

The Belk College not only collaborates locally, but also globally.

Dr. Luis García-Calderón Díaz Professor, EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey

With global citizenship as a core value, the Belk College of Business offers a variety of programs in collaboration with international partners, including an MBA concentration in global business, an MBA in global business & strategy with top-ranked EGADE, the graduate business school of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, and a dual-degree economics program with the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark.

In cross-discipline collaboration with colleagues at UNC Charlotte, the Belk College frequently partners with other Colleges to develop academic programs that anticipate and respond to the evolving business environment.

A recent example is the Data Science & Business Analytics (DSBA) initiative, an industry-universitystate partnership to broaden and deepen North Carolina’s business analytics talent and stimulate strategic innovation. The Belk College, the College of Computing and Informatics and the College of Health and Human Services are partners in this initiative. Together, this team provides intellectual capital, academic programs and outreach activities to meet the needs of employers in the new data-driven economy, both in developing a highly trained workforce and in providing cutting-edge research to address challenges and opportunities in the rapidly changing business environment. The DSBA initiative supports high-end job creation and business investment in the Charlotte region and across the state. UNC Charlotte offers undergraduate, graduate, executive and graduate certificate programs related to DSBA. The College of Business is also home to the Center for Real Estate at UNC Charlotte.

The establishment of the Center for Real Estate marked the culmination of a multi-year and multi-million-dollar fundraising effort to build a real estate program of national stature at UNC Charlotte. The Center is the embodiment of the successful partnership between the University and the real estate industry - a relationship strengthened by a mutual interest in growing and supporting the North Carolina economy.

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The Belk College of Business prepared me for my positions at Bank of America. It is a pleasure to continue to be a part of the College shaping future business leaders. As one of many examples, my colleagues and I are always impressed with the caliber of students who become our associates through the ATP program. I am proud of the collaboration the two institutions share.

” Julie Harris, ’00 CFO, Global Commercial Banking, Bank of America

When Julie Harris graduated from the Belk College of Business with a degree in finance and a concentration in accounting, she immediately entered the Finance Management Associate Program with Bank of America. She has subsequently held positions of increasing responsibility with the bank, and now serves as CFO of Global Commercial Banking. Harris continues to support her alma mater and serves on the Belk College Board of Advisors and the UNC Charlotte Foundation Board.

We Prepare.

The Belk College meets the knowledge need of people and the talent needs of companies and industry. The College provides rigorous academic programs for the entire career life cycle, while collaborating with economic development efforts of government entities and business organizations to attract, retain and grow commerce in the region.

Dr. I-Hsuan Ethan Chiang Assistant Professor of Finance

Belk College undergraduates enter the workforce with a solid foundation, enabling them to immediately contribute. More than 65 percent of these students will stay in the Charlotte area for their entire working careers, feeding the economic success of our region.

Master’s programs prepare individuals for upper management or increased specialization.

In addition to the Master’s of Business Administration program, the Belk College offers graduate programs in accounting, economics, mathematical finance and real estate. The Belk College also offers a professional science master’s degree in data science and business analytics in partnership with the College of Computing and Informatics.

The Belk College offers Ph.D. programs in business administration (finance) and participates in a number of interdisciplinary graduate programs including organizational science, and public policy.

Senior-level executives and managers can further their education and enhance their organization’s performance through UNC Charlotte’s open enrollment and custom executive education programs. UNC Charlotte and the Belk College partner with organizations to prepare current and emerging leaders with the knowledge and skills needed to anticipate and respond to today’s increasingly dynamic and complex business environment. The Belk College’s executive education programs draw from UNC Charlotte’s vast and cross-industry faculty research and practitioner expertise in key focus areas such as data science and business analytics, leadership and strategy and innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Belk College of Business provides a pipeline of talent for business and industry in the greater Charlotte area. Working together with businesses, the Belk College can develop programs that ensure graduates are prepared for a company’s unique needs when they graduate.

One such program is the Applied Technology Program (ATP). The Belk College, the College of Computing and Informatics, and Bank of America have partnered to offer this unique 17-month learn-work-hire program. The ATP provides real-world experiences in the financial services industry to high achieving undergraduate students studying business and technology.

Students begin the program in the spring semester of their junior year, and continue with a full-time summer internship. During their senior year, students work part-time for Bank of America while completing their studies.

Nearly all ATP participants have been offered a full-time position upon graduation.

Student Center for Professional Development

Dr. Daryl Kerr Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs

The Belk College’s Student Center for Professional Development (SCPD) helps undergraduate students develop professional polish. From workshops on topics such as professional business attire, networking or email etiquette to help finding an internship and resume creation, the SCPD is a rich resource for students. Professional coaches can provide individualized career coaching designed to reveal interests and hidden strengths that lead to academic and career success.

Student Union Quad.

UNC Charlotte’s enrollment has grown to over 27,000 students. The Belk College welcomed more than 3,100 undergraduates and close to 700 graduate students this academic year.

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The leading factor that attracted me to UNC Charlotte was the strong, burgeoning interest in the development of new knowledge. This is particularly important to me because new concepts and ideas are constantly emerging in the world of entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurs recognize needs, develop solutions and bring those to the marketplace. As an entrepreneurship scholar, I too want to understand the needs of entrepreneurs as well as the broader entrepreneurship community, and add value to their work.

” Dr. Justin W. Webb Belk Distinguished Scholar of Business Innovation

To produce ideas and processes that add value to business, customers and society, innovation is an integral part of business.

As part of a $5 million gift to the Belk College of Business, Dr. Justin W. Webb joined the College as the Belk Endowed Scholar in Business Innovation. In addition to creating curriculum and teaching courses on innovation, Webb is conducting research on the entrepreneurship process, market-based solutions to poverty and family firm dynamics. A founding member of the Social Impact Research Lab, Webb is dedicated to working with nonprofit and for-profit organizations to improve the implementation of poverty solutions.

We Innovate.

Belk College faculty members hold exceptional qualifications and are active in their respective fields through research, consulting and leadership positions in professional groups.

Through innovative applied research, they make significant contributions to both business and government policy and the business and academic communities. Many professors bring considerable industry experience to the classroom. The faculty is committed to their students’ success, often facilitating networking and acting as sounding boards for career decisions.

Dr. L. Howard Godfrey Professor of Accounting and Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence recipient

Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner Authors of Freakonomics & SuperFreakonomics

Research has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, National Public Radio, Newsweek, Bloomberg Businessweek, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, CBS News, National Geographic, and ESPN.com, among others. Papers by members of the Belk faculty have been featured in: Quarterly Journal of Economics The Journal of Finance The Journal of Banking and Finance The Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking Journal of Consumer Research The Journal of Management Organizational Science Information Systems Research Production and Operations Management Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Leadership Quarterly Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory

Members of the Belk College faculty hold degrees from some of the top universities in the world, and all are academically and/or professionally qualified by AACSB standards.

The Belk College’s NEXT Speaker Series focuses on emerging trends in business. The NEXT Series engages top experts and notable figures in the world of business and leadership.

NEXT creates opportunities for faculty, staff, students and the business community to connect with each other, to engage in collaboration and debate, and to take inspiration from our speakers and turn it into action to better themselves and the community.

With a history spanning seven decades, UNC Charlotte has a solid foundation as an institution of higher education and North Carolina’s urban research University. Yet, it is still youthful enough to possess an entrepreneurial spirit.

The Belk College of Business is a significant source of ideas for business innovation. Partnering with leading businesses, the Belk College seeks to identify, examine and create strategies around emerging business challenges and opportunities.

UNC Charlotte takes pride in developing academic programs that anticipate and respond to the evolving business environment. The faculty shares a commitment to what “will be” rather than “what is” teaching.

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As a student in the Belk College, I was able to realize the dream of starting my own business. With the help of faculty who served as mentors, various leadership and networking opportunities and my internship experiences, I have successfully launched a natural hair care products company.

” Ashleigh Thornton, ’13 Founder, NoireNaturals™

When Thornton was a student, she was a member of UNC Charlotte’s honors program and the Belk College Dean’s Fellows organization. She held impressive internships with Hallmark Cards Inc. in Kansas, as well as Procter & Gamble and McGuireWoods LLP. In her junior year, Thornton founded NoireNaturals™, a line of all natural hair products designed specifically for textured hair. The company has since been featured in Seventeen Magazine and on The Tom Joyner Morning Show, among other national media.

NoireNaturals™ now ships its products throughout the U. S. and in Canada.

We Achieve.

In recognition of the Belk College’s commitment to excellence in teaching, a number of our faculty members have been finalists or won the prestigious Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence.

The Bank of America Teaching Award was first presented in 1968 to recognize outstanding faculty members at UNC Charlotte.

The quality of students the Belk College attracts is also on the rise. GMAT scores for those entering the MBA program have risen a full 40 points in the last decade. SAT scores for undergraduates also continue to climb.

Meanwhile the Belk College’s part-time MBA program is ranked among the top in the nation

by U.S. News & World Report and BusinessWeek.

The Belk College of Business is fully accredited

by AACSB International, the premier worldwide accrediting agency for business and accounting education. Less than 5 percent of business schools worldwide hold AACSB accreditation.

Enrollment in the Belk College’s undergraduate and graduate programs is increasing. With about 2,400 undergraduate students in 1996, today’s enrollment is more than 3,100. Likewise, graduate student population has increased from 472 in 1996 to about 700 today.

1996

TODAY

2,400

3,100

Undergraduate Student Population

1996

TODAY

472

700

Graduate Student Population

We Invite.

WEBSITE:

belkcollege.uncc.edu EMAIL:

bcob-external@uncc.edu PHONE:

(704) 687–7577 ADDRESS:

9201 University City Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28223-0001

Dr. Steven H. Ott Dean, the Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte

UNC Charlotte, The Belk College of Business Š2014 – 1000 copies of this brochure were printed at a cost of $4,995.

belkcollege.uncc.edu