Brand Pillars

The words in the chart below are representative rather than exhaustive and all-inclusive. For more information about these brief statements or the words used in them, roll over them with your mouse and click to jump to more detail.

The way in which we provide a learning experience that develops both sets of skills, as described below, further sets UNC Kenan-Flagler apart from other schools. At some schools, the two types of skills are called hard skills and soft skills. UNC Kenan-Flagler chooses not to say “soft skills”, because in our experience, both types of skills require hard work and practice to develop and refine.

The brand proof points distinguish UNC Kenan-Flagler’s approach, support the brand position and help attract top applicants for whom UNC Kenan-Flagler is the best match.

More about:

Perceptions of UNC Kenan-Flagler

The Customer Promise

Looking at the brand position from a student’s perspective, the customer promise is that students will gain complex technical and interpersonal expertise as well as greater awareness of self and others, accelerating their ability and opportunities to lead.

Proof Point: Combination of Technical Rigor and Character Building

The first pillar refers to how the School develops both types of skills in our students. UNC Kenan-Flagler does this both in the classroom and through practical, reality-based experiences in which students apply and integrate what they’ve learned. Character does not refer only to being ethical, but to many different character traits that can be strengthened through practice: resilience in the face of failure, calm and ability to focus in a crisis, and resourcefulness under difficult circumstances.

Proof Point: World-Class Faculty

The second pillar refers to the focus the School places on world-class faculty who value great teaching as well as great research. The School is small enough that faculty members know students by name and take an interest in their individual career goals and development. The faculty is application-oriented; they bring their research into the classroom and they emphasize students understanding how to apply what they learn in the workplace. The UNC Kenan-Flagler student experience is one in which both academic rigor and supportive coaching play an important role.

Proof Point: Curricular Flexibility

The third pillar of breadth and depth in curriculum works in the following ways across the school’s programs for a learning experience customized to career needs:

• For MBA and undergraduate business students, required courses at UNC Kenan-Flagler provide broad and comprehensive exposure across foundational management competencies. In the full-time MBA and undergraduate business programs, students begin to customize and deepen their academic experience in the first year from a wide variety of electives, based on their strengths and career interests.
• In the Evening and Weekend MBA programs, students praise the number of electives available to them, larger than in most other top programs.
• Companies running Executive Development programs tell us they value the flexibility that UNC Kenan-Flagler offers in programs designed to help them meet business objectives.

Proof Point: Collaborative Culture, High Quality of Life

The fourth pillar - UNC Kenan-Flagler's collaborative atmosphere is visible in students' strong sense of community and in faculty who not only challenge, but support students in learning. Students say professors are accessible and listen to student needs. Collaboration of faculty and students adds value to the student experience.

Quality of life in Chapel Hill and the Research Triangle:

• Current international students tell us that international applicants need to know that Chapel Hill is halfway between Atlanta and Washington D.C., with the stimulation and culture of a metropolitan area and the safety and family-friendliness of a small town.
• Students in entrepreneurial and venture capital programs want applicants to know that the area’s Research Triangle Park is the largest planned research business park in the United States with companies of all sizes, start-ups, and venture capitalists.
• Undergraduate business students already appreciate everything UNC and Chapel Hill have to offer.