Uptown Charlotte is home for new Executive MBA program

The University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School has announced plans for its Uptown Charlotte campus for its new Charlotte Executive MBA Program. UNC Kenan-Flagler will welcome its inaugural class this fall at Legacy Union on South Tryon Street, where Charlotte’s central business district meets South End.

“Our new Charlotte campus will be a dynamic learning center where we will offer the exceptional quality of our nationally recognized MBA program,” said Doug Shackelford, dean and Meade H. Willis Distinguished Professor of Taxation. “With the same faculty, admissions standards and curriculum, UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Charlotte MBA program offers our students the same education and cohort experiences they could get in Chapel Hill, without the commute.”

UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Charlotte campus will include 16,000 square feet on the fourth floor and a first-floor presence in Legacy Union’s new Bank of America Tower at 620 South Tryon Street. A flexible classroom environment will make it possible to configure two to four classrooms which can be arranged based on the professor’s teaching style and topic. The campus also will offer a rooftop deck for outdoor learning opportunities and events; balcony access; courtyard access for outdoor studying; an indoor break area; and space for the Charlotte program’s core administrative team.

As seen on Charlotte sidewalks – a message to market the new MBA program.

The Charlotte expansion marks UNC Kenan-Flagler’s first location outside Chapel Hill. Selecting Charlotte for its expansion puts the school in the heart of a robust economic region where students and their employers alike will benefit from the powerful transformation that comes with an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler.

Identifying Legacy Union for its Charlotte campus provides students with proximity to transportation and access to convenient amenities by car, transit and on foot. At the intersection of Tryon Street and Brooklyn Village Avenue, the location offers quick access to I-277, I-77 and I-85 and is a block from the Stonewall Light Rail Station. The UNC Kenan-Flagler Charlotte campus is within walking distance from Uptown’s myriad employers, offers ample parking for drivers and includes access to Legacy Union amenities such as a fitness center available to students.

The two-year Charlotte executive MBA program begins with September orientation in Chapel Hill and Charlotte classes starting in October, with Monday and occasional Friday afternoon in-person instruction by UNC Kenan-Flagler’s world-renowned faculty, who will travel to the Queen City for in-person classes; Impact Weekends that offer cohort experiences with students in the school’s Chapel Hill executive MBA program; and a course that features Friday executive lunches with leaders and C-Suite executives from Charlotte-based businesses. The executive lunch series is an element unique to UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Charlotte program, strengthening the school’s and its students’ connections with the Charlotte business community. Students earning their MBA in Charlotte will have the same curriculum as students earning their executive MBA in Chapel Hill, with some adaptations to meet the needs of the business community in the Charlotte region.

“The opening of a UNC Kenan-Flagler Uptown Charlotte campus continues our mission to serve North Carolina,” Shackelford said. “It gives us the opportunity to be a stronger part of this vibrant city where we can immerse ourselves in the region’s industries, create a pipeline of talent for its businesses and empower its next generation of leaders with a UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA. The opportunity to partner with Highwoods as our Charlotte Campus Sponsor and host allows us to hit the ground running with an organization we know well and hold in high regard.”

For its fall 2022 launch, the Charlotte executive MBA program will use existing lecture space within Legacy Union. The full campus build out will be complete in spring 2023.

Bryan White and Chris Schaaf with JLL represented UNC Kenan-Flagler. Highwoods is the owner of Bank of America Tower. Lincoln Harris, developer of Legacy Union, assisted in the engagement. Ridr Knowlton and Campbell Walker with Lincoln Harris represented Highwoods.