News Briefs

Public and home school teachers statewide will become students themselves during a Saturday (Sept. 24) open house at UNC’s Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.

The free event also will introduce other field trip sites on the UNC campus.

The open house offers a full schedule, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. During each of seven 45-minute sessions, teachers can preview educational programs that reflect the educational and developmental needs of students at all grade levels.

As part of the open house, teachers will be able to view any of the Morehead Center’s seven planetarium shows and five new high-definition movies.

The open house also includes demonstrations of three new Discovery Experiences at MPSC: "LEGO Lab – Engineering Ingenuity," "LEGO Lab – Vehicle Challenge," "LEGO Lab – Wheels in Motion" and "Round and Round We Go." Each Discovery Experience is designed for a specific grade level and offers hands-on educational activities that involve every student.

Morehead Center officials expect nearly 140 teachers to attend the open house. Teachers should preregister for the event using a link in the "Things to Do" section of the Morehead Center’s Web site, www.moreheadplanetarium.org. The Morehead Center will be closed to the public during the open house and will provide parking for teachers attending the event.

More than 78,000 schoolchildren visited the Morehead Center on field trips last year.

UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School has launched an initiative where master of business administration students will put their leadership skills into practice on behalf of real business problems.

The Kenan-Flagler Leadership Initiative is an integrated, experience-based program that assesses and develops MBA students’ leadership skills and enables them to graduate with a track record of effective leadership.

Mindy Storrie directs the new initiative. Storrie, who draws upon 12 years of management experience at General Electric and seven years leading MBA Career Services at UNC Kenan-Flagler, is a 1997 graduate of its Executive MBA Program.

"Teaching leadership principles is not enough," said Steve Jones, the school’s dean. "The formula for developing leadership skills also includes the trial-and-error application of those principles, followed by constructive feedback. UNC students will apply what they’ve learned to solve real problems for real companies – where consequences matter."

MBAs will apply leadership principles outside the classroom by:

• Developing individual plans that include personal self-assessment and career goal-setting, and then identifying ways to gain additional leadership experiences while at UNC;
• Receiving feedback and reflecting on their experiences guided by leadership coaches;
• Consulting with companies and organizations to solve real business problems; 
• Interacting intensively with executives who will share their expertise through coaching, small group discussions, workshops, training sessions and networking activities; and
• Applying what they have learned in simulations and action-learning projects.

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Susan A. Amey has been named director of MBA Career Services at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Amey has 17 years of marketing and business leadership experience, including 13 years of marketing and strategic planning experience at Black & Decker and Steelcase, both leading companies with global operations.

Most recently, she worked to create a global program for leadership development at Steelcase.

Amey succeeds Mindy Storrie, who was named director of leadership, a new position in the MBA Program. Storrie will direct the new Kenan-Flagler Leadership Initiative.

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News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu