Summer 2020 has been a busy time for the MEITE team! Its members kicked off the summer with students beginning their final course in the program, EDUC 901. In it, Program Director Todd Cherner worked with students to support them in developing both their final project and pitch, which they delivered on July 31during MEITE’s Pitch Day.
Due to the health climate, the MEITE team reimagined the Pitch Day event and moved it to be a virtual event. This year, 10 students pitched their final products that consisted of ventures, courses, and reports they created while in the program. The event began with Cherner sharing some words about this cohort of students and their collective achievements followed by Dean Fouad Abd-El-Khalick highlighting innovations happening in the School of Education. Velvet Nelson, director of Launch Chapel Hill, shared about the startups founded by UNC-Chapel Hill students and community members that her organization has supported. From there, the event turned to the pitches.
Pitch Day was divided into two rounds, so five MEITE students pitched their projects and the event then transitioned into breakout rooms for 20 minutes. Attendees were able to visit the different rooms, and the students who pitched were able to discuss them further, conduct demonstrations, and answer questions. After the breakout rooms, the attendees came back together for the second round of pitches followed by another round of breakout sessions. After that second round ended, Cherner concluded the event by expressing his appreciation to the students, staff, and faculty along with the attendees who came together to make this event a special sendoff for the graduating MEITE students. You can read about the projects, view the students’ professional websites, and download their pitch decks from this site.
Also during the summer, the MEITE team had a 3-day retreat to prepare for the upcoming school year. Together, they applied the Business Model Canvas to the MEITE program and identified the main customer segments, value propositions, revenue streams, channels, customer relationships, key activities, key resources, key partners, and cost structures. Through this process, they were able to narrow down their target audience, identify places to reach them, and create a detailed recruitment plan for the 2020-21 academic school year. Patricia Harris, director of recruitment, and Keith Sawyer, faculty member and the creator of MEITE program, joined them to help develop strategies. The retreat ended with Cherner and Aliyah Benton planning out the next steps to prepare for the school year.
To end the summer, the MEITE team welcomed our biggest cohort of students yet into the program. MEITE Orientation was held Aug. 5 using a HyFlex model, and 26 students attended either in person or online. Cherner led the orientation, and the students were able to get to know one another, learn more about the program, and virtually tour the Carolina Innovation Ecosystem. From there, classes began Aug. 10, and we are looking forward to having a very eventful and safe semester. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.