Faculty Spotlight: From the Court to the Classroom, Carrie Heilman’s Competitive Spirit Pays Off

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by Jacob Solomon Mar 17, 2023 News
Faculty Spotlight: From the Court to the Classroom, Carrie Heilman’s Competitive Spirit Pays Off

Heilman taught marketing at Washington University after graduating with a doctorate in management and a specialty in marketing. She joined the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia six years later.

She visited the University of Virginia and fell in love with it. "Who wouldn't want to live in Virginia?"

The Integrated Core Experience is a part of the undergraduate curriculum that Heilman taught. She taught brand management at the master's level. The Promotions course is a two-semester program that Heilman took over.

More than 150 schools compete in the annual National Student Advertising Competition to create a marketing campaign for a corporation. Indeed is the number one job website in the world.

The previous instructor of the course placed highly in the national competition for a decade in a row. She had big shoes to fill, so she felt nervous.

Heilman said that he works extra hard to teach, mentor and support the students in order to set them up for success.

All fourth-year undergraduate students at the University are welcome to take the class. Only 30 students are accepted to the class. Heilman tries to create a classroom culture that is similar to a sports team.

Heilman believes that you can't walk through a wall for someone until you have a good relationship with them. To be successful in this competition, my students need to walk through walls with each other.

Heilman tells her students to look around the room when they first start class.

She said that even if you don't know that person, they might be the best man at your wedding or the godparent of your child. Every year I tell my students that one of the most valuable things they will get out of the class is their lifelong friends.

One of Heilman's current promotions students is a fourth-year marketing major.

Being on this team requires you to communicate with each other constantly. Carrie has a sports background and she stresses the importance of communicating.

She is very disciplined and encourages us to hold ourselves to a high standard as well.

Heilman has a competitive spirit that makes her ideal for a challenge like the National Student Advertising Competition.

Repetition and hard work are the keys to success for athletes. I can't expect my students to learn anything unless they try it, fail, and learn from their mistakes.

During her first year as a teacher, Heilman and her students placed third. The UVA won first place in three of the last four years. The team finished second in districts.

She thinks the students are hungry and ready to do some damage.

Heilman is described as a special professor by a fourth-year student.

Everything feels official in promotions. Carrie doesn't talk to us like she's the teacher. She makes us feel part of the team and can make decisions.

Heilman serves as the University's faculty athletics representative, a position that bridges the gap between the athletic department and UVA's faculty, while representing the University at meetings of the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA. Heilman makes sure that student-athletes are allowed to play.

Heilman is in a position to coach and advocate for student-athletes in ways that will maximize their academic and overall experience at the University.

Heilman's passion for athletics is carried by four of her children. Like Heilman did when he was a child, Heilman's daughter plays a lot of sports. Heilman is a softball coach.

She said that she couldn't do the work for her students because she couldn't play the game. They are the ones who have to go out and perform and I can't do anything about that.