2003 Educators Conference

 

Highlights Effective Teaching Methods

By Larry Outlaw, Director of Education and Licensing  

 

An enthusiastic crowd of 160 instructors, school officials, authors and publisher representatives attended the Real Estate Commission-sponsored 2003 Real Estate Educators Conference held in Raleigh on March 13-14. The number of participants equals the record established in 1994 when the continuing education program was implemented.

A conference highlight was a panel discussion on prelicense course standards and successful teaching methods. The panelists were: Jerry Thomas, Sea Coast Real Estate Academy, Wilmington; Saundra Martin, Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte; Lois Branning, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Kannapolis; and Roy Faron, J.Y. Monk Real Estate Training Center, Charlotte. Participants were very excited about the excellent ideas shared by these outstanding instructors.

In keeping with the conference’s primary emphasis on prelicense course standards and instructor performance, attendees participated in an Examination Item Crafting Workshop conducted by John Morgan of Morgan Testing Services, New London, CT. Mr. Morgan discussed and illustrated standards for examinations and question writing principles to assist instructors in developing effective course examinations.

“Update” sessions on prelicense education, the license examination and continuing education were conducted by Commission Education and Examination Officer Anita Burt, Pamela Rorie, Continuing Education Officer Pamela Rorie, and Director of Education and Licensing Larry Outlaw. These sessions addressed matters of special interest to instructors, such as school and instructor license examination performance, the updated salesperson course syllabus, course examinations, problem topics on the license examinations, planned topics for the 2003-04 CE Update Course, and plans to reduce CE course completion reporting errors. In addition, Legal Education Officer Tricia Moylan conducted a forum on selected frequently misunderstood legal issues.

During the first day’s luncheon, the North Carolina Real Estate Educators Association (NCREEA) held its spring meeting and annual awards program under the capable direction of President Deborah Carpenter of the Fonville-Morisey Center for Real Estate Studies in Raleigh. The Association presented its “Program of the Year” award to Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte and its “Educator of the Year” award to Anne Rasheed of Boone, who teaches for the J. Y. Monk Real Estate Training Center.

Also during the luncheon, Allan Dameron, Real Estate Commission Chairperson from Holden Beach, presented the first annual Billie J. Mercer Excellence in Education Award to NCREEA’s Educator of the Year, Anne Rasheed. This award was recently established by the Commission in memory of Mrs. Mercer who, as a member and former chairperson of the Commission, was especially dedicated to furthering the education of real estate practitioners and persons entering the real estate business. In a special presentation ceremony honoring Ms. Rasheed and the late Mrs. Mercer, Mr. Dameron and others paid tribute to Mrs. Mercer, who lived and operated her own real estate company in Wilson. Those participating in this special presentation included Connie Corey, President of the North Carolina Association of REALTORS®, who was a close personal friend, and David Cockrell, Immediate Past President of the Wilson Board of REALTORS®. Other special guests in attendance at the presentation included C. H. Mercer (Billie’s husband), Fran Cockrell (close friend and fellow REALTOR®), Commission members Wanda J. Proffitt of Burnsville, Sang Hamilton of Winton and Mona Hill of Pinehurst, and Commission Executive Director Phillip T. Fisher. Mrs. Mercer would have been extremely pleased to see the tremendous attendance at this year’s conference and the level of dedication demonstrated by North Carolina’s real estate educators.

The Commission thanks North Carolina’s real estate educators for their support and congratulates Anne Rasheed and Central Piedmont Community College for their achievements.