Educators Conference Draws Record Attendance
By Larry
A. Outlaw, Director, Education and Licensing
A record number of real estate instructors, school
officials and publisher representatives attended the 2004 Real Estate Educators
Conference held in
The 194 persons in attendance represent the highest
level of participation since the Real Estate Commission began sponsoring these
annual conferences in 1979.
Real
estate license examination performance was a focal point of the first morning’s
program.Data presented by Larry Outlaw,
the Commission’s Director of Education and Licensing demonstrated the dramatic
effect of time elapsed between completing the Salesperson Prelicense Course and
taking the license exam.The data
confirmed, as everyone had suspected, that the sooner students take the license
examination after salesperson course completion, the better their examination
performance.Instructors were urged to
share this information with their students in an effort to encourage them to avoid
delays in taking the license examination after course completion.Instructors were also urged to do a better
job of assisting students with proper completion of their license applications
to minimize the likelihood of applications being returned due to improper
completion.
The
related issue of school and instructor accountability for students’ performance
on the real estate license examination also was the subject of considerable
discussion. Mr. Outlaw advised participants that the Commission would fully
consider the concerns expressed by participants and in a letter to the
Commission from the North Carolina Real Estate Educators Association.
The first
morning also included a very helpful panel discussion on successful
instructional approaches featuring Marlene O’Day of the Bill Gallagher School
of Real Estate, Rashad Phillips of Central Piedmont Community College and Wade
Phillips of the Dan Mohr School of Real Estate.
The North
Carolina Real Estate Educators Association held its traditional luncheon
meeting and awards presentation led by President Sandy Williams of the Mingle
School of Real Estate.The Association
presented its “Educator of the Year” award to Kimberly Stotesbury of the
J. Y. Monk Real Estate Training Center and its “Program of the Year” award to Deborah Long of the Fonville-Morisey Center for Real Estate Studies for her CE
course entitled “For Your Own Good: REALTOR® Ethics.”
Also
during the luncheon, Commission Chairperson Allan R. Dameron presented the
Commission’s Billie J. Mercer Excellence in Education Award to NCREEA’s
Educator of the Year, Kim Stotesbury.In addition to Ms. Stotesbury’s outstanding instruction in both
prelicense and continuing education courses, she also serves as a co-instructor
of the Commission’s Broker-in-Charge Course.This award is presented annually in memory of former Commission member
and chairperson, Billie Mercer, who was especially dedicated to the cause of
real estate education.The name of each
year’s award winner is engraved on the Mercer award cup that is displayed in
the Commission’s lobby.Commission
members Raymond A. “Buddy” Bass, Jr., Sang J. Hamilton, Wanda J. Proffitt and
Matthew J. “Rick” Watts were also in attendance for the presentation.
Following
the luncheon, the Commission’s Licensing Officer, Katherine Kader, reviewed license
application problems and changes in criminal record report procedures.
Participants were then treated to two excellent presentations by Deborah Long.
Ms. Long first showed participants some of her favorite clips from movies and
TV shows and discussed how to effectively and lawfully use such materials to
augment classroom instruction.In her
second presentation, Ms. Long acquainted instructors with a number of websites
that have helpful resource information and demonstrated how to more efficiently
search the web for materials instructors can use to enhance their instruction.
On the
second day, Mr. Outlaw conducted a detailed review of the Broker Prelicense
Course syllabus to obtain from instructors suggestions for improving the
syllabus or changing the course.With
only a few minor suggestions, the instructors indicated overwhelming support
for the current course and syllabus.
Pamela
Rorie, the Commission’s Prelicense and Continuing Education Officer, reviewed
various CE issues, including rules revisions, possible topics for the next
update course, and new procedures being implemented to reduce continuing
education course completion reporting errors.
The
conference concluded with a legal update session by the Commission’s Legal
Education Officer, Patricia Moylan, featuring a review of recent law/rule
changes and of selected judicial and disciplinary cases from
The
Commission thanks