Record-setting attendance marks the Commission's eighteenth annual Real Estate Educators' conference.
By Anita R Burt, Education and Examination Officer
The Real Estate Commission held its eighteenth annual state-wide conference for real estate educators on April 28 and 29 at the Omni Europa Hotel in Chapel Hill. The 163 attendees included prelicensing and continuing education instructors, school directors, course sponsors, and representatives of major publishers of real estate education materials.
Education and Licensing Director Larry Outlaw opened the conference by leading participants in an overview and discussion of proposed topics for the 1997-98 Continuing Education Update Course. Continuing Education Officer Pamela Milligan discussed the Commission's standards for approval of continuing education elective courses and presented detailed guidelines for course development. Instructors heard comments on their classroom performance from Licensing and Education Officer Diane Ursone, who had recently traveled around the state to observe the quality of teaching in Commission-approved continuing education courses.
Highlights of the second day included presentations by John Conley, Professor of Law at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Deborah H. Long, Distinguished Real Estate Instructor (DREI) and author of numerous real estate publications. Professor Conley discussed aspects of copyright law of interest to educators, and Dr. Long explained the rapidly-occurring societal and technological changes which will affect real estate education in the 21st century. Education and Examination Officer Anita Burt described the process by which the Commission is updating its licensing examinations. She reported on the work of the Commission's Examination Subject Matter Advisory Committee and explained how the prelicensing courses and licensing examinations will be revised to include new topics and changes of emphasis as recommended by the Committee and endorsed by the Commission.
In conjunction with the conference, the North Carolina Real Estate Educators Association (NCREEA) held its annual meeting and awards ceremony recognizing exceptional contributions to real estate education during the past year. Bill Gallagher of Charlotte was honored as "Educator of the Year" while Howard Perry and Walston Real Estate School received an award for "Program of the Year." NCREEA newsletter editor Mike Hughes received the "President's Award" for his outstanding service to the organization.
Also in attendance and assisting at the conference were Penny Childress, Assistant to the Director of Education and Licensing, and Continuing Education Specialist Faye Dunn, who helped with conference planning and pre-registration.