By Ginger L. Schultz-Lamitie, Licensing and Education Officer
The Real Estate Commission's first New Instructors' Seminar was held at the North Raleigh Hilton on November 1, 2000. Twenty-four prelicense instructors were in attendance for the six-hour session. Approximately half of the attendees were instructors whom the Commission had approved since October 1, 2000 to teach salesperson and broker prelicensing courses.
The Commission's contract instructor, Vicki Ferneyhough, D.R.E.I., teamed with Licensing and Education Officer Ginger L. Schultz-Lamitie to conduct the course. They presented materials which are covered in the 67-hour Fundamentals of Real Estate salesperson course and the 60-hour New Broker Course, along with educational methodology.
Group activities and discussions utilized the skills and experiences of veteran instructors - both prelicensing and continuing education. New instructors had an opportunity to network with other instructors and to discuss their concerns and ideas.
Each attendee received a notebook with camera-ready originals from which they may produce transparencies for classes. At their request, instructors also received on diskette the PowerPoint presentation used by the presenters. This will enable instructors to produce transparencies, handouts and worksheets, or to project the slide images.
Also at the seminar, the Commission obtained e-mail addresses in an effort to promote the free exchange of materials, ideas, and information; e.g., when a question is asked regarding procedure or interpretation of a rule, the question and answer are posted for the entire Prelicense Instructor Mail List. Memos and other correspondence are also being transmitted electronically. This form of communication is being utilized to maximize staff's time and energies
The Commission now has e-mail addresses for 85 of the 107 currently-approved prelicensing instructors. E-mail addresses are being obtained for the remaining 22 instructors as well as the applicants whose requests are pending processing.
The Commission's first New Instructors' Seminar received favorable reviews and suggestions for future seminars. The next seminar will be held in Charlotte.