Title of Effective Practice: - California Postsecondary Education ...

Direct Connection to Policy Area 1 of The Illinois Commitment
DePaul University's Real Estate Center
DePaul University
What issue or need is addressed by the effective practice?
As the nation’s third-largest city, Chicago boasts a large, complex and dynamic real estate market. DePaul
University’s Real Estate Center, part of the Kellstadt Graduate School of Management, was created in 2002 to
prepare graduate and undergraduate students to succeed in this industry, to meet the ongoing educational needs of
current practitioners, and to conduct research that will help enable Chicago and the Midwestern market to reach its
full potential.
Description of the effective practice:
The mission of The Real Estate Center is to become “Real Estate Central” for the City of Chicago and the Midwest
region. The center is accomplishing this through a continuum of educational and professional opportunities. The
center began offering an MBA concentration in real estate when it was first opened; a master of science in real estate
and an undergraduate major have since been launched. In addition, the center established a variety of career support
programs, including internships, seminars and conferences, and a mentoring program.
To support professionals, the center hosts or co-sponsors numerous conferences and symposia annually. It also has
completed two research projects and has successfully secured grants for a total of 13 research cases, which investigate
real-life business situations that are then taught in the classroom to give students a practical, hands-on learning
experience.
How does this practice achieve sustainability?
The Real Estate Center recruited 42 founding and sustaining sponsors, enabling it to continue its programming. In
addition, in 2005 it received a $2 million gift from Douglas and Cynthia Crocker to fund the directorship of the
center.
What are the results/measurable outcomes?
More than 65 MBA students have graduated with a concentration in real estate since it was first offered in 2002. In
late 2004, the center created a Real Estate major within the Bachelor of Science in Commerce degree; since then, five
undergraduates have earned a BSC(RE) degree. Current enrollment includes 76 MBA candidates; six candidates for a
master of science in real estate; 28 undergraduates majoring in real estate; and an additional 26 double majors.
The center also developed a summer internship program and identified part-time employment for undergraduates in
11 firms. It established additional relationships with 21 firms for full-time employment for graduating students. A
total of 37 positions were posted with these firms in 2006.
Conference attendance began well and has steadily increased. Nearly 850 professionals attended the “Chicago
Forecast Conference” in January 2006. Another 200 attended “Main Street Retail: Trends and Pitfalls of the Retail
Revolution” in December 2005. More than 125 students from six universities attended the center’s Second Annual
Collegiate Real Estate Conference.
Published research includes “Spatial Competition and Shopping Externalities: Evidence from the Housing Market”
and the upcoming “Cross-Sectional Asset-Pricing Analysis of the U.S. Housing Market with Zip Code Data.” Three
of the 13 funded research cases have been completed and are being taught in DePaul classrooms.
Real Estate Center plans for the near future include establishing accreditation for chartered surveyors; creating a
distance-learning platform for coursework; publication of additional case studies; and maintenance and enhancement
of the forecast conference and fall symposium as premier conferences in the region.
Contact Information
Name: Susanne Cannon
Email: scannon@depaul.edu
Phone: (312) 362-5906
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