By Paul Rosta
David Hartzell, professor of finance at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School, cites the familiar rule of thumb that the half-life of the content of an executive's MBA education is two to five years. In an effort to keep pace, significantly more executives than before are returning for a few days of training four or five years after graduating from business school, Hartzell noted.
Given the diversity of real-estate stakeholders, many types of courses are in demand, from accounting to law. One topic in particular appears to be growing in popularity. "Real estate has become a field where sophisticated financial analysis is the order of the day," said Stuart Gabriel, director & Lusk chair at the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate. "(We're seeing) interest on the part of brokerage firms to be assured that commercial brokers are up to speed."
Leading academic programs are reshaping their strategies to meet their internal needs and the needs of their students. In collaboration with two other USC graduate schools, the School of Policy, Planning and Development and the Marshall School of Business, Lusk is planning more executive education programs, Gabriel reported. New open-enrollment courses will cover such topics as real estate finance, capital markets and regulatory issues. Also in the works are custom programs for corporations, public agencies and non-profit organizations.