Sustaining an industry
By: J. David Chapman/September 6, 2018
If you are reading this column, there is a good chance you have an association with the real estate industry in the state of Oklahoma. I spend a lot of time talking about the resilience and sustainability of the built environment in our community. We have made great strides in protecting our community, preserving our great historic buildings, and creating places where people actually want to live, work and play. I congratulate our industry leadership in organizations such as ULI, COCAR, OKCMAR, Positively Paseo, CREC, BOMA, OAR, and others for their progress.
While I am proud of our progress in our community, I spend very little time talking about what it takes to sustain an educated real estate workforce in our state in order to maintain and continue this progress. On Sept. 19, COCAR and the University of Central Oklahoma will be holding an event at the UCO Boathouse from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to create an endowment to ensure that our real estate program at UCO will continue to provide the talent our industry needs, including real estate brokers, property managers, mortgage brokers, appraisers, title processors/closers, inspectors, urban planners and developers.
It is no secret that the real estate workforce in Oklahoma is aging, with fewer young people entering into the industry. For example, the average age in the appraisal industry is over 50 years old. The numbers are similar for commercial real estate brokerage and mortgage originators/lenders. UCO is the largest provider of real estate professionals with in-field degrees in our state, with more than 80 students in the program. It is also not a secret that higher education in Oklahoma has endured significant cuts in recent years to the point that the state is now responsible for providing only 21.82 percent of our current funding. The rest is now funded by student tuition and private donations.
A $25,000 endowed donation to the University of Central Oklahoma Real Estate Program provides $1,000 a year to support the program. Since announcing the fundraising event set for Sept. 19, I have already received two pledges of $5,000 each. Those donors have asked me to use their commitment to encourage others to step up and match their donations, and help ensure our program can continue to produce the talent our industry needs.
J. David Chapman is an associate professor of finance and real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).