MRE celebrates anniversary with special activities
The TIAS School for Business and Society Executive Master of Real Estate (MRE) program is this year celebrating its fifteenth anniversary. In 2014, a number of activities are therefore being organized for Real Estate professionals, alumni and other interested parties. The anniversary year will be launched in April with a world café.
During this café, TIAS professors will hold discussions with alumni about new forms of executive education. TIAS will also offer a number of webinars on Provada and career sessions will be held at the real estate trade fair. A Bike to Meet for real estate professionals will then take place on September 5. The anniversary year will conclude in October with a Real Estate LAB.
The foundation for the MRE program was laid 15 years ago by Professor Emeritus Willem Keeris. On the campus of the Technical University of Eindhoven, he together with a permanent team of instructors established a program that educated real-estate professionals to become certified portfolio managers and Masters in Real Estate. This program had a clear structure right from the start with management forming the backbone. This ensured a range of participants from the real estate sector. The relevance of the program was confirmed in 2007 by RICS when the program was accredited.
In 2009, the program moved to the campus of Tilburg University and became part of the offerings at the TiasNimbas Business School. The reason for this move was the merger of the Graduate School of TU/E and the TiasNimbas Business School of Tilburg University.
The appointment of Aart Hordijk (in 2010), Dirk Brounen and Ingrid Janssen (in 2011) further strengthened the Real Estate field of knowledge at the Tilburg business school. This was unique in a time when the real-estate market was wrestling with the economic crisis. The crisis created space in which to critically examine the altered demand and to adjust the program accordingly.
Metamorphosis into new roles for the real-estate manager
The program underwent a metamorphosis in 2011. It is now better aligned with contemporary issues and the new roles of the real-estate manager. In addition to the necessary real-estate knowledge, a great deal of attention is devoted to strategy, innovation and personal management. The various modules are not infrequently the academic basis for investigations into regularities on the real-estate market, the material then being examined with scientific insight. The program also makes frequent use of information derived from research conducted by the Real-Estate LAB. This lab was founded in 2011.
The repositioning of the program in combination with its scientific basis allowed it to be accredited by the Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organization (NVAO) in 2013. Graduates can now bear the title of Master of Science (MSc).
MRE is growing further but is also not losing sight of practice. The team was again strengthened in 2013 with the addition of Menno Maas.