2005 Education Committee Report

Patricia E. Himes, Chair
Education Committee 

We are blessed to have a wonderful Residential Education Committee this year! There are 52 "rock'n REALTORS®" on board that have generously given of their time and talents to help us in developing, reviewing & implementing quality educational classes for the members of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. It is great to see both seasoned REALTORS® & those new to the business serving side by side and sharing ideas & concerns. We can learn so much from one another and bring important diversity of opinions to discussions.

Obviously, when you think of the Education Committee, you think of the required 30 hours of continuing education courses every licensee in the state of Ohio must complete every 3 years. Our goal is to find some really interesting courses that will be of value to you and that will be fresh.

A classic example of this is the course given in February by Jim Lubinsky and a panel on "Everything You Need to know to Successfully Sell Condominiums". With so many empty nesters gravitating to condo life and the younger generations finding it a "cool alternative to renting", this was a very timely & well attended course.

We also offer the three core classes in ethics, civil rights and core law. We pride ourselves on having exceptional instructors in all areas. I believe you will find our classes to be entertaining and interactive.

You can register for classes online at the CBR website or by calling Lucy Hadley at CBR headquarters, 614/475-4000.

All 30 hours of continuing education may now be taken online through the Ohio Association of REALTORS® or Hondros College. This is a very convenient way to pick up some or all of your continuing education courses.

Yet another task for the Residential Education Committee is reviewing the courses that have been presented at CBR. (Yes, we do indeed read those course evaluations that you are asked to fill out at the end of a CE class!) A member of the committee volunteers to compile the results of the evaluations and then reports back with the results to the full committee. We appreciate your comments and suggestions. It helps us to know how we can improve on a course or if it is a valuable course for our membership.

We have two working sub-committees: Review and Library.

The Review Subcommittee reviews and presents course proposals from outside sources to the entire Education Committee for approval. It is most helpful to have this astute group of REALTORS® analyze the proposed courses and make a recommendation to committee.

The Library Subcommittee is responsible for the maintenance of our library at CBR headquarters. We have a wonderful collection of books, video and audio tapes on real estate related subjects. They have everything from the book "Selling for Dummies" to motivational tapes from popular speakers. Each year the committee purchases new materials for the library. Currently the subcommittee is soliciting donations of any real estate related books, tapes or DVD's that CBR members may no longer need for their personal offices. It is wonderful to see our library resource center grow! If you have anything you would like to donate, please contact Ron Brandler of CBKT in Reynoldsburg, 614/866-0808. (Yes, a shameless plug for donations to our library!)

A special thanks to each of our Residential Education Committee Members for making time in your busy schedules to give back to the Columbus Board of REALTORS® by serving on this committee. And last but not least, much appreciation and gratitude go out to Lucy Hadley, our staff liaison. She is our tireless advisor, sounding board and friend.