Outreach and service to the real estate industry are key components of Cornell’s Program in Real Estate. These activities occur on campus and at events held around the country. They include:

  • the annual Cornell Real Estate Conference, typically held at Cornell but sometimes held in New York City
  • regional Cornell Real Estate Council events held annually in major cities around the country
  • on and off campus special events relevant to the real estate industry
  • career service activities and research serving Program students and industry.

Cornell Real Estate Conference

The first Cornell Real Estate conference took place in 1983. Between 200 and 300 people attend these annual events. About a third of the participants are students. The other two thirds of the attendees are senior real estate executives and prominent entrepreneurs. Many of the industry participants are Cornell graduates. These events provide the opportunity for to renew their connection with the university.

The theme of the conference varies to generate informative and stimulating presentations and discussions on current and critical industry issues. The presentations often become the basis for articles that later appear in the Cornell Real Estate Review. National media, such as the Wall Street Journal reference presentations made at these conferences.

Regional Meetings

Each year, the Program holds regional meetings in the major metropolitan areas around the nation. In 2009, venues for regional events include Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Chicago, San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Attendance is drawn from the 1,400 member of Cornell’s Real Estate Council. Sometimes these events are jointly sponsored by the Urban Land Institute or other real estate organizations such as the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks. The regional events present the opportunity to spread the word about the Program as well as renew connections with Cornell graduates around the country. As with the annual real estate conference, topics are timely and relevant to current trends and issues affecting real estate investment and development.

The regional events present the opportunity to spread the word about the Program as well as renew connections with Cornell graduates around the country. As with the annual real estate conference, topics are timely and relevant to current trends and issues affecting real estate investment and development.

Special Events

In addition to the annual real estate conference and regional meetings, the Program sponsors several ongoing special events as well as other one-time events relevant to the real estate industry. Events that are held each year include:

  • Case Studies in Urban Development – Funded by a generous gift from Matt Witte, the Program works closely with the College of Art, Architecture and Planning to conduct development case studies. Program faculty work with planning faculty to select an area or neighborhood in a major urban area that is ripe for change and presents the opportunity to demonstrate how collaboration between real estate and urban planning and design professionals and community leaders can create superior development solutions for communities and economic opportunities for investors.
  • Urban Land Institute/Hines Real Estate Competition – Each year the Program fields several teams of students who compete with students from peer schools around the country in developing a response to a case study challenge sponsored by the Urban Land Institute. The students who participate benefit from an intense learning experience that supplements the regular real estate curriculum. In recent years the Program has placed highly in this annual competition.
  • Entrepreneurship@Cornell – The Program supports and recruits participants in this annual event held each April and recruits successful entrepreneurs and those from related fields who visit campus to share their experience. The goal of this event is to encourage students to make to consider entrepreneurial endeavors as they move into the world of work. This effort brings significant recognition to the Program within the campus community and beyond.
  • Urban Land Institute Fall Meetings – A unique aspect of the Program is that it underwrites the registration cost for all students who attend the annual Urban Land Institute held each follow. The result is great exposure for the students and for the Program.

Career Services

Kim Schwartz is the full-time career services coordinator for the Program. Working closely with Program Director, David Funk, she provides information and coaching to hone interviewing and presentation skills essential to securing summer internships and desirable positions upon graduation. Several recruitment events are held on and off campus each year. An expanding roster of prominent industry organizations seek out the Program to meet their recruitment needs.

An ongoing relationship with SelectLeaders, the leading Internet job board for the real estate industry, reinforces the Program’s career services efforts. In cooperation with SelectLeaders and its sponsor Equinox Partners, the Program’s students review and evaluate job postings at several Internet based job sites. The insights generated by this effort are of great benefit to the students and the resulting semi-annual Job Barometer report brings significant national recognition to the Program.