TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa launched a Center for Real Estate Studies to house over a hundred students already interested in the Collins College of Business.
Professor Meagan McCollum directs the program and told 2 News it’s a space that not only the university but Oklahoma lacked. This is a first of it’s kind program in the state.
“We’re really excited to be leading the way,” said McCollum. ”We’re creating opportunities for students, we’re creating opportunities for research for our faculty members, and also creating opportunities for students and faculty to collaborate on research that will benefit our community.”
One of McCollum’s students, John Dalby, took advantage of those opportunities when he got to TU. Dalby said he takes advantage of every resource he can to be as prepared as possible for life after graduation.
Dalby knew nothing about real estate when he stepped foot on campus, but through the classes and networking he’s been able to do, he feels confident in the business at this point in his education. He credits that comfortability to going beyond what is asked of him in class.
“I like to start by hearing what they do in real estate, obviously finding my future path, and then be able to connect it back to myself, and say 'Okay, what do I need to do at the University of Tulsa classes wise, where do I need to continue to grow to hopefully be in their positions one day,'” said Dalby. “I think the things we learn here are very real world applicable, and something that ten years from now I’m going to be able to look back at a real estate finance class at Tulsa and say this really taught me what I needed to know.”
While some of these classes and networking options were available on campus for the last few years, Dalby said launching the center is just one more way to give TU students interested in the field a leg up.
Krysten Russell, who works for Concepts Realty and Concepts Builders, agrees.
Russell said she never heard of such a program, and if she had an option to take courses or be exposed to professionals in this way while she was in school, she thinks her career could be a lot further along.
“I think this is going to help this industry incredibly,” said Russell. “Just allowing students to know what this career path looks like, how to get involved in it, and then having the steps to do so right here in our area. With the growth that we have in Tulsa with incoming students, with Tulsa Remote, with the medical school here, and so many residency programs, I think this is going to catapult this industry and bring a lot of really good education and professionalism to the real estate world as well.”
McCollum said the Center will partner with groups around the community to expand the reach of the work the students and professors at TU accomplish. She said the hope is to attract more people from across different colleges on campus into the program.
“Whether they decide that that’s the career path they want to take, maybe they want to become investors or even if they’re just trying to think of how they’re going to buy their own home some day, it’s valuable knowledge,” said McCollum. “Real estate is really the lens through which we view the whole economy, it’s everywhere it touches everyone’s life.”
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