Students at the Kelley School of Business on IUPUI’s campus will have more options, beginning this year, when it comes to learning about commercial real estate.
The Kelley School’s Center for Real Estate Studies has expanded programming to the IUPUI campus, now offering its intensive, eight-week Commercial Real Estate Workshop both in Bloomington and Indianapolis. Kelley students at IUPUI also have the opportunity to take a full complement of real estate courses including the Real Estate Law course, offered for the second semester in a row in Indianapolis.
“The industrial, and residential real estate markets in Indianapolis are booming,” said Doug McCoy, the Al and Shary Oak Director of Real Estate and Senior Lecturer in Finance at the Kelley School. “Indianapolis is an outstanding industrial distribution hub in the United States and downtown Indy has seen a very positive renaissance. At IUPUI, students can intern and work while they’re going to school, because these firms are right down the street. Companies need talented employees, and our students can help fill that gap.”
“Real estate is a huge economic driver in the city. By developing this program further, we’re working to provide talent to employers right here in Indianapolis,” said Phil Powell, Associate Dean of Academic Programs at the Kelley School at IUPUI.
The expansion of the workshop to the Kelley School at IUPUI was made possible through gifts from the Center’s generous Advisory Board members. Indianapolis civic leaders and Center Advisory Board Members Al and Shary Oak (Cripe) and Lacy M. and Patty Johnson (Ice Miller) recently contributed endowed Legacy level gifts to the Center to support the Center’s expansion to Indianapolis, to increase diversity, and to provide financial support for students during internships.
“Our real estate workshop is case-based,” said McCoy. “This challenges our students to integrate and apply classroom learning skills and internship experiences at a sophisticated level. Not only are students working on technical skills, but also interpersonal skills, as they sit across the table from high-ranking executives, giving their responses to a case. Students who participate in the workshop leave ready to hit the ground running.”
Previously, IUPUI students, like Hunter Leonard, BS’18, drove to Bloomington if they wanted to participate in the workshop. Leonard graduated with a degree in finance from the Kelley School at IUPUI and served as president of the Real Estate Club when he was an IUPUI student.
He says participating in the workshop led to two internships and a new job in Chicago, where he will work at Ernst & Young (EY) as a real estate consultant. It also introduced him to the Kelley School alumni network, which he says has been a huge benefit for networking, mentoring, and job searches.
“I discovered new career opportunities through the Real Estate Club at IUPUI,” said Leonard. “The club gives you perspective beyond residential real estate and home sales. You can do so much in real estate, whether you want to be a broker, investor, owner and operator, banker with a mortgage company, property manager, you name it. The Real Estate Club and program have allowed me to make important networking connections in the community and meet Kelley alumni who want to help me succeed.”
“To students considering real estate, I would tell them the Kelley School real estate program is ideal if you’re looking for a career that combines numbers and people and the ability to make a difference in your community,” said Leonard. “There’s a perfect balance between interacting with great people and crunching numbers in spreadsheets. Every day is a new challenge, and you can be entrepreneurial and creative in addressing those challenges.”
About the Kelley School of Business on IUPUI’s campus
The Indiana University Kelley School of Business has been a leader in American business education for nearly 100 years. With nearly 110,000 living alumni and an enrollment exceeding 10,500 students across two campuses and online, the Kelley School is among the premier business schools in the country. The Kelley School at IUPUI is home to a full-time undergraduate program and four graduate programs, including master’s programs in accounting and taxation, the Business of Medicine Physician MBA and the Evening MBA, which is ranked 13th in the country by U.S. News & World Report. Learn more at kelley.iupui.edu.