is our vision and our belief, and we strive to create that culture my screen on all six projectors in the room, facilitating a more
through experiences and opportunities that build interest,
traditional lecture, or I can allow the tables to independently
understanding, and engagement.
control their projector, displaying their monitors with a push
We place a priority on
of a button. This allows the
experiential learning, with a
room to function as five
higher than normal allot-
independent teams collab-
ment of internship credits,
orating on projects, solving
Education is more interesting, careers
job shadowing activities built
problems, and presenting
are more interesting, and life is more
into the courses, local and
their findings. The room is
national networking oppor-
also equipped with cameras,
interesting when you are engaged and
tunities with employers, and
speakers, and microphones
sharing in that experience with others.
projects that get students
to capture presentations, offer
interacting with the commu-
hybrid delivery, and remotely
nity. I expect my students to
bring guest speakers into the
connect and to learn from
space.
each other. Education is more interesting, careers are more
When the center is not being used for program classes,
interesting, and life is more interesting when you are engaged
the students have card access to the space to study, collabo-
and sharing in that experience with others.
rate, or simply socialize with other colleagues. We bring in
guest speakers on topics of real estate, personal finance, and
The Weidner Center for Real Estate Management
professional development through a speaker series titled
With additional support from Weidner Apartment
“WHEELHOUSE,” and host club events.
Homes, we recently doubled down on these beliefs and
With a glass storefront, backlit portal entrance, and inter-
developed the Weidner Center for Real Estate Management.
net bar, the Weidner Center breaks the mold of a traditional
Housed in UAA’s College of Business and Public Policy, the
classroom and a traditional way of teaching and engaging
center is a designated classroom and lab for our program and
students – but that is the point. It is more than a space to
its students. Designed around five collaboration tables, each
conduct class. It is a space for continuous connection and
with a projector at the head of the table, the space is optimal
immersion in the program. It is a hub, a home base, and an
for team-based learning and information sharing.
anchorage (little “a”) for learning and the advancement of real
Each table has six to seven computer stations with moni-
estate management.
tors mounted beneath a glass surface, allowing students to ac-
cess technology without interrupting the flow of communica-
tion across the table. From the head of the room, I can display
Terry Fields is the Program Director and Assistant Professor for the Weidner
Property Management and Real Estate Program in UAA’s College of Business
and Public Policy.
Fields graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, with an MBA,
Entrepreneurship and MS, Residential Property Management. He holds a real
estate brokers license and is an approved real estate instructor for the state of
Alaska. He is an academic member of the Institute for Real Estate Management
(IREM), serving as the local chapter’s Education Chair, and on the national
Student and Academic Outreach Advisory Board.
Terry Fields
Program Director and Assistant Professor
Weidner Property Management and Real Estate Program
UAA College of Business and Public Policy.
January 2018
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