The Weiser Center Works to Shape the Future of Real Estate Through Education, Innovation, and Mentorship
The Weiser Center for Real Estate at Michigan Ross was founded in 2021 as a hub for all things real estate at the University of Michigan. The Center’s mission is to engage students, faculty, and alums to equip the next generation of real estate professionals with the tools to make a positive impact in real estate around the world. To do this, the center collaborates with the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and other schools at U-M to offer an undergraduate real estate minor and a graduate certificate in real estate. The center also hosts panels of industry leaders, sponsors various conferences, organizes real estate career treks, and supports the activities of four different student-led real estate clubs.
Outreach, programming, and mentorship for all U-M students
The Weiser team consists of Student Affairs Program Manager Colleen Triezenberg, Community Engagement Coordinator Natalie Keene, and Faculty Director Bill Bubniak. It also includes three student fellows who assist with the center’s day-to-day operations and serve as liaisons to student groups across campus. Additionally, the Weiser Center receives meaningful feedback and advice from its Advisory Board, which is composed of over 40 industry leaders and real estate professionals from around the world, many of whom are Ross alums.
According to Triezenberg and Keene, a large portion of their work involves outreach to promote awareness of real estate as a potential career path.
“Many students are unaware of what career options are available in real estate. The more we can reach different corners of the campus, the more impact we can have. Our weekly newsletter includes job opportunities, student internships, and upcoming events, including our speaker series and workshops that help students become more engaged with our center’s offerings,” Triezenberg said. “Social media is an important part of our outreach as well.”
To attract more students to real estate, the Weiser Center hosts its Future of Real Estate Competition every year. The competition, which is open to all U-M students, focuses on challenges within the real estate industry and asks students to research and create innovative solutions to current problems, as well as support those solutions with comprehensive business plans.
Weiser also partners with the Michigan Real Estate Club to host the Michigan Real Estate Conference, better known as RE-CON. RE-CON brings together students, alums, and industry leaders for networking, a career fair, and expert panels on current topics important to the real estate industry.
Based on feedback from students and the Advisory Board, the center launched a new program this fall that is available to all U-M students: the Weiser Real Estate Mentorship Program. This program pairs students with an industry mentor for academic advice, career guidance, and networking. This year, the program has established approximately 150 mentor/mentee relationships.
“The feedback we received is that a lot of students want interaction with alums, mentorship, and one-on-one guidance,” said Triezenberg. “From the alumni side of the board, we had a lot of people saying, ‘We want to be involved. We want to be helping students. We wish that we had that type of guidance when we were at Michigan.’”
Navigating growth and looking to the future
While the Weiser Center has been operating at Ross for fewer than four years, it has experienced significant growth within that time. The advisory board was established this past spring to help guide Weiser in the right direction, and the center will soon be hiring a new managing director to lead the team in implementing new ideas.
Moreover, the center is continuously developing its curriculum to equip U-M students with the tools they need to have successful and rewarding real estate careers, even adding three new courses this year. Looking to the future, Weiser’s vision is to add additional, select coursework while continuing to be a thought leader in research. The team also hopes to expand its network of connections among alums and industry leaders, as well as its portfolio of cutting-edge educational opportunities for students.
“We have only one goal at Weiser: to become the number one real estate program in the country, serving our students and acting as a thought leader,” said Bubniak. “Thanks to our unparalleled alumni base, staff, and faculty, we are well on our way!”
