I had the opportunity to meet my mentor and friend, Dr. Steve Mooney for lunch recently. In typical Mooney fashion he picked a sandwich shop that has been around for years, Bo Diddley’s, and of course he is such a regular he doesn’t even have to order, they know his sandwich preference. I thought it would be fun this month to share some of Dr. Mooney’s wisdom and hear what he has been up to since retiring a couple years ago. Of course, many of you reading this know Dr. Mooney well and all he has done for the real estate program. I had the pleasure of being his student during my time at SCSU 1994-1998 and he scared me… I didn’t think he liked me that much (I only fell asleep in his appraisal class once) J I really came to appreciate all that he had done after I graduated, and he helped pave a course for me to return to SCSU as a professor.

Dr. Mooney, can you share when you came to St. Cloud State, why real estate, and how you created such an amazing niche program?

Mooney:  After a number of years as a residential broker in St. Louis Park I was also teaching continuing education courses in the Twin Cities and Winona.  I decided that I wanted to teach real estate at the university level so I went up to St. Cloud and talked to George Karvel who had established the Real Estate program at SCSU.  In about 1981 I went to SMU (Southern Methodist University) to obtain an MS in Real Estate and Regional Science.  I went to SCSU in 1982 to teach as an Instructor.  I taught for two years and then decided to go get a PhD in Finance at Texas A&M.  In about 1986 I returned to SCSU to teach both Finance and Real Estate.

The value of our program is the amazing network of alumni and friends that give back – through mentorship, scholarship, and hire our students for internships and jobs. Tell us about the mentor banquet and how you came up with the idea? Why do you think the real estate alumni organization is so strong?

Mooney:  I came up with the idea for the Mentor Program after a trip to Australia in 1991 to go to the weddings of two young women who were married the same weekend.  They were little girls in 1971 when we met them.  I decided to visit a number of university real estate programs while I was in Australia.  When I visited the University of South Australia the Real Estate Dept. Head told me about their successful Mentor Program.  The only downside of the program was the difficulty he had in obtaining professional mentors.  I thought we can do that and I know a good source of mentors, our committed Real Estate Alumni.  As it turns out, they have been the backbone behind the success of our Real Estate Mentor Program.  I think the success of the Real Estate Alumni Association is in large part due to the commitment of the earliest grads functioning much like war buddies in their support of each other in the early years, as well as those who have followed their lead in the same fashion.

If there is one thing, I learned from you it is that you can be a professor who teaches in the classroom but even more valuable, you can mentor and really care about your students. You always invited students out to your home at the end of the school year for a potluck, boat ride, sometimes golf, or ping pong. You always attended graduation ceremonies.  Tell us some of your favorite memories with students and alumni.

Mooney:  I have wonderful memories both in and out of the classroom.  I certainly enjoyed the outside stuff including playing tennis with students, playing golf, and working the student Real Estate Association.  The absolute highlight though were the graduation ceremonies.  When I started at SCSU we were on quarters with a graduation ceremony each quarter as well as one in the summer, that’s four each year.  Over my 35 years at SCSU I calculated that I attended about 150 graduation ceremonies, and loved each one of them.  Everyone was ALWAYS smiling, the only day of the quarter/semester.

And perhaps most importantly, what have you and Kate (Dr. Kate Mooney – Accounting Professor) been up to since you retired?

Mooney:  It has been a funny retirement due to Covid, but we have been able to do a few things.  In addition to our biking, I have been able to play a bit of tennis, pickleball and golf.  In January/February 2020 we made it to the Australian Open in Melbourne.  That was a great trip and we actually got to have dinner with the young women who were married in 1991.  Other than that we made it to Panama City, FL for our oldest grandson’s high school graduation last month.

I have a request.  It appears that I was deleted from the (Real Estate Alumni) email list when the planning was taking place for my retirement party (in 2019) and thank you so much for that beautiful evening.  However, I would love to be added back to the list which I think I have requested several times.  I’m assuming it was an oversite and you don’t all hate me already.

So, these are the ramblings of the old guy.  I have to comment on my replacement.  Kelly is doing an outstanding job, so good in fact it’s embarrassing for the old guy.  I take solace in the fact that I helped in her training.

Take care,

Steve

As the school year comes to an end it’s time to reflect on the accomplishments of the students and wish them well on their next adventures. Some are graduating and moving on to new jobs and others taking a break over summer and hopefully return to a more “normal” campus in the fall.  The good news for real estate majors is there were quite a few requests from employers looking to hire this summer. Entry level positions in appraisal, brokerage, property management and capital markets! The real estate program is rich with student athletes right now and many were able to gain another year of eligibility due to Covid-19, so several postponed graduation and are returning to campus next fall and picking up a second major or a minor.

It will be interesting to see how Covid-19 has changed the campus and higher education.  Like every company out there, we had to learn a new way to do what we do over the last year and there certainly will be what I like to call “Covid Keeps.” The worst way that you could teach an online class is to just share a recording of your “lecture” and expect students to watch it. But feedback from students is that when I record finance/math problems that I work through it is very helpful. Both for the students that attend class live or missed that session. They can go back and watch me explain how I have got to the answer. I can’t see that I would ever go through complex problems in the classroom and NOT record and post the video as a tutorial. In the fall I played around with teaching classes in a HYFLEX manner. This means that I offer the class in person and online and the student chooses (for each class period) how they want to learn. They can choose to come to live class, watch the class through live-stream video, or take the lesson asynchronously on their own time. There are some bumps I would iron out, but the students for the most part enjoyed the flexibility of choosing how to learn. If there was a guest speaker or I was covering a topic they wanted to have participation in they could come to class or stream but could be more flexible with their work schedules without impacting their learning if they chose not to attend live. I will be teaching HYFLEX again next fall and trying out some new things.

The President of the University, Dr. Robbyn Wacker has been working hard on her It’s Time Initiative, which is loaded with a bunch of great things, but one part of the plan is achieve academic distinction with award winning programs. The Real Estate Program is highlighted a program of distinction as the only Minnesota State School to offer a real estate degree and one of only a few universities regionally. Coupled with the fact that our graduates land great paying and high demand jobs, it is a program we will market and grow. More to come!

I was able to enjoy sabbatical spring semester so had extra time to work on some publications and program efforts, but I miss the students and can’t wait to return to them in the fall. The reason I love my job is the interaction with the students (whether online or in person) and I look forward to returning to the energy they give me.  My article, “Infusing Cultural Differences into Complex Real Estate Projects” was recently accepted into the Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education and should be published this summer. I will share more details about the research and study after it prints.

I will be attending graduation ceremonies this Saturday, May 8 and its my favorite time of year. Instead of one large ceremony there will be several smaller ones. It is so fun to see the students and their families enjoying such a great accomplishment!  To students that have graduated, alumni that have changed jobs, or industry partners that would like to be added to my distribution list, please provide contact information updates. There is a form here or you can just send me an email kajameson@stcloudstate.edu.

Our strong partnerships with the industry are the reason our program is so meaningful and successful for the students!

Cheers! Happy Summer!!