The views of the property industry on the curriculum of the undergraduate property studies degree in the School of Construction Economics and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand
Date
2012-08-24
Authors
Jay, Graeme Michael
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Abstract
Employers are an important group of stakeholders in the education that is provided to the graduates that they will eventually employ. As a result, any revision of the curriculum of the undergraduate property studies degree offered by CEM at Wits should take the views of the property industry into account.
The research undertaken for this research study was completed in two parts. An initial study of senior management of large property companies operating in the property industry in South Africa was undertaken. The second part of the research surveyed past students who had completed their studies in the School of Construction Economics and Management and who graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand.
This research study investigates what knowledge and skills are required by the property industry in South Africa of graduates who have completed their degree in property studies.
The results of this research study clearly indicate that there are certain areas that graduates require more knowledge of and that graduates lack practical skills when entering the work environment. The responses received from respondents in both sample groups indicated that there is too much focus on construction subjects in the current curriculum. An increased focus in the areas of property finance, property investment and asset management is required. Graduates require the degree programme to be suitable for the purposes of the academic requirements to becoming a registered valuer. Respondents in both samples were of the view that the property industry should introduce an internship programme to integrate knowledge learned at university with the practical skills required in the work environment.
It is suggested that the property studies curriculum should focus more on finance, valuations and economics and less on the quantity surveying and construction type courses, which the current curriculum contains. The inclusion of these suggestions in the curriculum will allow the degree to move closer towards the curriculum required by the property industry in a property studies degree programme