BY MARK PIERSON

A new agreement between Georgia State University's Department of Real Estate and Germany's oldest private university will enable qualified European students to earn a Master of Science in Real Estate degree (MSRE) from Georgia State. Between five and 10 students from the European Business School (EBS) of Oestrich-Winkel are expected to come to Georgia State every year.

The students from EBS will earn a double degree, the first being the German Diplom-Kaufmann (equivalent to an American MBA), which takes two years to complete, and the MSRE, which is not available in Europe. According to Dr. Karl-Werner Schulte, who initiated the exchange program, the students will be the first in Germany to earn such a double degree. "Our students will not only know the German practice of real estate, but also the American way," says Schulte. He believes that this will increase an already strong demand for the school's graduates.

Founded in 1971 and located near Frankfurt, EBS is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 private universities in Germany. The school has the unique charm of having a castle and surrounding grounds for a campus. The real estate program is recognized as the best in Germany, and was the first of its kind in continental Europe to be accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in England. EBS's model of real estate education, like Georgia State's, integrates real estate management into business administration education. "This is one of the reasons we chose Georgia State as a partner," says Schulte, "since we have the same educational philosophy."

Joseph Rabianski, professor and chair of the Department of Real Estate, says that while GSU has two international real estate courses, the relationship with EBS will diversify the student body inside the classroom. "The EBS students will facilitate our students' contact with people of a different culture who are interested in the same academic discipline, so I think there will be a lot of networking between our students and their students."

The agreement also will open international doors for students from Georgia State. Although other schools in Germany teach only in German, EBS offers courses in English, so Georgia State students will have the opportunity to attend classes there for a semester and have their credits fully transferred.

Yezdi Bhada, associate dean of the College of Business Administration, wants to build on the real estate connection with EBS to develop student and faculty exchanges. "We would like to give our students the opportunity to gain from the cultural benefits of being in a different environment and add additional flavor to their educational experience," says Bhada, who has helped develop recent agreements with institutions in Norway, Republic of Georgia, Egypt and France.

Although faculty schedules make it difficult for faculty to go to EBS for an entire semester, faculty may take advantage of such exchange program opportunities in the future. "We now recognize a more global perspective as part of our strategic initiatives. Students coming here from other universities around the globe will enhance and support these goals."

Rabianski also wants the real estate program to expand, and he would like to see relationships similar to the one with EBS with schools in Asia, Africa and Latin America. He speculates that "in a few years our department will have several students on campus from different continents."

Photograph: Kurt Lauber

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