It surely counts as a weird time when a local TV station sends a reporter to Times Square on a mission to find a tourist, if one is available, and ask why they are visiting the Big Apple. But such interviews have recently aired. And the city is urging New Yorkers to get out, ride the subway, go to the Bronx Zoo and the Statue of Liberty and (with social distancing) to patronize shops and services that have been atrophying in the pandemic lockdown since March 2020.
But as strange as it feels now — and we would be foolish to minimize New York’s COVID-19 suffering and the challenges we are facing — those who remember the bad old days of the 1970s have perspective worth considering. During that decade, New York City lost about 600,000 jobs and 800,000 residents. Infrastructure literally crumbled, neighborhoods burned down en masse and bankruptcy loomed over the municipal government. The watchword was, “Last one out, turn out the lights.”
The Power of Higher Education
During that decade, however, the age cohort of those from 25 to 34 years old grew, a testimony to New York’s attractiveness to those seeking to enter and grow their careers. Part of the dynamic fostering that attractiveness was the incredible concentration of renowned colleges and universities. Students came from around the nation and the world and stayed in New York. Richard Florida, in “The Rise of the Creative Class,” attributed this to three characteristics: tolerance, talent and technology that came together in a way that enhances opportunities for a career, rather than just a job. That dynamic helped New York grow from a population of 7 million in 1980 to 8.3 million today.
New York’s universities, including Fordham, are certainly challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is typical of higher education across the country. Thus far, New York’s schools have not joined the 8% of all U.S. colleges and universities (including Harvard, the University of California system, many smaller schools and community colleges) in adopting a total online format for the fall term.
Robert Morgenstern, the director of the Fordham Real Estate Institute, observed that the adoption of remote learning in the pandemic emergency last March was a course correction (if I can call it that) for which both the graduate degree and certificate programs were well-prepared. Already, all real estate institute non-credit courses had been designed and delivered with online options. The major issue for some grad students was connectivity in their residences, but faculty and students rose to the challenge.
“Given the seriousness and uncertainty of the pandemic, nearly all students were very understanding with the flip to remote instruction,” Morgenstern said. No doubt, in-person learning remains a baseline expectation long-term. For now, Fordham is going forward with a hybrid approach. “In order to maintain social distancing and to comply with health and safety guidelines, instructors will use a combination of in-person classroom instruction; live, remote online sessions and asynchronous (i.e., pre-recorded) classes.”
Adjunct faculty, many of whom do prefer the face-to-face interaction of the traditional classroom, are comfortable with using Zoom, as they frequently use remote conferencing in their professional practices.
Outside Help
Industry support has been uplifting during COVID-19. Fordham’s Real Estate Institute benefits from an engaged Executive Advisory Council headed by Lou Mirando of Streamline Realty Funding. In a time of flux, he noted, several core values guide the program.
“Technology has been a help in the short run, but adhering to principle-based business practice with clear direction and moral compass is key,” Mirando said. “Fordham’s ‘seven blocks of granite’ are as emblematic of the school’s tenacity as ever.”
The connection of academic growth and industry needs is fundamental to Fordham’s approach. Since launching in 2017, the Master’s degree program has worked to place students with industry mentors whose guidance supplements the classroom experience. Mirando said that his experience in hiring program graduates has been positive: “Their skill sets are top-shelf.”
Ongoing support for the career aspirations of students is impressive. In midsummer and in collaboration with the Fordha m Real Estate Students Association, two Career Q&A panel discussions were held with participation from advisory council members Kathleen Donovan (UBS), Tom Fink (Trepp), Martin Gilligan (Guardian Life), Marion Jones (Ackman Ziff), Chuck Oliveri (Minskoff) and Peter Tzelios (Wythe Capital), in addition to Mirando and myself. Significantly, the sessions are moderated by Jill Weston — a student representative to the advisory council and a manager at lndeed.com.
Other colleges and universities are coping with similar exigencies. It is not just a matter of classroom versus distance learning. Higher education is a massive business, a significant space-user, community collaborator, employer and complex financial player.
Elaine Worzala, the head of the real estate program at the College of Charleston, said, “Students live in the dorms or rent space off-campus, eat food in cafeterias or local restaurants and use and pay for facilities such as parking. Physical facilities have often been built with bond financing, debts that must be paid. Many small universities have to deal with these issues on an emergency basis.”
Silver Linings
Nevertheless, Worzala suggested that this crisis is creating some positive opportunities.
“We are making learning richer. You can now Zoom experts from New York City, Sydney, Paris, L.A. and Chicago,” she said. You can have more diversity because students can access people literally from all over the world.”
Morgenstern concurred.
“The silver lining in this pandemic is in accelerating and advancing the use of online instruction,” he said. “It is a very valuable tool for faculty in graduate and professional education and an expanding learning environment for our students.”
We should not downplay the severity of COVID-19; neither should we exaggerate troubles.
“While we might be in uncharted territory, Fordham was founded by the Jesuits in 1841 and has endured through civil war, world wars, the Great Depression and periods of intense civil unrest in both the 19th and 20th centuries,” Mirando observed. “This, too, shall pass.”
As New York City faces what might be its most serious threat in the past 50 years, we do well to recall that, even in the midst of turmoil, the Big Apple has been a magnet for the young, bright and ambitious. That should continue, in large measure thanks to the profile of inventive and engaged higher education.
