Driving excellence

Volunteers at IREM are the backbone of our curriculum, guiding our learning opportunities and playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of property management. By joining an IREM committee, advisory council, or ethics panel, volunteers not only share their industry expertise and innovative ideas but also forge invaluable personal and professional connections.

Members of IREM’s Knowledge Solutions Advisory Council are instrumental in developing our certification courses, ensuring that our training remains cutting-edge and relevant. Their responsibilities include:

• Identifying industry trends: Keeping a finger on the pulse on the latest industry trends and practitioner needs to guide the development of certification courses and other knowledge products, including publications, JPM, webinars, podcasts, and blogs
• Providing expertise: Offering subject matter expertise to create high-quality content and knowledge products
• Shaping events: Contributing insights and topic ideas for IREM conferences and events, including our new PropertyCon coming in April 2025

Innovations in 2024: a year of growth

Each year, council members are assigned to assist in updating or developing a learning product. In 2024, they played a crucial role in launching the new certification course, Managing Affordable Housing (MAH201), which went live on July 15. As affordable housing becomes a significant and rapidly expanding sector, there is a growing demand for qualified managers for these properties. MAH201 offers an alternative path to the ARM® certification, enhancing the skills of managers in this field and potentially attracting new members to IREM.

Additionally, the council updated two key certification courses: Leading a Successful Property Management Company (BDM603) and Leading a Winning Property Management Team (HRS402). These updates included the latest industry practices and the addition of instructor videos to the self-paced versions, ensuring a comprehensive learning experience.

Looking ahead to 2025: continuing the journey

In 2025, the Knowledge Solutions Advisory Council will focus on updating two more certification courses: Managing Condominium and Homeowners Associations (CID201) and Managing Commercial Properties (CML201). They will also contribute to updating several skill badges covering distressed properties, maintenance, marketing, and leasing.

By highlighting the dynamic contributions of IREM volunteers and the continuous improvements in our certification courses, we see the essential role volunteers play in advancing the property management profession.