Topic: College of Applied Sciences and Technology
June 15, 2007
For the fifth consecutive year, every Ball State student taking the National Apartment Leasing Professional (NALP) exam passed. In addition, for the third semester in a row, every student who took the Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) exam passed.
The two achievements are significant particularly because employers desire such national certification, said Carla Earhart, director of the residential property management (RPM) program in the family and consumer sciences department. Ball State's RPM program is approved by the National Apartment Association, which allows the program to offer these designations.
In addition, Ball State is the only university that offers students - typically sophomores and juniors - the opportunity to earn the NALP designation, Earhart said. As a result, RPM students already have the designation when they begin their internships.
The NALP exam tests a student's knowledge about apartment leasing, ranging from legal issues to customer service. In addition to the exam, students seeking this designation must successfully complete and present an apartment market survey.
Similarly, every graduating student who took the CAM exam since the summer of 2006 has passed. The exam tests students' comprehensive knowledge of the apartment industry, including residential, financial, human resources and management issues, fair housing, maintenance, marketing and legal topics. In addition to the exam, students must successfully complete an apartment community analysis and an internship in the apartment industry to obtain the CAM designation.
"Employers appreciate that Ball State's residential property management students already have their CAM designation upon graduation," Earhart explains. "It is just one more indication of the quality of our program and the students who come out of it."