Higher Education in Real Estate and Facility Management in Switzerland

Abstract

Higher Education in Real Estate and Facility Management is provided at Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS) in Switzerland. The first Master of Science Program in Facility Management has been established at the Institute of Facility Management in 2008 at the Department of Life Sciences and Facility Management at Zurich UAS. The MSc in FM achieved accreditation by IFMA and attracted a high number of international students. Referring to IFMA all competence fields and the entire life cycle in Real Estate and FM where addressed. About ten years later the first Master of Science in Real Estate Management has been established at the School of business and finance at the UAS Luzern. Before that and in addition to the Bachelor and Master of Science Programs academic qualification was provided at Universities and UAS within professional training courses on academic level. The swiss education system provides several qualification tracs and involves training on the job and continuous education programs towards lifelong learning possibilities. Today about 18% of Bachelor graduates decide to continue studying on Master level at Swiss UAS. Higher education has become more and more important. Continuous education in the context of Real Estate and FM has been provided in Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) and Certificates of Advanced Studies (CAS) at several UAS and universities in Switzerland. Table 1 (see attachment) provides an overview of Higher Education programs in Real Estate and Facility Management in Switzerland, Netherland, and Norway at business schools and at faculties of architecture and the built environment. Research, education, and practice at the IFM are integrated towards an interdisciplinary approach. The IFM has expertise in strategic facilities management, real estate management, workplace management and business skills, as well as hospitality and service management, property technology, sustainability, and digital transformation. Research and Education at the Institute of Facility Management (IFM) at ZHAW: ZHAW is the largest UAS in Switzerland with 13’000 students and about 3000 employees. The Zurich UAS is located on three campus areas and is structured in eight schools from Architecture to Social Sciences. The IFM is located at the School of Life Sciences and Facility Management (LSFM) at the Lake of Zurich (Campus Wädenswil, Canton Zurich). In addition, IFM has a long tradition in the provision of continuous education courses in Zurich (Campus Zurich, Canton Zurich). Zurich is a very attractive location and ZHAW in the canton of Zurich and Winterthur provides an excellent environment for higher education in MSc REFM. In 2020/21 about 250 students have been enrolled in the bachelor in FM program. Main areas of education and research are: Workplace, FM in Health Care, and Real Estate and Service Management. Around 60 new Master students per year are expected with the new Curriculum of the MSc REFM starting by autumn 2022. Considered the interdisciplinary context of Real estate, architecture and engineering industry FM has become the missing link between realization, operation, and usability of the built environment. Reengineering of a Master of Science study program in Real Estate and Facility Management: The former Master of Science program came to the end of its life cycle after more than 13 years in existence. How should an existing Master of Science program be reengineered to attract students? Didactically, the heterogeneity of the students’ background must be dealt with in many Master of Science programs. This is also true for this MSc REFM. The article introduces fundamental considerations and presents a structural framework that is tailored to a reengineered teaching and learning process. Based on interviews with executives from the private sector and public administration, an expert workshop with participants from senior management from the private sector and public institutions, market and internal research at the IFM, student surveys, and requirements of the FM professional associations, it is shown that the (future) specialists and executives in real estate and facility management are confronted with challenges which require a holistic management of infrastructures - starting with the planning and creation through the use up to the dismantling (see also “Real Estate Economics: Volume 1 - Business Basics”, 3rd edition, edited by Karl-Werner Schulte, Munich, page 374). These requirements are also reflected in the GEFMA 100 guideline of the German Facility Management Association. Furthermore, the disciplines that are primarily to be located in a real estate life cycle, such as architecture, business administration and engineering, are supplemented by an entrepreneurial dimension consisting of content from disciplines such as personnel management, change management, law, operational technologies, building technology and IT. In addition, knowledge about topics in sustainability and digitalization is a nowadays must, nearly independently of the chosen study program. Instead of reengineering the MSc program on its own, the IFM choose to build strong cooperation and links with other departments at the ZHAW, and partners in the public and private real estate sector. The Reengineering of the MSc REFM curriculum has been also developed in cooperation with the division Banking Finance Insurance (ABF) at the School of Management and Law (SML), which is located in the city of Winterthur (Campus Winterthur, Canton Winterthur). Conclusion and outlook: Master of Science in Real Estate and Facility Management has become an academia and industry driven program IFM’s mission is the sustainable development of healthy work and living environments. Research and education are guided by basic understanding of Facilities Management definition as the integration of people, process, place, and technology. The institutes international network with universities and UAS, like international PhD Program with NTNU, participation in European research and students exchange programs is developing further. The IFM is looking forward to strengthening collaboration in research and education and starting the new interdisciplinary MSc REFM in autumn 2022.