Department Manager, Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate

About the Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate:

In 2022, Cornell University announced the creation of the Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate, an innovative, multi-college department of real estate, uniting partners across academia and industry, and building on Cornell’s strengths in engaged learning and impact-focused scholarship to increase opportunities for students and advance the field of real estate. Situated within a world-class research university, the Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate is jointly managed by the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) and the SC Johnson College of Business (SCJCB). The new multi-college department will continue to take shape over the next 3-5 years guided by faculty leadership.

At its center, the department manages a two-year professional master’s program in real estate, the Baker M.P.S.. The program presently has 65 students in residence with plans to grow in the next few years. A distinguishing feature of the program is its comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach to real estate education, reflecting the different types of skills required for many career paths in real estate. This includes expertise in urban planning, architecture, law, finance, and economics. A further distinguishing feature of the program is its blending of academic in-class instruction along with input from industry professionals and out-of-class experience. Beginning fall of 2026, second-year students in the program will have the option to base out of Cornell’s New York City campus on Roosevelt Island, allowing students to take advantage of the wealth of people and facilities in NYC.

The department has also recently begun to train PhD students, partnering with existing PhD programs at the university, and is increasingly engaged in advising and training of undergraduate students.

The Rubacha department presently has a complement of six tenured faculty, one senior lecturer, and two Professors of Practice. These individuals have differing expertise that supports the multidisciplinary structure of the department and the Baker M.P.S.
The department's center of operations is in Ithaca, New York, where the resources and opportunities for innovative and interdisciplinary collaborations are extensive. The department is also expanding its links with Cornell’s New York City campus.

   

Department Manager, Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate Opportunity:

While position responsibilities vary, every member of our community is expected to foster a culture of belonging and a psychologically healthy work environment by communicating across differences; being cooperative, collaborative, open, and welcoming; showing respect, compassion, and empathy; engaging and supporting others regardless of background or perspective; speaking up when others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and supporting work/life integration of oneself and others.

The Rubacha Department of Real Estate Department Manager is responsible for managing and coordinating all day-to-day aspects of the department, working closely with the Chair of the Rubacha Department and the Director and Assistant Director of the Baker Program in Real Estate to enhance and build the future of the department and the program. The department also recently began to train PhD students, partnering with multiple PhD programs in the university, and has a growing role in undergraduate education.

The primary areas of responsibility of this position are to:

• Cultivate and maintain administrative relationships across both overseeing colleges and the university that allow the department to accomplish its mission of promoting real estate related education (undergraduate, Master’s and PhD), scholarly research and industry outreach, and to support the assessment, creation and implementation of new initiatives, program and collaborations.
• Establish, implement, evaluate and optimize departmental operational policies and procedures, in conjunction with the Chair.
• Build and maintain strong collaboration with college partners in order to ensure effective management of human resources needs, research programs, educational programs, and facilities/building operations.

The position will work closely with many offices across the university. These include the central registrar office for the university in addition to registrar units in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP) and the SC Johnson College of Business. Frequent interaction is also anticipated with area chairs in SC Johnson in addition to the staff in the Department of City and Regional Planning in AAP. Other frequent contacts are with the finance and budget offices of the SC Johnson and AAP colleges, in addition to the marketing/communications and human resources units in the two colleges. Periodic communication is also ant