College of Fellows mulls changes in the future

Estate agent Chris Brown has a quandary on his hands: it’s called the College of Fellows.

Brown, a former president of the NAEA, was elected chairman of the NFoPP College of Fellows in October. Since then, he has been trying to establish levels of awareness among members. And the results? Not good, he says.

Well, EAT doesn’t know too much about it either, so we asked some questions.

Apparently, it was originally formed to honour NAEA members who had given service to the association at both a local and national level over a period of at least ten years. You can’t apply to the College, but have to be nominated.

The College also presents certificates of merit to nominated members of NFoPP each year, and – perhaps most importantly of all – manages the NFoPP Benevolent Fund. This is for members who may have fallen on hard times, while it is also currently discussing the possibility of awarding a scholarship.

The College, however, has no influence over the NFoPP board or its policies, but does offers the experience of its members to NFoPP’s disciplinary and mediation services.

Currently, there are some 100 members in the College representing all divisions of NFoPP. The term Honoured after their names denotes membership.  

Brown, pictured, says: “The College has benefited from some very capable chairmen, committee members and spokespeople, but has never really marketed itself, and is therefore not be as widely recognised as it could be.”

His aims are to increase awareness across the membership, boost the scope of the Benevolent Fund and possibly change its name, and consider ways of engaging people from within the profession to participate. It may even give associate membership to leading property personalities, says Brown.

The College now has its own Linked In group.