With the notion of keeping everything under one roof, Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) staff took on a new part of the development of the 2024-2025 Legal Update I & II courses. Thanks to the skills and talent of TREC Director of Government and Strategic Communications Summer Mandell, this book was wholly produced in-house, to include the design of the course materials.

"The look and feel of the book are pretty different than they've been in the past and that was on purpose," Director Mandell said. "Every license holder in the state of Texas is required to take this course which means we may have some folks who aren't really looking forward to it. With that in mind, we wanted to do what we could to make things attractive, pop out; just a little bit more engaging." 

In addition, directions for the instructors are expanded upon and new and engaging activities are included. Intended learning outcomes are also more clearly presented, offering instructors the direction they need to help ensure learning objectives are achieved.

As a result of the combined efforts of TREC staff and its much-appreciated external subject matter experts, TREC received national recognition in the form of the Post-Licensing/Continuing Education award granted by the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials. Staff submitted the below acceptance video that was played at the awards ceremony. There to collect the accomplishment, as pictured from left to right, were TREC/Texas Appraiser Licensing (TALCB) Education and Examinations Director Jennifer Wheeler, TREC General Counsel Vanessa Burgess, and TALCB Director Melissa Tran-which won its own award.  

The Legal Update courses are the first to be reimagined but are not the last. Staff have already completed and are now training education providers on the 2025-2026 Broker Responsibility Course.    

"One of the key aspects to the success of these courses is that they are rewritten and redeveloped every two years, so the content always stays fresh," said Director Wheeler. "By refreshing the material on a regular basis, we're able to communicate different important messages to our license holders. What we choose to tell them and how we present the information is crucial."