Quest University

Quest University (officially Quest University Canada) was a private, not-for-profit, secular liberal arts and sciences university. The university opened in September 2007 with an inaugural class of 73 and suspended academic operations in April 2023. The university had an enrolment of around 200 students around the time of its closing.
Quest's curriculum was considered unconventional. It used the block plan, adapted and modified from the block plan at Colorado College. Students needed complete 32 blocks to graduate. Classes were seminar-style and capped at 20 students. There were five divisions (Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Arts & Humanities, Mathematics, and Social Sciences) instead of traditional departments. In lieu of declaring a major, students wrote a personalized Question. Studies culminate in a major work called a Keystone project. Upon graduation—usually after four years study—students were awarded a degree of Bachelor of Arts and Sciences.
The campus was located on a hilltop on the edge of Garibaldi Provincial Park. It was approximately from Vancouver and from Whistler, British Columbia.
Quest University Canada was fully accredited and approved by the Degree Quality Assessment Board (DQAB) under the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education. Quest was also registered as a British Columbia Education Quality Assurance (EQA) approved post-secondary institution.
The university closed at the end of the 2022–2023 academic year, when all academic operations ceased.
On August 16, 2023, the government of British Columbia issued a press release announcing that Capilano University had purchased Quest University's campus for $63.2 with supplemental funding provided by the government of British Columbia. The same press release specified that Capilano University plans on offering courses at the campus starting Spring 2024.
History
Pre-founding and founding
Quest University Canada was originally created as the Sea to Sky University in May 2002, when the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia passed the Sea to Sky University Act. One of the purposes cited in the act was to create a university that would "offer a rigorous and well-rounded university education in the arts and sciences with a global focus." Quest was the brainchild of David Strangway, who, after his retirement as president of the University of British Columbia, wished to create a new kind of university where undergraduates guided their own studies in close cooperation with faculty.
Together with Quest founding directors Blake Bromley and Peter Ufford, Strangway formed the Sea to Sky Foundation and began soliciting contributions and searching for land. The foundation received grants from the J.W. McConnell Foundation, R. Howard Webster Foundation, and the Stewart and Marilyn Blusson Foundation, which allowed it to begin hiring staff and faculty and launch the university's operations. Bromley, a lawyer specializing in charitable law, recruited many wealthy clients to donate shares to the foundation, many of which were sold back to donors after a charitable tax receipt had been issued, a move that triggered an investigation from the Canada Revenue Agency. In October 2005, the Sea to Sky University changed its name to Quest University Canada. The school officially opened its doors to students in 2007, becoming the first private, secular university in Canada.
Early years
During its first years of operation, the university underwent a number of administrative changes. David Strangway stepped aside as president and was replaced by Thomas L. Wood, who had served for 14 years as president of Mount Royal College and three years as Quest's Chief Academic Officer. Less than a year later, Wood was replaced by an interim president, Dean Duperron. Duperron's appointment was the result of a proposed alliance with CIBT Education Group, but the alliance was dissolved within a month.
The Board of Governors invited David Helfand, chair of the astronomy department at Columbia University, to serve as interim president. Helfand had been an advisor to the school's founders in 2005, and had been a visiting tutor since 2007. He became interim president in 2008. In 2011, Quest graduated its first class. That same year, Helfand took a long-term leave of absence from Columbia to continue the presidency at Quest, which he retained through August 2015.
Peter Englert succeeded Helfand. He served until 8 May 2017 when he was removed by the university's Board of Governors. George Iwama was appointed as Quest's Vice-Chancellor and fifth President on 25 August 2017. In September 2017 Quest named its newest chancellor, Peter Webster, president of the R. Howard Webster Foundation. In February 2018 the University cancelled its athletics program, the Quest Kermodes, citing the need to cut costs to reduce its high debt load.
On October 29, 2020, Quest University announced that an agreement had been signed with Primacorp Ventures, an investment company which owns and manages commercial and educational real estate. Under the agreement, Quest would sell their campus lands to Primacorp and then lease them back in order to continue operations.
Academics
Quest's curriculum and educational philosophy were different than most universities. Its approach was multidisciplinary and the school did not have traditional departments. It offers one degree for all students, the Bachelor of Arts and Sciences. There were no lecture halls. Every class had a maximum of 20 students. The faculty hold terminal degrees in their field, but were known as Tutors rather than Professors. There is no tenure system at Quest.
Other distinguishing features included the Foundation and Concentration Programs, block plan scheduling, a Question instead of a conventional major, and a final Keystone project.
Foundation program
In their first two years of study, students enrolled in 16 Foundation courses. After completing the mandatory Cornerstone and Rhetoric classes, they went on to take 14 courses chosen from five major divisions: Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Arts & Humanities. They needed also fulfil a language requirement.
Toward the end of the Foundation Program, students took a course called Question. Working with an instructor and a faculty mentor, they developed a statement of Question: a proposal for how they would study a topic of particular interest to them. The Question was in lieu of a conventional major, serving as the basis for the remaining two years of study, and inspired the student's Keystone project.
Concentration program
The remaining two years were known as the Concentration Program. With the help of a faculty advisor, students designed a personalized program, which consists of four principal elements:
a statement of the Question
a course plan
a list of related readings
a Keystone project
Along with their Concentration (or Focus) Courses, students took between one and four Experiential Learning Blocks, hands-on work that could take place in the private sector, not-for-profit, government or many other settings. Quest stated that the purpose of Experiential Learning was to show students how their interests manifested in the world and helped them gain direct experience. Students also take three or more electives.
Block plan
Quest operated on the block plan, where students took one course at a time, meeting every weekday for 3.5 weeks. The academic year was divided into two terms. Fall term usually ran from September to mid-December, and spring term typically ran from January to the end of April. There were four blocks per term, and full-time students took eight blocks per year.
Quest claimed that the block plan allowed scheduling flexibility: students could decide which blocks were spent on courses and which were spent traveling, working, or exploring other pursuits. The school also noted that block scheduling permitted faculty to run "field studies", off-campus learning experiences that could run for several weeks. Many field studies involved fees, which ranged from nominal to significant. Quest also offered Study Abroad. Students could spend one or two academic terms at a selection of partner universities around the world.
Keystone
To graduate, students needed complete a Keystone project, the culmination of their studies. A Keystone could take various forms: a scientific paper, video documentary, art installation, photography exhibit, work of fiction, or research paper. Students presented their Keystones to their peers, faculty and community. A few outstanding Keystones were granted Distinction, and some were chosen as Showcases that the students present to a wide audience in a formal setting. The university provided ample services to prepare students to justify, to Graduate school admissions officers, their Keystone as the equivalent to a major.
Rankings and reputation
Quest University Canada had posted at or near the top of Canada's foremost poll of student opinion, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).
Quest was not included in Macleans University Rankings because its enrolment was below 1000 students, the magazine's cut-off. However, Macleans conducted an interview with then-President David Helfand in 2013 and had published several articles about the school over the years. Quest had also been noted in The Globe and Mail's University Report.
Leadership
Arthur Coren, was the president of Quest University Canada at the time of its closure. The Chancellor was Chief Dale Harry. The Quest Board of Governors consisted of seven members, headed by Board Chair Arthur Wilms, former president of Westcoast Energy Inc. In 2018, Anna Lippman became the first Quest alumnus elected to the board. Jeff Warren, an arts and humanities professor, was the Vice President, Academic.
Campus
The campus had been named one of top 10 most beautiful campuses in Canada. It is built on a hilltop in Squamish, BC.
Quest's campus included an academic building, a library building, a "RecPlex" which contains a full gymnasium facility, and a services building that included a cafeteria. There were five main student residences, each priced the same as an average Canadian university and with nearly twice the floor space. Only two were by the university students. The others were rented out to a high school which used the campus daily.
Cost and financial aid
Because Quest was private, it received no government funding at any level. Its operations were funded by tuition and private donations. According to its website, full-time tuition for Canadian students and permanent residents was C$21,000. For international students, it was $35,000. Room and board could add another $15,000, depending on the student's selections.
Eligible students could receive financial aid, including scholarships that range from $2000 to full tuition; bursaries; and a Work-Study program on campus. Quest also offered substantial scholarships through its LEAP program (see below). Quest was an approved post-secondary institution to administer government student loans from all provinces and territories in Canada. Quest was also an approved post-secondary institution to administer certain programs out of the US.
Leaders in Elite Athletics and Performance program
Quest's Leaders in Elite Athletics & Performance program (LEAP) was structured to accommodate the needs of elite athletes and performers who wish to pursue a postsecondary education. LEAP students were afforded extra flexibility in housing, billing, and course scheduling. They could take more years to graduate and were eligible for LEAP scholarships.
Notable LEAP students and alumni include:
Jack Burke (professional road cyclist for Team H&R Block)
Samuel Edney (luger; Olympian)
Darren Gardner (snowboarder; Olympian)
Rosalind Groenwoud (freestyle skier; Olympian, Winter X Games Champion)
Keltie Hansen (freestyle skier; Olympian)
Leah Kirchmann (professional road cyclist for Team Sunweb; Olympian)
Simon Nessman (international model)
Notable faculty members
David Strangway (geophysicist; founding president of Quest University Canada; President Emeritus at the University of Toronto and University of British Columbia)
David Helfand (astrophysicist; former Chair of the Department of Astronomy at Columbia University and co-director of the Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory; former President Emeritus of Quest University Canada)
Glen Van Brummelen (mathematics scholar; past President of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics)
Richard Hoshino (mathematics professor; winner of the 2017 Adrien Pouliot Award for Significant and Sustained Contributions to Mathematics Education in Canada; former coach for Canadians competing in the International Mathematical Olympiad)
See also
List of universities in British Columbia
Higher education in British Columbia
Notes
References
External links
Universities in British Columbia
Educational institutions established in 2002
2002 establishments in British Columbia
Sea-to-Sky Corridor
Educational institutions disestablished in 2023
2023 disestablishments in British Columbia
Private universities and colleges in Canada
Defunct universities and colleges in Canada