Quest University

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.[11][12] 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."[13] 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.[14]

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.[15] 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.[15] 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.[16] In October 2005, the Sea to Sky University changed its name to Quest University Canada.[17] The school officially opened its doors to students in 2007, becoming the first private, secular university in Canada.[15]

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.[18][19]

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.[20] 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.[21][22]

Peter Englert succeeded Helfand.[23][24] He served until 8 May 2017 when he was removed by the university's Board of Governors.[25][26] George Iwama was appointed as Quest's Vice-Chancellor and fifth President on 25 August 2017.[27][28] In September 2017 Quest named its newest chancellor, Peter Webster, president of the R. Howard Webster Foundation.[29] In February 2018 the University cancelled its athletics program, the Quest Kermodes, citing the need to cut costs to reduce its high debt load.[30]

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.[31]

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.

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:

1. a statement of the Question
2. a course plan
3. a list of related readings
4. 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.[33] Students also take three or more electives.

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.[34] Quest also offered Study Abroad. Students could spend one or two academic terms at a selection of partner universities around the world.[35]

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.

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).[36][37][38]

Quest was not included in Macleans University Rankings because its enrolment was below 1000 students, the magazine's cut-off.[39] However, Macleans conducted an interview with then-President David Helfand in 2013[40] and had published several articles about the school over the years.[41] Quest had also been noted in The Globe and Mail's University Report.[42]