Quest University Canada is a private, not-for-profit, secular liberal arts and sciences university. It is the brainchild of Doctor David Strangway, who, after retiring as president of UBC, wanted to create a new kind of university where undergraduates guided their own studies in close cooperation with faculty. The university officially opened to students in 2007.
The university offers one four-year degree, the bachelor of arts and sciences. Teaching follows a "block plan", meaning instead of studying for multiple classes in tandem throughout each semester, as is the global norm, students spend three and half weeks at a time focused on one discipline only. Classes are seminar-style with a maximum of 20 students.
Rather than the usual departments, there are five divisions covering life sciences, physical sciences, arts and humanities, mathematics, and social sciences. Students do not declare a major, but instead write a personalised question they shall seek to answer. Degrees at Quest University then culminate in a major work project called a keystone project.
The campus has an academic building, a library building, a gymnasium and a service building that includes a cafeteria. There are five main student residences.
