Scholarship Renewal Policy

Merit-Based Awards/Scholarships and Need-Based Awards/Bursaries may be retained by students for up to nine terms (sufficient time to complete a degree) provided appropriate academic standing, Quest community contributions, and/or financial need are demonstrated.

Students seeking support beyond a ninth term will be required to submit a written appeal to the Vice President, Operations and Development, outlining any special circumstances that merit such consideration.

To maintain scholarship awards, students will be expected to show satisfactory progress towards the completion of their degree. This is defined herein as a GPA in excess of 1.6 in the first semester, 1.8 after the first year, and 2.0 thereafter. Adherence to this standard will ordinarily be assessed once per year for scholarship purposes.

In addition, at the end of each block, the tutor will be asked to assess each student's contributions to, and benefit derived from, attendance at Quest by answering the simple yes or no question: "Was this student an asset to your classroom, contributing positively to the class dynamic, and is this student benefiting from the Quest educational experience?" Students taking eight courses per year will be required to have six tutors declare in the affirmative; students taking six blocks (the minimum for full-time status) will need at least four affirmative declarations.

Scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic performance AND evidence of community service, involvement in co-curricular activities, etc. Those wishing to maintain scholarships at Quest must continue to contribute during their time here.

These contributions can take many forms. In the spring of each year, each student with a scholarship who wishes to have it renewed will be asked to submit a short paragraph outlining his or her contributions to Quest and the community over the past year.

Examples of such contributions* could include:

• showing intellectual leadership and demonstrating academic excellence;

• organizing a major event on campus (a play, a CD launch, etc.);

• organizing several smaller events over the year (lectures, movie screenings, etc.);

• leading and/or participating in a campus improvement project;

• contributing positively to a varsity sports team;

• working in the Student Representative Council;

• volunteering in a community organization in Squamish;

• running a club or other activity group.

*These contributions are simply examples. There will be no formula on which such contributions are judged and we expect that the creativity of our students will expand this list considerably.

Evaluation of each student's contributions and academic performance will be conducted by the scholarship committee each year with input from the relevant community members (coaches, residential staff, student affairs, on-campus employers, etc.).

Both academic and non-academic conduct including assessment of probationary status, residential damage reports, etc. will be included in the deliberations. While a student is away for study abroad, experiential learning, or language immersion programs, the direct community contribution requirements are of course, waived.