Quest University is partnering up with a private college and has hired its president to sit in the top administrator's chair in the hopes of boosting enrolment. But it's unclear whether the move will result in jobs leaving the community.Sprott-Shaw Community College president Dean Duperron was named Quest University's interim president Tuesday (Aug. 26), and his company -perhaps best known for its catchy radio jingle - will now manage the university's administrative and financial functions.Dr. Michael Gibbons, Chairman of the Board for Quest University Canada, said the decision was made to partner with Sprott-Shaw to enhance the university's visibility, thus attracting more students internationally. "The difficulty that all start-up universities face is to ensure that a steady flow of students is coming in," said Gibbons in a phone interview from the UK. "And in a private, not-for-profit university that is a crucial thing. If you look at their [Sprott-Shaw] website, they've got access to thousands and thousands and thousands of foreign students particularly." But will this challenge Squamish's promotion of its growing "knowledge-based industry" with a transferring of jobs to Sprott-Shaw's Coquitlam head office?"I don't think you should take away the idea that this is an exercise in staff reductions. It's not," said Gibbons. "But I would guess that when you go through an organization you may find that certain functions are not essential. For example, if I stick with the IT, the Sprott-Shaw people have enormous commitment in their organization to IT-related things... Well I don't see why we should duplicate that. If we can have a partnership and get access to that, that would suit me fine."With Quest's former president, Tom Woods, now returning to Mount Royal University after completing his one-year contract, the interim president will be in place for the approximate six to eight months it will take to find a suitable replacement, said Duperron. However, the partnership is less with the company than with him."It wasn't really bringing in Sprott-Shaw," said Duperron. "They wanted some new leadership and of course being the president of an organization that grants degrees already at the same level as Quest...they felt that I would be an appropriate candidate."In 1991 when Duperron took over the business, Sprott-Shaw had one school and 26 students. It now has over 7,500 students in campuses worldwide. Although the school can issue degrees recognized by the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education, Gibbons acknowledged that Sprott-Shaw doesn't hold the same academic reputation as Quest hopes to attain. "There's always a danger with a handful of academics that they do worry about things which are happening internal to their discipline. And if I could find a way to nudge to thinking more broadly, I would do that. "I think Sprott-Shaw has such a lot of experience in a different range of activities [like] management and business."
