By September Quest University will have 100 full-time staff, thrusting it into the top three employer list in Squamish.
The university is busy preparing for 510 students to hit its campus this coming school year. Last week Quest officials received its occupancy permit for one of two new residential units the academy is building to accommodate its increasing student body.
Quest already leases four buildings for student dorms and plans to have the roof on a second facility by September.
"We are going to need it by next summer," said David Helfand, Quest's president.
The new dorm and the one under construction, that wrap around the hillside west of the university complex, will be filled as soon as they're completed, he noted. University officials expect to reach the school's maximum capacity of 650 students in 2014 - two years ahead of schedule.
"We're adding faculty, so we'll have 43 full-time [professors]. We started with six and a half," Helfand said of the university's growth since 2007.
Quest's staff count ranks the university among the community's top employers, said Dan McRae, the District of Squamish's economic sustainability coordinator. With 150 employees, Walmart is Squamish's top boss, followed by Save-On-Foods. Squamish Terminals and Home Depot both have around 100 employees, McRae said.
It's difficult to really compare the businesses, as some of the staff are part-time, he noted.
"Definitely it is exciting to see our award-winning university have such success," McRae said.
Quest was the first university in Canada to adopt a block system, in which students study a single subject at a time. Following its success other universities around Canada are adopting the approach, including the University of Northern British Columbia and some senior courses at Thompson Rivers University, Helfand said.
