Covenant College’s Quest Program Boosts College Graduation
For a program that felt a bit on its heels just two years ago, Covenant College's Quest program has bounced back nicely. Its distinction once blurred by the arrival of several out-of-town competitors, Quest is now showing its unique colors not only in its immediate Chattanooga vicinity but well beyond.
Quest, established in 1984, is a Christian outreach to working adults who never finished college, offering them a chance to earn a bachelor's degree in organizational management in as little as 18 months. The program is designed for people with transferable college credit and roughly five years of work experience who want to finish what they’ve started.
As the college of the PCA, Covenant has begun working with local churches to identify potential leaders from within the denomination who are strong candidates for the Quest program.
"Our goal is to boost the number of college graduates in our region—a key factor in attracting new and higher-paying jobs," says Dr. Ginner W. Hudson, who has headed Quest since 2006 as Covenant's dean of organizational management and executive education. "We believe an education is part of God's plan for one's life. So Quest gives students a biblical foundation for examining all of life, including their education, work, and family."
Quest, established in 1984, is a Christian outreach to working adults who never finished college, offering them a chance to earn a bachelor's degree in organizational management in as little as 18 months. The program is designed for people with transferable college credit and roughly five years of work experience who want to finish what they’ve started.
As the college of the PCA, Covenant has begun working with local churches to identify potential leaders from within the denomination who are strong candidates for the Quest program.
"Our goal is to boost the number of college graduates in our region—a key factor in attracting new and higher-paying jobs," says Dr. Ginner W. Hudson, who has headed Quest since 2006 as Covenant's dean of organizational management and executive education. "We believe an education is part of God's plan for one's life. So Quest gives students a biblical foundation for examining all of life, including their education, work, and family."
Quest does so with a rigorous curriculum that is regarded as doable by almost anyone with full-time commitments—even single parents.
The program is designed to fit the schedules of working adults, and is offered in four locations across southeast Tennessee and north Georgia: downtown Chattanooga, Dalton, Rome, and metro Atlanta. It aims to reach students with current involvement in organizations where the course principles can be applied. Quest seeks to enable these working adults to return to their jobs with new eyes and a degree in hand.
But Quest isn't just about the seal. Graduate Melody Hammontree explains, "What I found at Quest that sets it apart from other programs is an organized and available staff, coupled with professors who genuinely care about the success of their students. Their encouragement and confidence in me helped me to complete the degree I had desired for so long."
The Quest organizational management curriculum contains 15 courses, totaling 45 semester hours over three semesters. Elective courses in the program are optional based on a student's need for additional credit, but cover a span of studies as broad as "Biblical Doctrine" and specific as "Management of Workplace Stress." The program composes nearly half of Covenant's incoming class, with around 150 students starting the program each year. Many of those students continue into successful graduate programs and earn master's degrees.
Kathy Sisemore is a graduate of Quest and is a material technician for Roper Corporation: "The Quest Program fulfilled my dream of going to college ... a dream that I had postponed for almost 30 years. I am now looking forward to exploring the doors that a college degree can open."
Quest offers working adults the abundant advantages of a quality college education, and commits to helping them reach a momentous milestone in life. "Many Quest staff members are Quest graduates themselves," says Dr. Hudson, "so in a sense we've already been where our students are going.”
The program is designed to fit the schedules of working adults, and is offered in four locations across southeast Tennessee and north Georgia: downtown Chattanooga, Dalton, Rome, and metro Atlanta. It aims to reach students with current involvement in organizations where the course principles can be applied. Quest seeks to enable these working adults to return to their jobs with new eyes and a degree in hand.
But Quest isn't just about the seal. Graduate Melody Hammontree explains, "What I found at Quest that sets it apart from other programs is an organized and available staff, coupled with professors who genuinely care about the success of their students. Their encouragement and confidence in me helped me to complete the degree I had desired for so long."
The Quest organizational management curriculum contains 15 courses, totaling 45 semester hours over three semesters. Elective courses in the program are optional based on a student's need for additional credit, but cover a span of studies as broad as "Biblical Doctrine" and specific as "Management of Workplace Stress." The program composes nearly half of Covenant's incoming class, with around 150 students starting the program each year. Many of those students continue into successful graduate programs and earn master's degrees.
Kathy Sisemore is a graduate of Quest and is a material technician for Roper Corporation: "The Quest Program fulfilled my dream of going to college ... a dream that I had postponed for almost 30 years. I am now looking forward to exploring the doors that a college degree can open."
Quest offers working adults the abundant advantages of a quality college education, and commits to helping them reach a momentous milestone in life. "Many Quest staff members are Quest graduates themselves," says Dr. Hudson, "so in a sense we've already been where our students are going.”
Comments
Sherry Baierl
Chattanooga, TN
I loved the Quest program and several of us that graduated in Group 100 still network and keep in touch for possible job openings to help one another when the economy shuts the door where we once were. Awesome program and hope that one day Covenant will venture out onto a Master's Degree program...very soon?!!
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Paul Ebbs
Flowery Branch, Ga