Incoming! Cohorts 45 and 46 have officially arrived! After receiving over 415 applications, reviewing them all, and conducting over 150 interviews, 90 new impressive QUEST students have been selected. Earlier this month, the Quality Guild (QUEST Faculty and staff) released the names of the 90 students who will be joining our QUEST community. I had a chance to connect with three of these talented students to ask them about the application process and what they are looking forward to in the coming years.
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Behind the Scenes with QUEST Recruiting
Every February marks a momentous occasion as QUEST prepares to welcome two new cohorts. For QUEST students, faculty, and staff, the beginning of the spring semester is extremely busy, with the application closing right as the semester starts. There are hundreds of applications to review and a number of interviews to conduct over the next few months. None of this would be possible without the help of our very own QUEST student organization, QUEST Recruiting, a team at the forefront of this endeavor. I had the chance to talk to QUEST Recruiting Co-Lead Marvi Shroff (Cohort 42) about the behind-the-scenes work the team did to ensure a successful application season this year.
New School Year Brings Exciting Changes to QUEST
As the leaves begin to fall and students adjust to a new semester, there is no doubt that change is ongoing in our lives. QUEST certainly is no exception!
After speaking with Emily Marks, QUEST’s program coordinator, I learned about some very exciting changes students can expect to see throughout QUEST courses and social activities this year. “Our faculty and staff actually met for three full-day retreats over the summer to discuss feedback we’d received from students and faculty and brainstorm improvements. This feedback was about specific courses as well as the overall planning of QUEST events,” said Marks.
To start, Marks mentioned the biggest change will be in the order of QUEST courses, beginning for Cohort 43. BMGT438A/ENES489A (Applied Quantitative Analysis) and BMGT/ENES 390H (Designing Innovative Systems) will now switch in the sequence of QUEST courses. Rather than taking 438A/489A after 190H, students in Cohorts 43 and beyond will now take 390H and then 438A in the proceeding semester.
“We decided to swap this order as some aspects of 190H will be moving into 390H. 390H will now focus on both process improvement and systems thinking whereas in the past, 390H focused solely on systems thinking.” This change also will allow students in 190H, our introductory course, to focus on their product redesign project for the entire semester, meaning more time to flesh out their product idea and develop prototypes.
She also mentioned improvements to the QUEST data course, 438A/489A. “Although this course will still contain a lot of the same material, we have slightly adjusted the curriculum to be more focused on data visualization and analysis rather than learning many technical skills like Python.” In the past, some students breezed through the material, while others found it extremely new and challenging. This curriculum update strives to reduce this gap and create an environment where all students feel equally knowledgeable and motivated to learn, regardless of major and prior experience. The data course will also heavily emphasize understanding the problem and the client before jumping into analyzing the data and developing solutions.
Last but not least, Marks spoke about some upcoming changes with QUEST events.
“We definitely want to keep most of our signature events such as our formal, the ice cream social, and the end of the year picnic. However, we are thinking of having the QUEST student organizations collaborate with each other more to increase attendance at each event. Therefore, the student leaders have been working on a calendar for all our events so that students are informed as far in advance as possible and are able to make it to the events.”
QUEST students are certainly busy and have a variety of activities to balance along with school work, so it is no surprise that attending events may sometimes be a struggle! Marks concluded with some words of excitement for the new school year. “We’re really hoping these new changes can help improve both the student and faculty’s experience this year. We are so excited to see what this new year will bring and hope to see many students soon at upcoming events planned with QUEST social and other QUEST orgs!”
The Quality Guild met this summer to discuss improvements to QUEST
Meet the 2023-2024 QUESTPress Staff
Everyone has different reasons for loving fall, whether that be the start of football season or the change in colors, but for me, it’s the utter joy and excitement of getting to introduce you all to the 2023-2024 QUESTPress staff!
QUEST Returns to Overnight Orientation
Cohort 40 at QUEST Camp
What is QUEST’s unique value proposition? Is it the amazing staff on the Quality Guild who know exactly what they have been doing after years of experience? Maybe it’s the professors who come from all types of backgrounds and are able to teach students on topics ranging from coding to financial analysis to product development? I think what really makes it stand out is the community that we make as QUESTees. It is working collaboratively with classmates who are driven and push you to do more, all while being friends and supporting each other. But how does this happen with every single cohort? It starts at QUEST camp.
Meet the 2022-2023 QUESTPress Staff
College Park falls bring everything from pumpkin spice lattes to football tailgates back to campus! We at QUESTPress are excited to be back in full swing and keep the community updated on all things QUEST! As a quick reminder, QUESTPress is QUEST’s student-run publication, released digitally once a month. This year, we are lucky to have a team of six extremely talented writers, who you can read a bit more about below!
QUESTees Favorite Fall Tunes
In the midst of a semester, a good music rotation is key. You need your songs for walking to class, studying, hanging out with friends, or for relaxing after a long day. We polled QUEST students on which songs have been essential this fall and compiled them in a playlist linked HERE for everyone to enjoy! This playlist is collaborative so please add your favorite songs! Read below to hear more about why QUEST students have been enjoying their selected songs.
QUEST Fall Collaborative Playlist
QUESTech Explores Careers in Tech
One of the newest QUEST student organizations, QUESTech, has kept the great events coming this semester by engaging some wonderful alumni to continue the conversation on careers in tech. The most recent example of this was the QUESTech Tech Talk on Wednesday, October 7th.
QUEST is Just A Zoom Call Away
If you’re reading this, I hope that you are hanging in there at home and making the most out of your time. An important thing to remember is that the QUEST community is still here for you, and there are so many exciting activities being held to spend time together while apart! A poll was sent in the Facebook group to gauge people’s interests in various online events. QUEST held several this month and will continue to hold virtual events moving forward:
Campus Recruiter Panel
The panel was held on April 20th and featured recruiters from Stanley Black & Decker, Adobe, and Accenture. There were 25 students on the call who had the chance to submit questions and hear from recruiters. Students were then divided into breakout rooms to have smaller group conversations with a recruiter!
Student Leaders Panel
A presentation was given on April 30th from QUEST students who are also student leaders on campus! Doron Tadmor (Q29), Gesna Aggarwal (Q32), Eitan Isser (Q32), Rishik Narayana (Q31), and Jacqueline Deprey (Q30) all answered questions about the organizations they are involved with including TAMID, Bitcamp, Images, SGA, Technica, ODK, and Survivor Maryland.
Trivia Nights and Movie Nights
QUEST Social hosted movie and trivia night events! Dr. Bailey led the trivia night as alumni and students were separated into breakout room teams to answer questions – a super fun way to test your trivia knowledge and get to know peers and alumni.
Exit Interviews
Exit interviews were conducted online via Zoom. Jess Roffe, our assistant director, met with over 50 seniors to gather feedback on their experiences and test their QUEST knowledge with one final team activity.
Office Hours
The Quality Guild has pivoted to online Office Hours, which will continue over the summer. Sign up to meet with Dr. Bailey, Dr. Armstrong, Jess, or Rachel to discuss whatever is on your mind.
Senior Sendoff
Here come the water works. Senior Sendoff is a tradition held every year to honor the graduating seniors of QUEST that have dedicated so much to our community. The farewell is typically an event in D.C. but was modified to fit the current circumstances. But don’t worry, this year’s event had tons of laughs and tear-jerking moments as we honored Cohorts 29 and 30.
Over 50 graduating seniors attended the Zoom call, which was led by two seniors, Joyce Zhou from Cohort 29 and Olivia Wolcott from Cohort 30. There were nostalgic slideshows, “thank yous” from various QUEST members, superlatives voted on by the cohorts, and last but not least, awards from the guild. Congratulations to the following seniors who earned the prestigious awards:
At the end, Cohorts 29 and 30 were separated into their own breakout rooms to celebrate with one another and reminisce one last time as an undergraduate cohort together.
Congratulations to the Class of 2020! We will miss your leadership, dedication, and most of all, seeing you around the QUEST Lab. An extra thank you to Kara Eppel and Celine Moarkech (both Cohort 29) who have led QUESTPress for the last few years and have put their all into this student organization! We will miss you!
Keeping Up With Their Capstone
It’s safe to say that life is a bit upside down for everyone right now. But Cohort 31 gets a special shout out for transitioning online during their QUEST capstone course, 490H. Despite some obstacles and adjustments, they have knocked it out of the park and completed their capstone projects. The QUEST community is extremely proud and excited to showcase all of Cohort 31’s hard work! The beauty of things changing so drastically is that we all have had to get a bit more creative on how we go about everything. Here is how 490H has been creative throughout the semester:
Virtual Status Updates were held via Zoom on April 15th
Cohort 31 students had a chance to talk with eight QUEST alumni who hopped on Zoom and provided the teams with feedback. An added perk was that alumni were able to join from all over the country and ranged from Cohort 3 to Cohort 26.
Most Outstanding Capstone Voting
21 alumni reviewed final presentations and voted for the “Most Outstanding Capstone” of Cohort 31. To put things into perspective, typically only about five alumni are able to come in person. We thank all of the alumni who volunteered this year – it was a tight race!
Poster Prints
Keep an eye out for Cohort 31’s posters all around the QUEST lab next semester. They were still completed and will be printed for everyone to see!
Virtual Poster Presentations
Cohort 31 participated in a virtual poster presentation on May 7th for families, clients, professors, and the cohort to formally present and celebrate the end-products of a semester of long hours on Zoom and grit.
Virtual Celebration
Last but not least, alumnus Danny Laurence (Cohort 19) has built a brand new website to virtually display Cohort 31’s capstone projects. Visit quest.umd.edu/capstone to check out all of Cohort 31’s capstone project presentations and posters. Congratulations, Cohort 31!
