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Campus Overview
The 130-acre campus of the University of the Virgin Islands on St. Croix
is located at Golden Grove, midway between the towns of Christiansted
and Frederiksted. Used by the University since 1964, the land was deeded to
the University for educational purposes by the United States federal government
in 1968. The entrance to the campus, from Queen Mary Highway, is lined by
royal palm trees leading to the residence halls, Student Center and the Melvin H.
Evans Center for Learning. The main buildings include the Great House, where
classes were held prior to 1975; the Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning (the
main academic building); the Northwest Wing which was erected in 1989 houses
the computer laboratories; the Research and Extension Center which opened
its doors in 1992, and the Nursing complex which has been home to the Division
of Nursing Education since 1996.
The Student Center houses a combination auditorium/cafeteria, the
Snack Bar, the Office of Student Activities, the Student Activities Lounge, a student
mail room and the Campus Bookstore. Behind the Student Center are recently
constructed outdoor basketball/volleyball and tennis courts used for physical
education classes, intramural athletics and recreation. The residence halls opened
for student occupancy in January 1999. The residence hall complex is comprised
of 17 three-bedroom suites, the Office of Student Housing & Residence Life,
a reception area, lounge, two study /seminar rooms, laundry facilities and
on-campus living quarters for the Student Housing Supervisor.
Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning
Opened in 1975, the Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning is named for
the U.S. Virgin Islands' first elected governor. The architecturally unique Center is
a modern air-conditioned, multi-level complex constructed around a
landscaped courtyard with open-air walkways, galleries, attractive stonework, tropical
foliage, miniature waterfalls and manmade ponds. The building of modular
design, provides for future expansion as the higher education needs of St. Croix
residents increase.
The Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning houses the Office of the
Chancellor, the Library, classrooms, faculty offices, Division Chair offices, video
conferencing facilities including a 73-seat Theater, the Office of Business and Facilities
Services, Physical Plant and Campus Security. Academic and student support services
and programs housed in the Center include the offices of Admissions and
Academic Services, Financial Aid, and the Freshman Center.
The Great House
Prior to the construction of the Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning in 1975,
all classes on the St. Croix Campus were conducted in the Great House, a 19th
century historic building that was originally the main house of a sugar cane plantation.
Completely renovated in 2001, the Great House now includes the new Health Services
Center, counseling & placement, student employment, the Student Government
Association (SGA) and the Office of the Associate Chancellor.
St. Croix Campus Library
The St. Croix Campus Library was founded in 1964 and was moved to its
present location in the Melvin Evans Center for Learning in 1975. Its primary function is
to support the educational mission of the University. Its holdings are oriented toward
such programs and are supplemented and updated on a continuous basis. Its current
holdings of about 53,000 volumes and over 167 periodical subscriptions are complemented
by those of the Ralph M. Paiewonsky Library on the St. Thomas Campus. The library
also subscribes to databases, which provide online full-text access to over 1,100 journal
and newspaper titles.
The St. Croix Campus Library features a special collection of Virgin Islands
and Caribbean materials and an extensive pamphlet file of conference papers and
other materials on the Caribbean. There are also more than 590,000 documents on
microfiche in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) collection. The Library
also serves as a depository for the publications of the Government of the United
States Virgin Islands.
In its dual role as media center, the St. Croix Campus Library houses a
growing collection of audiovisual material. It also maintains presentation equipment for
classroom and in-library use with audiovisual material. Instruction in the use of this material
and in all other library resources is offered to groups or individuals upon request.
Both libraries offer Internet access from their computer labs. Links from
the Libraries' web site
(http://library.uvi.edu/) provide access to several academic
and other databases including Infotrac Web, FirstSearch, CINAHL, ERIC, and Newsbank
as well as a link to UVIAL, the online catalog of library holdings. Through
UVIAL, students may search for listings of books, periodicals and government documents
housed in both campus libraries. A well developed system of inter-campus loans
allows students, faculty, and staff to borrow or otherwise have access to materials from
either campus library.
The Library maintains membership to OCLC (Online Computer Library
Center), through SOLINET (Southeastern Library Network). Membership in this
network provides opportunities for additional interlibrary loans from and to libraries across
the mainland U.S. and around the world, as well as electronic access to cataloging services.
Research and Extension Center
The Research and Extension Center contains several programs of the
Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service. This
state-of-the-art facility is home to the Biotechnology Laboratory with its light and
temperature-controlled growth room and molecular biology equipment, the Plant Science
laboratory where research is conducted in the areas of soil and plant analysis, a home
economics food laboratory and four seminar rooms, 16 research faculty and staff offices, and
a staff lounge.
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