The University
History
The University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) was chartered on March 16, 1962, as the College of the Virgin Islands — a publicly funded, coeducational, liberal arts institution — by Act No. 862 of the Fourth Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands. According to that law, UVI's cornerstone objective is to provide for "...the stimulation and utilization of the intellectual resources of the people of the Virgin Islands and the development of a center of higher learning whereby and wherefrom the benefits of culture and education may be extended throughout the Virgin Islands."
The enabling legislation was the result of at least two years of preparation and planning. In 1960, the V.I. Legislature created a temporary body called the Virgin Islands College Commission, comprised of interested island residents, to survey the need for a territorial college. In April 1961, Governor Ralph M. Paiewonsky pledged to establish such a college in his inaugural address. And in July 1961, Governor Paiewonsky hosted a Governor's Conference on Higher Education, at which twenty educators observed and analyzed the Virgin Islands' educational scene, and made recommendations for the creation of the College of the Virgin Islands (CVI).
The first campus opened on St. Thomas in July 1963, on 175 acres donated by the federal government. The first board of trustees took office in August 1963. In 1964, the college founded a second campus on St. Croix, on 130 acres also donated by the federal government.
CVI began by offering only associate of arts degrees. In 1967 it added bachelor's degree programs in liberal arts and education. The first baccalaureate degrees were awarded in 1970, and in 1976 the college awarded its first master's degrees in education. Two years later, master's degree programs in business administration and public administration were instituted on both campuses.
In 1972, the College of the Virgin Islands was awarded land-grant status by the U.S. Congress. This allowed for the establishment of an Agricultural Experiment Station and a Cooperative Extension Service. Since then, many other programs and services have been added. These include the Reichhold Center for the Arts, the Eastern Caribbean Center, and the William P. MacLean Marine Science Center, and the Sports and Fitness Center.
In 1986, the College of the Virgin Islands was renamed the University of the Virgin Islands to reflect the growth and diversification of its academic curricula, community and regional services, and research programs. That same year, the United States Congress named UVI one of America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU); therefore, it holds the distinction of being the only HBCU outside of the continental United States.
In 1990, Dr. Orville Kean was named the third president of the University of the Virgin Islands, succeeding Dr. Arthur A. Richards, who became president in 1980. Lawrence C. Wanlass served as the first president of the College of the Virgin Islands from 1962 to 1980.
Another milestone in the historical development of the University was the Board of Trustees' approval of a new framework for UVI's organization and governance, which went into effect on October 1, 1999. The basis of the new administrative structure is a Provost / Chancellor system that separates campus-level and university-level responsibilities in order to create an environment that better addresses the changing needs of each campus, the University, and the Virgin Islands community.
Today, UVI has a combined enrollment of approximately 2,500 full-time, part-time, and graduate students on its two campuses. It continues to offer a high quality, affordable liberal arts education in a culturally diverse environment. The University's objective is to be recognized as the leading American institution of higher learning in the Caribbean.
Accreditation and Memberships
The University of the Virgin Islands is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, 3624 Market Street Philadelphia, PA, 19104, (215) 662-5606. The Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation. The University is also an active member of the American Association for Higher Education, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the American Council on Education, the Association of Caribbean Information Systems, the Association of Caribbean Universities and Research Institutes, the Association of Governing Boards, the National Association for Equal Opportunity, and the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.
The bachelor and associate programs in nursing education are accredited by the National League for Nursing, Accrediting Commission, 61 Broadway 33rd Floor, New York, New York 1006 (800-6691656 ext. 153. The Business Administration Division is a member of the Assembly of the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business.
Location, Facilities and Global Access
The University of the Virgin Islands, located in the Eastern Caribbean, is 45 miles east of Puerto Rico. The University is located on two campuses. On St. Croix, the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, the campus includes academic facilities, a student life complex, the V.I. Cooperative Extension Service and the Agricultural Experiment Station. The St. Thomas Campus contains academic facilities, administrative and student service buildings, residence halls, the Reichhold Center for the Arts and the William P. MacLean Marine Science Center. In addition to these campuses, the University maintains the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station on the island of St. John.
Microwave telecommunication facilities connect the two campuses for many videoconference classes and university meetings. Access to the Internet and World Wide Web supports distance learning course offerings as well as global information and communication for students, faculty and staff. The UVI home page at http://www.uvi.edu provides current UVI information and links to a wide range of university documents and other information.
Special Programs
The University offers a number of special programs through the Division of Graduate Studies and Personal and Community Development, the Agricultural Experiment Station, the Cooperative Extension Service, and the Water Resources Research Institute. These include certificate programs such as the Legal Assistant Program, the Inclusive Early Childhood Education Program, special self-improvement courses, and courses in a wide variety of subjects to improve the quality of life for residents.
The University of the Virgin Islands is a member of the National Student Exchange which offers undergraduate students an opportunity to study for up to one year at one of 171 colleges and universities in the United States and its territories. Students spend either their sophomore or junior year in the exchange program and return to the University of the Virgin Islands to graduate. Students from other NSE membership schools also spend a year or semester studying at UVI. Additional information is available from the Counseling and Placement Office. UVI is also a member of the Association of Caribbean Universities and Research Institute (UNICA) and participates in the Caribbean Intercollegiate Student Exchange program. This program allows UVI students to spend a semester or an academic year at a participating university and allows students from participating Caribbean colleges and universities to spend a semester or academic year at UVI.
A cooperative agreement between the University of the Virgin Islands and Boston University School of Medicine exists whereby University of the Virgin Islands students, after meeting certain qualifications, may be accepted provisionally into the medical school at the end of their sophomore year. These students spend two summers and their senior year at Boston University and graduate with a bachelor of science degree from the University of the Virgin Islands. The Science and Mathematics Division has developed an articulation program in engineering with Columbia University in New York and Washington University in St. Louis. These articulation agreements allow students to begin their studies at UVI and then complete requirements for graduation at one of the schools. Students who satisfy all requirements receive one degree from UVI and a second degree in engineering from one of the two schools. There are less formalized transfer programs in pre-engineering, pre-pharmacy and pre-medical technology for students who wish to study in these fields at the University of the Virgin Islands before transferring to a specialized institution to complete their studies. Interested students should seek additional information from the Chair of the Division of Science and Mathematics.
UVI has entered into several special agreements and collaborative ventures within the last few years. One such agreement is with the University of Charleston. There will be joint collaborations on faculty and student exchanges, faculty research, and program development. Research will be conducted at the Etelman Observatory, located on St. Thomas at an elevation of approximately 1500 ft. The Observatory houses a 16-inch American Optical refracting telescope built in 1962. The telescope has been fitted with a CCD camera, a computer controlled filter wheel, and optical encorders which allow the telescope to be positioned with exceptional accuracy. The facility will be used both for instructional purposes and research, which is sponsored in part by the South Carolina NASA Space Grant Consortium.
A cooperative student and faculty exchange agreement between Emory University and the University of the Virgin Islands is currently in effect. The exchange agreement provides for the regular exchange of students and faculty between the two institutions in order to enhance the education and the mutual understanding of both students and faculty.
The Virgin Islands University Affiliated Program (VIUAP) was established in October 1994 to enhance the quality of life for citizens with developmental disabilities and their families. VIUAP carries out its mission by promoting independence, productivity and full integration into the community through interdisciplinary training, exemplary service, technical assistance and information dissemination.
Other Collaborative Agreements or Memoranda of Understanding have been established between UVI and:
- Consortium for Caribbean Marine Studies
- U. S. Department of the Interior
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Department of Commerce
- Virgin Islands National Park Service
- The State University of New York at New Paltz
- University of Ghana, Legon and the University of Copenhegen
- University of St. Maarten
- H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, BVI
- Consortium of Caribbean Universities for Natural Resource Management
Special Degree Program Offering:
From time to time, the University develops special degree programs to provide workforce training and to enhance the professional development of service providers. One such program is the Inclusive Early Childhood Education Associate in Arts degree program. Designed to ensure that child care providers and early childhood professionals are trained to provide quality programs in which infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers with differing abilities are nurtured, the degree program admits students as a cohort based on community need.