University of the Virgin Islands
The University of the Virgin Islands is a public historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands.
History
UVI was founded as the College of the Virgin Islands on March 16, 1962. In 1986, it officially became one of the historically black colleges and universities. The institution also changed its name in 1986 to the University of the Virgin Islands to reflect the growth and diversification of its academic curriculum, research programs, and regional community services. On August 18, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decided that the university's regulations prohibiting signs and conduct that could cause emotional distress were unconstitutional. On January 5, 2021, Governor Albert Bryan signed into law Act 8404, which honors former UVI President Orville Edward Kean for his contributions to the University of the Virgin Islands and renamed the St. Thomas campus after him.Presidents
- Lawrence C. Wanlass 1962–1980
- Arthur A. Richards 1980-1990
- Orville Edward Kean 1990-2002
- LaVerne E. Ragster 2002-2009
- David Hall 2009-2024
- Safiya George 2024-
Campuses
Athletic facilities
The campus on St. Thomas boasts the Sports and Fitness Center with an adjacent weightlifting and aerobic exercise gym, as well as a golf course, tennis courts, outdoor basketball and volleyball courts, and baseball and soccer fields. The Sports and Fitness Center can seat up to 3,500 people and annually hosts the Paradise Jam tournament for mainland NCAA basketball teams.On St. Croix, there is an outdoor sports facility equipped with basketball, volleyball, and tennis courts. Also, there is a small exercise gym inside the Student Activities center. St. Croix has large fields in front, and they are usually acceptable for athletic use, but they tend to flood during heavy rain.
Housing
In 2012 the university added a 37,000 square foot residential hall. The university has six different sets of dorms on the St. Thomas campus which include: Eastern Dorms, Western Dorms, Northern Dorms, Southern Dorms, and Middle Dorms. The Eastern and Western Dorms are both unisex dorms whereas the South and Middle are all-female dorms. The Northern Dorms are all male dorms.Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix has two residence halls, which together are known as the Delta M. Jackson Dorsch Complex. Its doors opened to students in 1999. Housing consists of 45 rooms with two beds per room, allowing accommodation for 90 students. The halls are sectioned into blocks: Knight's Block, Pirate's Block, Spartan's Block, and Titan's Block. Each block is designated by gender.
St. John Academic Center
, the northernmost island of the US Virgin Islands currently has no college campus on the island. Residents of St. John wishing to attend the UVI are required to travel by ferry to the island of St. Thomas to attend classes. The journey can take a few minutes each way. UVI President, David Hall, made it a priority to provide easier access to students living in St. John.After speaking with residents of St. John, Dr. Hall discovered many obstacles hindering student education, including lack of access to a library and study spaces. Through the HBCU Library Alliance, funds were raised for the construction of a learning center in St. John. UVI chief information officer, Tina Koopmans, and library and IT staff developed a plan and located the resource center in an old gymnasium in St. John's MarketPlace.
The St. John Academic Center contains four classrooms, a library, and a computer lab. Additionally, students can attend class via video conferencing technology so that they do not need to travel off the island as frequently. There are also individual and group study spaces available. According to Koopmans UVI has "seen an increase in our St. John student population from 37 to 47, and we are only at the beginning of the process." In addition to being used by students, the STJAC provides the entire St. John community with access to the Small Business Development Center, access to the general library and Wi-Fi networks, and conference rooms for meetings.
Currently, the STJAC is undergoing a relocation from the MarketPlace to the Department of Planning and Natural Resources in Cruz Bay.
Technology and research facilities
The legislature of the Virgin Islands chartered the University of the Virgin Islands Research and Technology Park to help expand the technology segment of the islands' economy, encourage more businesses to operate on the islands, and foster technology research and activities at the university. The university is filled with knowledgeable staff to help guide and support students in reaching their goals. The United States Department of Agriculture operates a large agricultural experiment station on the St. Croix campus working on agroforestry, aquaponics, biotechnology, forage agronomy, and tilapia farming. The University also own and run the Etelman Observatory.Academics
The university has five academic divisions: Business, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, Nursing, and Science and Mathematics. UVI offers various graduate degree and undergraduate degree programs. The graduate programs consist of a Specialist Degree in Education Specialist in School Psychology and the following Master's degrees: Master of Arts in Education, Master of Arts in Mathematics for Secondary Teachers, Master of Business Administration, Master of Marine and Environmental Science, Master of Psychology and Master of Public Administration. The Undergraduate Degree Programs are divided into several categories: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Associate of Applied Science.Its liberal arts curriculum is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. In addition, the university works to recruit local, national and international students to broaden and create a diversified student population, as 95% of its current students are natives of the US Virgin Islands.
The university also has several academic programs under its College of Science and Mathematics. One of these is an engineering program, where students attend UVI for three years and then transfer to either Columbia University, the University of Florida, Washington University in St. Louis, or the University of South Carolina to complete the last two years of their engineering studies. After completing the program, students will acquire a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from UVI and a Bachelor of Science in their specialization of engineering from the partner university. The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with concentration in computational biology is offered on both St. Thomas and St. Croix. Students will be able to focus in fields related to parallel computing, data mining, bioinformatics, computational science or cyber-security.
The university also has an early medical school selection program with Boston University which affords selected students to study for three years at UVI and then transfer to Boston University Medical School in their senior year. They are then granted the opportunity to take medical school courses early. The university also holds several National Science Foundation-funded research grants and programs including MBRS-RISE, SEAGEP, HBCU-UP, and MARC under its Emerging Caribbean Scientist program. The mission of the ECS programs is to increase research training and promote excellence for science, technology, engineering, mathematics and psychology students at the University of the Virgin Islands. The university fosters research by hosting research symposiums every semester where students are given the opportunity to present research projects conducted both locally and abroad, to the UVI faculty and the Virgin Islands community.