University of the West Indies at Cave Hill is a public research university in Cave Hill, Barbados. It is one of five general campuses in the University of the West Indies system.
It was the third campus to be established by the UWI System, following the Mona campus in Jamaica and the St. Augustine campus in Trinidad and Tobago. The Cave Hill campus is also the headquarters of the Open Campus, which is responsible for UWI programmes in the non-campus territories. The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus' academic programmes offer diversity at both the undergraduate and graduate level. There are seven faculties with supporting academic departments; various research units and centres; and two graduate institutions.[3]Codrington College, the oldest educational institution in the Caribbean, is affiliated with Cave Hill, while the School of Education works with Erdiston Teachers' Training College to provide pre-service and in-service training to teachers in Barbados and other parts of the Caribbean. Since 2004, the Cave Hill campus is the site of the West Indies Federal Archives Centre.
Dormitories at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies.
The university was founded in 1948, on the recommendation of the Asquith Commission on Higher Education in the Colonies,[4] through its sub-committee on the West Indies chaired by Sir James Irvine.[5] The Asquith Commission had been established in 1943 to review the provision of higher education in the British colonies. Initially in a special relationship with the University of London, the then University College of the West Indies (UCWI) was seated at Mona, about five miles from Kingston, Jamaica.
The University College achieved independent university status in 1962. The St Augustine Campus in Trinidad, formerly the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA), was established in 1960.
Sir Arthur Lewis, then Vice-Chancellor of the independent UWI, wanted to expand the university beyond Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to serve the "little eight" - the eastern Caribbean islands.[6] The "little eight" comprised Grenada, Dominica, St. Kitts, and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Montserrat. These islands, smaller than either Jamaica or Trinidad and Tobago, had been members of the West Indies Federation but upon its dissolution, were isolated and in need of regional support. A proposal was developed and submitted in February 1963 to the University Council for a campus in Barbados.[6] It was approved and was initially housed in a site near the Bridgetown Harbour. The Campus opened just over half a year later with 118 students.[7] It subsequently moved to Cave Hill, its present location, in 1967.[8] Initially, it was called the College of Arts and Sciences [9] and received significant support from the Government of Barbados in the form of free university education for its citizens.[10]
According to the 2015/2016 Cave Hill Campus Annual Report to Council, on 29 November 2016, there were 5,507 students on the Cave Hill Campus. This represented a 9 per cent decline from the previous year, largely due to a change in policy by the Government of Barbados resulting in students having to pay university tuition fees.[11] Previously, Bajan students only had to pay limited charges. The Faculty of Social Studies had the largest enrolment, followed by the Faculty of Sciences and Technology, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Medical Sciences and finally the Faculty of Humanities and Education. Graduate studies comprised 703 students.
In the 2015/16 academic year, 1,216 undergraduate degrees were awarded, along with 473 postgraduate credentials (including doctorates, master's degrees and advanced diplomas) for a grand total of 1,689 awards.
During the 2015/16 academic year, BD$268,402.79 was awarded by the Campus to postgraduate students for conference attendance and research. In the same year, BD$316,974 was provided to faculty members for research and attending conferences. Cave Hill faculty members published 11 books, 42 book chapters, 30 technical reports and 137 journal articles during this time.
The original, temporary campus, then known as the College of Arts and Science, was located at the Trade Fair site, at the Deep Water Harbour.[12] The permanent campus was established in Cave Hill (from which the campus takes its name), St. Michael, with the foundation stone laid on 26 January 1966.[12] The campus was designed by Captain William Tomlin and consists of a total of 39.7 ha. 17 ha overlooks the city of Bridgetown, while a further 13 ha of adjacent land is situated with a view of the Caribbean Sea.[13]
The campus has two other off-campus sites in progress. One is the Dukes Lands in the parishofSt. Thomas.[14][15] Activities at the Dukes Lands include training in various areas of agro-business, such as producing leather goods and manufacturing chocolate, research and support for entrepreneurial initiatives.
A second is an incubator for digital entrepreneurship in Bridgetown.[16] It occupies the Mutual Building, the former headquarters of Sagicor Financial Corporation, from which UWI leased the building.[17]
Other suggestions for a further satellite campus within Barbados have included moving or establishing a portion back to Bridgetown.[18]
The Cave Hill Academy of Sport, now a unit of the new Faculty of Sport, provides a range of sporting activities for participants, nicknamed the UWI Blackbirds.
There are many clubs and associations at the university, divided into categories such as: cultural, academic, religious and service.
One popular artistic student group is the Cavite Chorale.
^Report of the West Indies Committee of the Commission on Higher Education in the Colonies, Presented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to Parliament by Command of His Majesty June 1945. London, His Majesty’s Stationery Office
^B., N., ed. (4 June 2010). "UWI coming to The City?". News, education. nationnews.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2010. Retrieved 4 April 2021. THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES, Cave Hill Campus, is 'looking seriously' at establishing a campus in The City. Principal Sir Hilary Beckles revealed this during the launch of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (BCCI) year of activities in celebration of their 185th anniversary. Speaking at the historic George Washington House on Wednesday, Sir Hilary said such a development would bring life to Bridgetown.
