The 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. 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.
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History
The university was founded in 1948, on the recommendation of the Asquith Commission on Higher Education in the Colonies, through its sub-committee on the West Indies chaired by Sir James Irvine. 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. 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. 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. It subsequently moved to Cave Hill, its present location, in 1967. Initially, it was called the College of Arts and Sciences and received significant support from the Government of Barbados in the form of free university education for its citizens.
Enrolment, graduation and research data
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. 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.
Campus
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. 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. 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.
The campus has two other off-campus sites in progress. One is the Dukes Lands in the parish of St. Thomas. 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. It occupies the Mutual Building, the former headquarters of Sagicor Financial Corporation, from which UWI leased the building.
Other suggestions for a further satellite campus within Barbados have included moving or establishing a portion back to Bridgetown.
Faculties
Culture, Creative & Performing Arts
Humanities and Education
Law
Medical Sciences
Science and Technology
Social Sciences
Sport
Accreditation
In 2019, UWI Cave Hill (as a whole) was re-accredited by the Barbados Accreditation Council for the maximum term, ending in 2026.
The three UWI medical schools are accredited together, despite differences in curriculum, and are currently accredited with conditions by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP).
Faculty of Culture, Creative and Performing Arts
Departments
Department of Cultural Studies
Department of Creative and Performing Arts (formerly Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination)
Faculty of Humanities and Education
Departments
School of Education
Department of History and Philosophy
Department of Language, Linguistics & Literature
Specialised units and centres
Centre for Caribbean Lexicography
Centre for Language Learning Centre
Affiliated colleges
Codrington College
Erdiston Teachers' Training College
Faculty of Law
Specialised units and centres
Caribbean Law Institute Centre (CLIC), twinned with the Florida State University Caribbean Law Institute
Faculty of Medical Sciences
Specialised units and centres
George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre
Faculty of Science and Technology
Departments
Department of Biological & Chemical Sciences
Department of Computer Science, Mathematics and Physics
Specialised units and centres
Centre for Resource Management & Environmental Studies (CERMES)
Affiliated centres
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Faculty of Social Sciences
Departments
Department of Economics
Department of Government, Sociology, Social Work & Psychology
Department of Management Studies
Academic units and centres
Shridath Ramphal Centre - International Trade Law, Policy and Services
CLR James Cricket Research Centre
Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management
Affiliated research units and centres
Institute for Gender and Development Studies - Nita Barrow Unit
Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social & Economic Studies (SALISES)
Faculty of Sport
Student life
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.
The Cavite Chorale is a student organisation managed under the Guild of Students. This Caribbean singing group was started in 1973 by Kean H. W. Springer (BA, Dip.Ed, M.Phil) as director. It is quartered at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies in Barbados. Cavite Chorale has performed with the Mighty Gabby and Eddy Grant.
Campus principals and pro vice-chancellors
Mr Leslie R. B. Robinson, founding principal of the College of Arts and Science
Sir Sidney Lancelot Martin (1964–1983)
Sir Woodville Marshall
Sir Keith Hunte (1983–2002)
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles (2002–2015), currently UWI vice-chancellor
Eudine Barriteau (2015–2021)
Professor R. Clive Landis (2021–present)
Notable alumni
Sandra Mason, first and current President of Barbados
Paula-Mae Weekes, former President of Trinidad and Tobago
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, former Prime Minister and current Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago
Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
Keith Mitchell, current Prime Minister of Grenada
Owen Arthur, former Prime Minister of Barbados
Denzil Douglas, former Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
Freundel Stuart, former Prime Minister of Barbados
David Thompson, former Prime Minister of Barbados
Kenny Anthony, former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia
Tracy Davidson-Celestine, former political leader of the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement and former Trinidad and Tobago Ambassador to Costa Rica
Marion Vernese Williams, former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados
John Holder, former Anglican Archbishop of the West Indies
Adrian Saunders, President of the Caribbean Court of Justice
DeLisle Worrell, former Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados