University of the West Indies at Cave Hill

The university was founded in 1948, on the recommendation of the Asquith Commission[3] through its sub-committee on the West Indies chaired by Sir James Irvine.[4] 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.[5] 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.[5] 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.[6] It subsequently moved to Cave Hill, its present location, in 1967.[7] Initially, it was called the College of Arts and Sciences [8] and received significant support from the Government of Barbados in the form of free university education for its citizens.[9]

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% 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, Barbadian 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, masters 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 eleven books, 42 book chapters, thirty 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.[10] 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.[10] 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.[11]

The campus has two other off-campus sites in progress. One is the Dukes Lands in the parish of St. Thomas.[12][13] 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.[14] It occupies the Mutual Building, the former headquarters of Sagicor Financial Corporation, from which UWI leased the building.[15]

• Humanities and Education
• Law
• Medical Sciences
• Science and Technology
• Social Sciences

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.

One popular artistic student group is the Cavite Chorale.

• 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)
• Sir Hilary Beckles (2002 - 2015), currently UWI vice-chancellor
• Eudine Barriteau (2015 -

Prime Minister Timothy Harris studied at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus

• Sandra Mason, current Governor-General of Barbados
• Paula-Mae Weekes, current President of Trinidad and Tobago
• Timothy Harris, current 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
• 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

• University of the West Indies
• Barbados Community College
• Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology
• Codrington College
• Erdiston Teachers' Training College

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of the West Indies (Cave Hill), Barbados.

• Official website
• The Cave Hill School of Business
• Satellite view of the Cave Hill campus
• Map of the UWI Cave Hill Campus