Campus Overview

The 130-acre campus of the University of the Virgin Islands on St. Croix is located at Golden Grove, midway between the towns of Christiansted and Frederiksted.   Used by the University since 1964, the land was deeded to the University for educational purposes by the United States federal government in 1968.  The entrance to the campus, from Queen Mary Highway, is lined by royal palm trees leading to the residence halls, Student Center and the Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning.  The main buildings include  the Great House, where classes were held prior to 1975, and the Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning (the main academic building); the Northwest Wing which was erected in 1989 which houses the computer laboratories; the Research and Extension Center which opened its doors in 1992, and the Nursing complex which has been home to the Division of Nursing Education since 1996.

Having just opened during the 1998-99 academic year, the Student Center, residence halls, and the recently constructed outdoor athletic and recreational facilities are all brand new to the St. Croix campus.  The residence hall complex is comprised of 17 three-bedroom suites, on-campus living quarters for the Residence Hall Director and Campus Nurse, and an administrative wing which includes a reception area, a lounge, the Office of Student Housing and Residence Life, laundry facilities, and two study/seminar rooms.  Adjacent to the residence hall is a Student Center which accommodates a combination cafeteria/auditorium, student mail room, a student activities lounge, Snack Bar, and Campus Bookstore.  All of the campus’ buildings and facilities, including the new outdoor tennis and basketball/volleyball courts, are within walking distance.

Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning

Opened in 1975, the Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning, named for the U.S. Virgin Islands’ first elected governor.  the architecturally unique Center is a modern air-conditioned, multi-level complex constructed around a landscaped courtyard with open-air walkways, galleries, attractive stonework, tropical foliage, miniature waterfalls and manmade ponds.  The building of modular design, provides for future expansion as the higher education needs of St. Croix residents increase.

Housed within the Melvin H. Evans Center for Learning are the Division of Academic Affairs including offices of the Dean of Instruction and Academic Affairs, Academic Services, the Library, classrooms, faculty offices, video conferencing facilities, a 73-seat Theater, and academic support programs and services such as the Upward Bound program and the Freshman Center.

The Evans Center is also home to Business and Financial Affairs including the Office of the Business and Facilities Manager, the Physical Plant, and Campus Security offices.  With the exception of residence life and student activities, all other Division of Student Affairs programs and services are located in the Center:  the Office of the Dean of Students, Financial Aid, Counseling and Placement, On-campus Student Employment, and the office of the Student Government Association..

St. Croix Campus Library

The St. Croix Campus Library was founded in 1964 and was moved to its present location in the Melvin Evans Center for Learning in 1975.  Its primary function is to support the educational mission of the University.  Its holdings are oriented toward such programs and are supplemented and updated on a continuous basis.  Its current holdings of about 38,000 volumes and over 300 active periodical subscriptions are complemented by those of the Ralph M. Paiewonsky Library on the St. Thomas Campus.

The St. Croix Campus Library features a special collection of Virgin Islands and Caribbean materials and an extensive pamphlet file of conference papers and other materials on the Caribbean.  To fulfill its roles as library and media center, there is a growing collection of audiovisual materials.  There are also more than 300,000 documents on microfiche in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) collection.  The Library also serves as a depository for the publications of the Government of the United States Virgin Islands.

In its dual role as media center, the St. Croix Campus Library maintains presentation equipment for classroom and in-library use with audiovisual material.  Instruction in the use of this material and in all other library resources is offered to groups or individuals upon request.

Access to the catalogs and the shared resources of both campus libraries is provided through UVIAL — the University of the Virgin Islands Automated Libraries System.  This shared catalog module allows students to search and view the library holdings of either campus.  Patrons may use the on-line public access terminals located in both libraries, or may telnet to the system from any computer equipped with a modem or otherwise connected to the campus-wide information network.  Through a well-developed system of intercampus loans, students and faculty may borrow or otherwise have access to materials from either campus library.  Both libraries offer internal access to a networked system of CD-ROM information resources as well as full Internet access from the libraries’ computer labs.  Links from the Libraries’ Home Page (http://library.uvi.edu/index.htm) provide access to several academic and other databases which are located on the World Wide Web.  These currently include Searchbank, Medline, ERIC and NewsFile.

The Library maintains membership to OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), through SOLINET (Southeastern Library Network).  Membership in this network provides opportunities for additional interlibrary loans from and to libraries across the mainland U.S. and around the world, as well as electronic access to cataloging services.  Mediated access to DIALOG Information Services and FirstSearch is also provided.

Research and Extension Center

With the celebration of its 20th anniversary in 1992,  the University of the Virgin Islands’ Research and Land-Grant Affairs opened its new building, the Research and Extension Center.  This state-of-the art facility is home to the biotechnology laboratory with a temperature-controlled Grow Room, a plant science laboratory where research is conducted in areas of soil and plant analysis, a home economics foods laboratory, a resource room, four seminar rooms, 14 research faculty and staff offices, and a staff lounge.