Julia Bailey-Smith

University of the West Indies: Cavehill

The Campus is currently located on 47 acres of elevated land which the UWI holds on long-term lease from the Government of Barbados. The site overlooks the island's capital and principal commercial centre, Bridgetown, which is just five miles away. Cave Hill itself is a relatively new and expanding suburban community. Nearby is the St. James coast, one of the country's principal tourist zones. The Campus was originally designed to accommodate about 500 students. The present enrolment is approximately 8,600. The physical expansion to accommodate more than seven times the originally contemplated population, has taken place in a manner sympathetic to the original architectural design of low-rise buildings, simplicity and orderliness. This, combined with the scenic attractiveness of the site, and the relatively small size of the University community has resulted in an atmosphere of intimacy and friendliness which is immediately felt by visitors to the campus. Our host country Barbados is itself a small island of 425km2 with a fully literate population of 260,000, a well developed infrastructure and a per capita income of approximately US$8000. It is serviced by an extensive network of surfaced roads, excellent internal and external telecommunications systems and daily air connections with countries of North and South America, Europe, as well as most West Indian states. The Government of Barbados has recently granted an additional 33 acres of land contiguous to the existing campus, which the University is currently in the process of developing. It is expected that the School for Graduate Studies and Research will soon be located at this new site.