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Commonwealth University of the West Indies
The Commonwealth University of the West Indies (CUWI) is the federated higher education system serving Vekllei’s Caribbean republics. Modelled after ancient collegiate systems and adapted to the archipelagos of Kalina and Lucaya, it comprises 32 constituent universities that maintain varying degrees of autonomy. 220,000 students are enrolled in CUWI, which is headquartered in the Antiguan capital of Caribbea. It is representative of the “nesting doll” nature of Vekllei higher education, since many of its constituent universities are themselves federated universities of different colleges and schools. As such, it is common to be enrolled as a student of a residential college, constituent university and CUWI simultaneously.
The university traces its origins to Codrington College, established in 1849 by the British Atlantic Company as a training school for colonial administrators and clergy. Its early curriculum focused on classical education and Anglican theology, housed in a single Georgian building that still stands in Caribbea. It has transformed substantially since then, and is second in students only to Commonwealth University, its historic rival. Like all Vekllei educational institutions, its standards and curriculum are maintained by the Curriculum & Qualifications Council.
CUWI operates through three administrative tiers:
1. The Central University
The Central University, which is itself an education institution in Antigua, oversees pancollegiate standards and maintains the Examinations Board. It houses the administration of the federal system, including the Office of the Chancellor.
Several federal bodies oversee the CUWI network:
- The University Congress – Annual meeting of all chancellors at Codrington Hall in Antigua
- The Sand Committee – Student representatives who mediate inter-campus disputes and work to build pancollegiate events and identity
- The Academic Council – Mostly retired professors who advise on academic traditions
Despite its federalism, CUWI has consistent educational standards and graduates of different schools are expected to receive the same quality of training. The style and content of this training is left to individual schools, which retain their distinctive characters.
2. Constituent Schools
Constituent schools, which encompasses universities, research centres and institutes are autonomous tertiary institutions that usually deliver an academic discipline through courses or triposes. Constituent schools may be large, general universities with many faculties and campuses or smaller, specialised institutions.
Major constituents include Karu University, Commonwealth Medical University and Antigua University. Each of these are collegiate schools, meaning students are enrolled in autonomous colleges that control their own admissions and teaching.
3. Colleges
Some Constituent Schools are themselves federated into colleges, which are often older than the universities that comprise them. Colleges may be day schools or residential, and are independent of but subordinated to a university. Colleges control their own admissions, employ their own academic staff, provide their own tutorials and supervision and maintain their own buildings and governance. Residential colleges, where students board, manage their own accomodation and dining as well. They may enrol undergraduates and have several hundred students, or have only a few dozen postgraduates focused on research.
While students enrolled in colleges primarily interact with the university through them, colleges themselves do not award degrees. Students graduate with university degrees bearing the CUWI seal and are not awarded degrees from their colleges.
Although CUWI maintains a number of major constituent general universities, many of its federated schools are specialised institutions that share resources and facilities with neighbouring campuses. In a quirk of Vekllei federalism, they can indicate local specialisation (e.g. Inagua’s salt industry of Kairi’s oil industry) or no local custom at all, when the distant eye of Commonwealth federalism deems a republic the new centre of an academic tradition. Most constituents have a research focus and 80% retain a field station for local ecosystem studies. A student of one is a student of all, and transfer and exchange are common practices within the network.
Constituent Institutions
Bahama University (Grand Bahama) – Marine sciences
Caicos University ( Caicos) – Coastal ecology, industrial economics
Cigateo Technical University (Cigateo) – Agricultural engineering, television production
Conch University of the Americas ( Conch) – Nautical studies, naval education
Curateo Polytechnic ( Curateo) – Localist sociology, aquaculture
Guanima Caribbean School (Guanima) – Education, oral history preservation, lucayan archaeology, colonial history
National Marine Establishment ( Habacoa) – Marine sciences, wetland research
Inagua Technical University (Great Inagua) – Salt production, marine fuels
Abaco Polytechnic University (Lucayoneque) – Disaster preparation, materials science
Mayaguana Federal Conservatory (Mayaguana) – Traditional music, ethnomusicology
Providence University ( Providence) – Political science, international law
Salvador Research Centre ( Rum) – Marine science, reef research
Summers University ( Summers) – Deep-sea research, Gulf Stream studies
Acklins Farm School (Yabaque) – Urban gardening, hydroponics, remote medicine
Yuma Arts Academy (Yuma) – Creole literature, painting, fine arts
Allia Polytechnic ( Allia) – Volcanology
Aloi Technical School ( Aloi) – Oil logistics, historic preservation
Aloubaera Technical University ( Aloubaera) – Petroleum engineering
Anguilla University ( Anguilla) – Finance, maritime policy
Antigua University ( Antigua) – Flagship campus; tropical medicine, classics
Barbados University ( Barbados) – Tropical crop industrialisation research, soil science
Barbary Marine Research Station ( Barbary) – Coral genetics, reef restoration
Commonwealth Medical University ( Cama) – Medical research, medical training
Grenadines Arts Conservatory ( Grenadines) – Traditional sailmaking, boatbuilding, fine arts
Karu University ( Karu) – Ballet, Caribbean dance, performing arts
Kabuli School of Forestry (Kabuli) – Rainforest ecology, geothermal energy, spice cultivation
Kairi Industrial University ( Kairi) – Petrochemical engineering, steel fabrication
Liamuiga School of Teaching (Liamuiga) – Atlantic Model teaching
Lucia Tropical School (Lucia) – Tropical disease research, culinary arts
Madiana Language School ( Madiana) – French language, Kalina creoles documentation
Oualie Maritime University (Oualie) – Naval architecture
Virgin University ( Virgin) – Political sciences
Through its academic divisions and constituent schools, CUWI offers comprehensive programs across all disciplines, with particular strengths in tropical medicine, maritime engineering, Caribbean studies, performing arts and advanced agriculture. Degrees are awarded by constituent schools but bear the CUWI seal.
Depending on the constituent school, students may enrol in an academic department (i.e. School of English) or with a residential college (i.e. Trinity College of Karu University) which affects their course structure and tutorials. Undergraduate programmes allow transfers between constituent schools after the first year. Faculty also move freely between schools. CUWI schools also share a digital library system containing over 2.7 million volumes and have access to the Federal Library network.
The academic culture at CUWI is most obviously influenced by British tutorial traditions (including weekly supervision meetings) but has evolved substantially in the federal period with contemporary Atlantic Model learning. A distinguishing characteristic from other Commonwealth universities are its Caribbean pedagogical styles including a preference for spoken examinations.
Life at CUWI involves a number of events and festivals, including an annual cricket tournament dating to 1903 called the Chancellor’s Cup. This has evolved into a pancollegiate festival involving a number of competitions, including in robotics and sailing. The Creole Debating Society is among the fiercest in Vekllei, but attends most debates overseas in Creole and French-speaking parts of the world.
About 30% of students complete at least one semester at another constituent university. Campuses share traditions including a symposium where graduate students present papers aboard ferries sailing between islands known as Carnival. Like most Vekllei universities, CUWI schools often have strong maritime traditions, and classes can even be held at sea. New students receive a bottle containing sand from their home island as a longstanding matriculation ritual.