June 30, 2011vol xvii, number 6 Events Calendar July 3 Music Camp Concert STT July 4 Emancipation Day Observed STT/STX July 5 Independence Day Observed STT/STX July 6 Music Camp Concert STT July 8-9 Oliver Samuels at Reichhold STT July 13 Music Camp Concert STT July 20 Music Camp Concert STT July 27 Music Camp Concert STT July 29 Summer Research Symposium STT Soccer Comes to UVI, 3 Fields to be Built on St. Croix S occer, one of the most popular sports around the world, will be coming to a campus near you. The Uni- versity of the Virgin Islands has started a varsity soccer program, with offi cial team play scheduled for the Fall 2011 semester. The team will be based on UVI’s Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix. A state-of-the-art soccer complex will also be built on the campus on St. Croix. The complex will include a competition fi eld and two practice fi elds. “Soccer is important because it is really big on St. Croix,” said UVI’s Athletic Director Peter Sauer, who for years has sought another varsity sport to add to the cam- pus. “The soccer fi eld should be, by far, the best soccer fi eld in the territory,” Sauer added. It is being built with $300,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds, he said. The soccer complex is expect- ed to be completed by Fall 2012. The UVI Soccer Team will be coached by Yohannes Worede. UVI's varsity teams compete in the Liga Atlética In- teruniversitaria (LAI), a university league based in Puerto Rico. LAI consists of twenty U.S. accredited universities. T he University of the Virgin Islands will begin offer- ing classes at the St. John Academic Center for the Fall 2011 semester. A total of 46 credit courses will be offered using video conference technology at the newly opened center located on the third fl oor of The Market- place shopping center. UVI’s Fall 2011 semester begins on August 22. "The University is all about providing educational access to the residents of the Territory," said UVI’s Pro- vost Dr. Karl Wright. "The St. John Academic Center will provide ready access to the residents of St. John. It will make it easier for students and others to get access to higher education," he said. UVI deans and department chairs selected the courses that are being offered for the Fall semester, Dr. Wright said. New student registration at the St. John Academic Center will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 16. Online registration is underway for matriculated UVI to Offer 46 Video Conference Classes on St. John Left to right: A video conference room, a lounge area and a classroom at the St. John Academic Center in The Marketplace shopping center. Forty-six courses will be offered via video conference technology at the center for the Fall 2011 semester. See St. John Academic Center on next page See Soccer on next page GET CONNECTED TO UVI news, activities and accomplishments at . . . www.uvi.edu dateline: UVI 2 John Brewer’s Bay St. Thomas, VI 00802 dateline: UVI is a production of the UVI Public Rela- tions Offi ce. Contact us by telephone at 340-693-1056 or by fax at 340-693-1055. or current UVI students for Fall semester classes. Students should expect state-of-the-art video confer- ence technology, laptops for loan, reference services, cen- ter advising, tutorial services, interlibrary loans and fax services at the St. John Academic Center, said Rachelle Shells, UVI’s manager of Learning Resources and Stu- dent Technology Services. Shells said to also expect an "ultra-modern décor." A full list of courses being offered at the St. John Aca- demic Center is available on the Academics webpage of the UVI website www.uvi.edu. To register for classes or to apply to UVI visit the UVI website at www.uvi.edu. St. John Academic Center Continued UVI Starts Summer Bridge Program to Ease Freshmen Transition T he University of the Virgin Islands will make it eas- ier for recent high school graduates to transition into their roles as UVI freshmen this fall with the new Summer Bridge Program. Beginning on July 4, 40 stu- dents on St. Thomas and 40 on St. Croix will spend four weeks living on campus and taking writing, speech, read- ing and math courses. They will also attend seminars and workshops on college life, faculty expectations and career planning. Recreational, social and cultural activities are also planned. The Summer Bridge Program is intended to jump-start students’ college careers by equipping them with the skills necessary for success. “Many incoming freshmen are not prepared to take college level Math and English courses that count toward graduation requirements. As a result, such students often spend one or two semesters taking preparatory (skills) courses before being eligible to take the credit-bearing college courses,” said Dr. Haldane Davies, special assistant to UVI President Dr. David Hall. Courses in the Summer Bridge Program are designed to assist the students in be- ing successful on the UVI placement tests. Former UVI Provost Dr. Gwen-Marie Moolenaar is contracted to develop the program. Funding from the U.S. Department of Education has allowed UVI to offer the program free of charge to the students. In addition to hosting home games for the UVI Soc- cer Team, Sauer hopes the new complex will create ties between UVI and other universities on the mainland and boost the economy of the Virgin Islands through soccer tournaments, similar to Paradise Jam. Paradise Jam is an annual tournament that attracts top National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I schools. Now in its 11th year at the Sports and Fitness Center on UVI’s St. Thomas campus, the tournament attracts hundreds of people to the territory each November. UVI currently fi elds varsity men's and women's teams in the following sports: basketball, volleyball, tennis, cross-country, swimming, track and fi eld and table tennis. UVI also offers a variety of intramural sports activities on both campuses. UVI is a corresponding member of the NCAA and a member of the Caribbean University Sports Association (CUSA). Soccer Continued