In conjunction with the American Meteorological Society's course Online Weather Studies, the Division of Science and Mathematics at the University of the Virgin Islands offers SCI 210 - Introduction to Meteorology, for the fall of 2003 semester. The course has grown from 34 during its inaugural offering in the spring of 2003 to 47 this semester.

The course is conducted primarily as an asynchronous distant learning course, but includes a weekly one-hour tutorial on each campus. In addition to normal class learning techniques, students record and analyze local temperature and sky cover data. The director, primary professor and St. Thomas campus tutorial instructor is physicist Dr. Dave Smith. Computer Science professor and pilot Dr. Al Lewit conducts the tutorials on the St. Croix campus.

Introduction to Meteorology represents the first step in the development of a new program in meteorological studies. UVI has submitted an infrastructure grant proposal to the NSF - EPSCoR program that includes monies to establish programs in weather monitoring and weather modeling that can provide research opportunities for undergraduates. The ultimate goal will be to provide specific mesoscale weather prediction for islands in the Caribbean.