UK board of trustees gives Capilouto positive evaluation. Faculty had mixed feedback
University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto received a positive evaluation from the board of trustees this year.
The evaluation process occurs each year and contains feedback from university faculty, staff, students and board members over several months. At Monday’s executive committee meeting, committee chair Britt Brockman presented an overview of the evaluation, including accomplishments, strengths and areas for improvement.
“We have an outstanding leader in President Capilouto,” Brockman said. “I know he would quickly point to his team, which does so much to support these efforts and, like him, is dedicated with a sense of purpose and deep pride to the work we do to advance Kentucky.”
Among the major accomplishments noted by the board are Capilouto’s work in growing the university’s enrollment and graduation rates, expanding health care, and the Markey Cancer Center achieving comprehensive status from the National Cancer Institute earlier this year. Capilouto’s strengths noted in the evaluation are increasing fundraising opportunities, his commitment to students and Kentucky, being responsive and seeking out different perspectives when finding solutions to problems.
Areas for improvement mentioned were “continued progress to advance belonging and inclusion,” strengthening faculty relationships and shared governance, and being “cognizant of potential impact of health care leadership decision on administrative structure and decision-making processes.”
At the October board meeting, UK Faculty Senate President DeShana Collett presented results from the senate. Respondents were asked to rank Capilouto’s performance in several areas on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree.” He was ranked most highly for his effectiveness in building the campus infrastructure, responding to crisis situations and supporting undergraduate education.
The lowest-ranked responses came to questions asking about Capilouto’s effectiveness in “restructuring the administration to be cost effective,” building faculty morale and involving faculty in the decision-making process.
- In response to the statement “During the 2022-23 academic year, the president has been effective in communicating his plans for the future of the university,” 22.75% responded with a 5, and 34.28% responded with a 4.
- In response to the statement “During the 2022-23 academic year, the president has been effective in generating resources to implement the University mission successfully,” 22.37% responded with a 5 and 35.92% responded with a 4.
- In response to a statement about Capilouto’s effectiveness in listening to faculty concerns, responses were more mixed. 14.89% responded with a 5, 24.47% responded with a 4, 22.04% responded with a 3, 18.09% responded with a 2 and 20.52% responded with a 1.
- Responses were also mixed to a statement asking about Capilouto’s effectiveness in “involving the faculty in decision-making.” 12.25% responded with a 5, 21.9% responded with a 4, 23.11% responded with a 3, 21.3% responded with a 2 and 21.45% responded with a 1.
Capilouto has been the president of UK since 2011. He is among the highest-paid public college presidents in the country, with his base salary set at more than $1 million. He is the seventh-highest paid president, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s pay database.