By Emery Mason Campbell

UK President Eli Capilouto sat down with a handful of students Wednesday and discussed the university’s social media use, the new dorms and UK’s Top 20 Business Plan.

Capilouto talked about how he was impressed with UK head coach John Calipari’s social media use and how he is able to keep all of his followers and fans feel closely involved.

“I feel like an amateur among experts with your generation when it comes to social media,” he said.

Capilouto said he was concerned that some students may damage their image by posting photos or items that others may view as embarrassing. He asked how UK can improve their use of its social media platforms.

Ideas were discussed about how to bridge the distance between faculty and students when it comes to social media.

An idea was brought up that a student run social media workshop for the faculty could be a way to teach the faculty on how to use social media more and even use it in their classrooms.

Social media has brought about new ways to teach and educate, and the use of “distance learning” was brought up and discussed. Distance learning is an alternative way of learning.

The student isn’t in a traditional classroom with a professor, and a course can be completed by getting assignments and completing them on the student’s own time, much like an online course.

Capilouto said he wants to see UK use distance learning more because it helps students finish their curriculum sooner and has been proven to be as effective as traditional learning.

The president also discussed the plans for new campus housing. He pointed out the concerns and logistics that need to be addressed while the new dorms are being built.

These concerns consist of the increase in construction and demolition around campus, along with the lack of “green space” that will be taken up by the new dorms.

The president addressed these issues by telling the students that the current dorms are outdated and UK only has 600 modern beds out of the 6,000 beds that exist, and that 8,500 students apply yearly for those 600 beds.

With these new dorms being built, the old ones will be taken down and turned into green spaces for students to enjoy.

“I thought the discussion about the upcoming dorms and the construction that will come with it was the most important issued talked about tonight,” Brian Garcia, a human nutrition junior, said.

Lastly, Capilouto explained UK’s progress with the Top 20 Business Plan.

By 2020 the state government wants UK to be a top 20 research college, and Capilouto pointed out that he has not seen a lot of structure commitment to this idea by the state government.

Capilouto said that he was not going to make any excuses because he sees UK continuing to grow. He said he is still committed.

He also pointed out that out of more than 3,500 universities, UK is in the top 100 research institutions in the U.S., and that UK has continued to move up the list.

Some factors that go into the rankings of top universities do not meet or deal with UK’s mission and that staying committed to the mission is what UK will continue to do, he said. “I enjoyed how accessible and open the president was tonight,” Garcia said.