By Morgan Eads | @KyKernel

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In a recent evaluation, university community members gave UK President Eli Capilouto positive reviews of his performance this past year.

The Board of Trustees executive committee met Tuesday to discuss the evaluation, which called for more open communication and offered suggestions on how Capilouto could improve as president.

The evaluation from an outside consultant, David C. Hardesty Jr., cited diligence, hard work and sensitivity to the suggestions in the last year’s evaluation, which summarized Capilouto as an “experienced, mature and effective” president.

Hardesty conducted a 21-question survey in July that asked students, faculty, staff, alumni and donors about Capilouto’s leadership and skills. In addition, Hardesty interviewed 28 of those surveyed.

Senate Council chairwoman Lee X. Blonder also presented results from a separate faculty-only survey conducted in late April. Of the university’s 2,530 full-time faculty members, 807 responded to an email survey, she said.

Several faculty said in the survey that they would like to be more involved in decisions, Blonder said.

Though Capilouto has made an effort to communicate, some faculty would like to be involved earlier and have more of an impact in the decision making process, Blonder said.

There was also a level of concern for the graduate school’s programs in the survey. The survey showed that some faculty felt attention was being paid more exclusively to undergraduate programs.

Trustee James Stuckert said Capilouto is doing the right thing in focusing on undergraduate programs as they are the ones that, “bring in the dollars.”

Both evaluations showed an appreciation for the infrastructure changes that have been made during Capilouto’s administration.

In addition, a questionnaire was approved Tuesday by the board that will determine a vote of confidence or no confidence for the president. The questionnaires will be completed at the September Board of Trustees meeting, said board chairman Britt Brockman.

A statement in response to the evaluation was released by the office of Capilouto.

“I appreciate the substantive and productive feedback from stakeholders across our campus and Commonwealth,” Capilouto said in the statement. “An evaluation like this is most useful when it provides affirmation about progress made, but also guidance regarding where things can and should improve.”

In addition to the executive committee meeting, four new board members were sworn in on Tuesday. Among the new board members was Student Government President Roshan Palli.

Palli said he is very “humbled and honored” by the opportunity to be a part of of the board.

At the end of the day, Palli said his primary goal is to represent his fellow students on the board in the best way possible.

“My door is always open,” Palli said. “And if I am not in my office, you can call me, email me.”