A man who applied to the UK Graduate School and found out his application was not accepted after he moved to Lexington is still not enrolled in the school. 

Myron Guthrie, 45, filed a complaint about his situation to the Council on Postsecondary Education. Guthrie also filed a complaint to the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office but it deferred to the council, according to Attorney General spokesman Terry Sebastian. 

The university initially declined to speak in detail on the matter and cited FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as the reason. 

Guthrie then waived his FERPA rights to the university so it could discuss the matter to media outlets. 

Senior Assistant Dean Pat Bond said Guthrie did not initially apply for the communication program in the UK Graduate School as a previous Kernel article reported.

Bond said Guthrie’s bachelor degree comes from a university not accredited by agencies that UK recognizes. UK only recognizes credits from institutions fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, Middle States Commission on Higher Learning, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Guthrie applied in April for the Communication Masters of Science program in the College of Communication, Bond said. Two days later, he changed his status to a non-degree seeking student on post-baccalaureate status for Summer I. Then he deferred admission to Summer II and was accepted, Bond said. 

Related: Bus schedule will be different on Election Day

If Guthrie had registered for classes, then the Graduate School would have checked the accuracy of Guthrie’s application, according to Bond.

Bond said admissions officer Vivian Bowling met with Guthrie on Aug. 26 after he visited the Graduate School offices to ask about his enrollment for the fall semester. Bond said that day “the error became apparent.” Bowling told Guthrie his credentials were unacceptable at the Graduate School.

“The truth is (Bowling) was doing her job,” Bond said. 

Bond said the Graduate School has since taken measures to prevent a circumstance like this from happening again. She said it has never happened in the 20 years that she has worked at the UK Graduate School. 

This mistake boils down to human error, Bond said. She also said she is taking this matter very seriously. She said that the Graduate School receives thousands of applications every year.  

Bond authorized a check to be sent to Guthrie to repay his application fees. He received the check in the mail, but has not cashed it.

Guthrie said the best way UK could repay him would be to allow him to take classes. 

“I’m not leaving until I finish,” he said. 

Guthrie has since become a substitute teacher for Fayette County Schools. He is in the process of training to be a DJ on WRFL-FM. General Manager of WRFL Nathan Hewitt said Guthrie has been in training over the past seven months.

Guthrie said he will go live Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. to talk more about his status in the Graduate School.

Editor’s note: Vivian Bowling is an admissions officer, not an academic adviser as a previous Kernel article said.