President Eli Capilouto announced in an email senior higher education administrators representing the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) visited UK’s campus this past week.

Every 10 years, universities are reaffirmed by these accrediting administrators. This is a necessary process as these evaluations determine an institution’s eligibility to receive federal funds for student aid, according to the email.

UK will not receive official word on reaffirmation until the end of the year, however, according to the email, the administrators’ panel told Capilouto and the internal accreditation team on Thursday morning that out of more than 70 standards evaluated, there are no areas of concern.

Capilouto said what’s most important to him is not the standards which the university itself meets, but the university’s community.

“Most significant to me, though, was how they described you,” Capilouto said in the email.

The panel conducted dozens of interviews across campus and evaluated a 600 page report submitted by UK which included over 3,000 points of evidence.

According to Capilouto, panel members heard UK’s community and team members discuss UK’s commitment to advancing Kentucky in “everything – everything – we do.”

In contrast to other institutions, UK is focused on educating Kentucky. According to one panel member, many other institutions are more focused on rankings, Capilouto said in the email.

Capilouto went on to remark that this focus, along with creating greater opportunities for the well-being of the state, has been UK’s mission for 160 years.

Capilouto said he is proud that what matters to our community becomes evident to people just by stepping on campus and having a few conversations with members of the community.

A new initiative, “Transdisciplinary Educational approaches to advance Kentucky (TEK),” will be discussed during the reaffirmation process. The email said TEK will better advance UK’s capacity to bring “world-class faculty experts” together across many subjects to focus on teaching students to the best of the institution’s ability. 

Capilouto attributed UK’s success to the people of the campus. He specifically mentioned Provost Bob DiPaola and his team for the amount of time they put into preparing for the panel’s visit. 

He also recognized Katherine McCormick, RaeAnne Person, Camille Harmon and professor Susan Cantrell for their work related to the process. 

Capilouto said he is deeply grateful to everyone that represents the University of Kentucky.

“They embody the ‘Power of We.’ So do all of you, who remain steadfastly committed to our students and to our north star: advancing Kentucky,” Capilouto said.

Capilouto went on to thank the UK campus community for constantly working towards the institution’s goals. 

“Thank you for being a community so focused on what matters — our state and its future,” Capilouto said.