UK, President Capilouto Continue to Draw National Attention for Campus Transformation

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 10, 2012) — University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto's plans to transform student housing on campus continue to garner national attention.

Friday's edition of The Wall Street Journal showcased a lengthy article about trends in student residential housing across the country. UK's plans to build up to 9,000 new, modern residence hall beds over the next five to seven years was prominently mentioned in the story at this site:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323830404578145591134362564.html.

"Our facilities are tasteful. They're as attractive as you're going to be able to find anywhere. They're not resorts," Capilouto told the Wall Street Journal. "We want something modern infused with technology, but not priced beyond the means of the people we're charged to serve."

UK is currently constructing a 601-bed residence hall that is scheduled to open in August 2013. Another 2,900 beds — to be opened in August 2014 — have recently begun construction.

The initiative is creating hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in economic impact. UK is the only university in the country to be contemplating a complete privatization of its student housing stock. The university is working with publicly traded company, EdR, which operates some 40,000 university residence hall beds across the country.

UK's effort is part of a campus transformation initiative to replace residence halls that are, on average, nearly 50 years old. The new residence halls will be wireless, contain different room configurations that are more attractive to students as well as classroom and collaborative space to better match 21st-century learning needs.