Ravi Ravishanker

As the CIO, I manage a merged Library/IT organization of approximately 80 professional staff. Since my arrival, we have reorganized into a highly efficient organization and some of the major accomplishments are listed below:

• Move to Google Apps for Education that began in August 2011 and completed in Nov 2011. All alumnae beginning from the Class of 2012 will retain their email addresses and Google Apps account for life.
• Move to Drupal as the Content Management System in Feb 2012 leading to a more lively website that is refreshed often and used a lot. User satisfaction is highest in terms of being able to maintain the content.
• Adopted an Institutional Repository – http://repository.wellesley.edu during Feb 2011
• Authored a LAMP stack framework for application development that has resulted in over 30 applications which has vastly simplified business processes. Our web applications programmers have adopted this methodology and this has become the de facto process for developing most of what we do including being the interface to Banner, our ERP.
• Helped develop and implement a cloud strategy through which most of our core processes have been moved to the coud – Email, Calendaring, LMS (happened prior to my arrival), Kaltura, Medicat, A system used by Health and Counseling services to name a few.
• Introduced serious fiscal controls to bring the Budget management to be in line with the strategic plan for LTS. Reallocated more funds to some of the perennially underfunded academic initiatives.
• Helped develop a short term strategic plan for LTS.

I came to this country in 1978 to do my PhD in computational chemistry. I worked with Professor David Beveridge (Hunter College of CUNY) on molecular simulations both as a PhD student and a postdoc. I also completed an MA in Computer Science during this time from Queens College, CUNY. I then worked at Wesleyan University for 23 years in various positions in IT organization while teaching occasionally in the Computer Science and Chemistry departments. After spending a year at Pace University in NY, I came to Wellesley in Nov 2010.

I am very interested in all new developing fields in technology as they relate to teaching, learning and research. I think that the MOOCs are an exciting development that address access issues in very interesting ways and also provides a great platform for each institution to show the world what makes them unique when it comes to teaching and learning. WellesleyX will provide the platform for us to do these and I am very fortunate to be part of this great experience. I have already completed an edX class and am enrolled in another. 

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I love to play golf (though my score needs a lot of improvement) and love to listen (way too much!) to Tamil film music and watch Tamil movies.