College hires Ganesan Ravi as new Chief Information Officer

Starting in mid-November, Ganesan Ravishanker (Ravi) will become the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Wellesley. As CIO, Ravi will head the management of information and library services for students, faculty and staff.

The CIO role includes supervision of the online library, the College's website, as well as providing insight and solutions for technological difficulties with campus computers, phones, cameras and research. The CIO is also the communication link between the student body and senior staff.

Before coming to Wellesley, Ravi worked for more than twenty years at Wesleyan College holding positions ranging from Manager of Computer Graphics and Scientific Computing to Associate Vice-President for Information Technology Services.  

"[Ravi] is widely admired within the profession as a creative problem solver, someone who combines outstanding technical skills with responsiveness to the needs of IS users," Dean of the College Andrew Shennan said. "The search committee was deeply impressed by Ravi's energy and vision and by his demonstrated record of successful innovation within a liberal arts college setting."

The search committee is comprised of faculty, staff and students. With the assistance of the recruiting firm, Russell Reynolds Associates, the committee reviewed candidates for the past ten months. After a series of interviews with Shennan, President Bottomly and other members of the search committee, the committee reached a collective decision that Ravi was the visionary that they had been looking for.

"With his experience at Wesleyan, Ravi knows what it's like to be a part of faculty. He knows how technology can improve the college process. He loves what he does and we are confident that he will take Wellesley to a new level with the use of technology," said Susan Challenger, executive director of the Wellesley College alumnae association and member of the CIO search committee.

For the past year, interim directors filled the CIO role. However, Veronica Brandstrader, director of planning & communication, said, "A strong leader is critical. We needed someone who can make budget decisions; someone who is a strong negotiator. To be sure, Ravi is that person. He's had lots of experience and specialty in applied computing. He demonstrates a true love for technology."

Recently, the college reduced staff and provided early retirement programs for faculty who were over sixty years old and worked for the college for ten years or longer.  When Micheline Jedrey retired in November 2009 from her position as vice president for information services and college librarian, the administration merged the responsibilities for information services and library management to create the role of Chief Information Officer.

Despite budget cuts, the college strongly believes that the role of CIO is integral to campus functions. "It's just like the role of the college registrar. Without that position, the students can't connect with their academic records. Likewise, the college can't function without a CIO who knows how to properly manage all the technology on campus," Challenger said.

The role of CIO, a merged organization between the library and technology, is unique to Wellesley and a few other college campuses in the nation. By combining management of the library and technology, colleges can provide resources such as online periodicals, online book reserves and digital media for faculty and students.