Fall 2012
Around the Quads
Sreenivasan Named Chief Digital Officer
Sreenath Sreenivasan ’93J, former professor and dean of student affairs at the Journalism School, has been named the University’s first chief digital officer and started work in the new position in July.
PHOTO: JOSEPH LIN ’09JAs CDO, Sreenivasan will lead the
University’s efforts in digital media and online education both on and off
campus. “Sree’s portfolio will cover a broad range of issues at the
intersection of technology, education and digital media,” Provost John
Coatsworth said in announcing the appointment.
Technology increasingly has been incorporated into courses on campus, and Columbia has used elements of online education for some time at the Engineering School, Journalism School and School of Continuing Education, among others, and in departments that work with the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, an innovator in the field. But looking ahead, Coatsworth said, “The goal is to ensure that we deploy new tools and technologies in interactive and distance learning to ensure the richest and most dynamic learning environment possible for Columbia’s students.”
There are at least three ways universities now are being affected by online education, Sreenivasan says: through open online classes, which make lectures available for free to the public; through hybrid classes, which combine days in a classroom with the rest of the time online; and through online education meant to enhance the classroom experience for existing students in residence.
“We’re studying all of them,” Sreenivasan says. “There’s a lot of buzz about this stuff — we haven’t decided what we’ll pursue.”
Sreenivasan has taught at the Journalism School since he graduated — his specialty has been new media and digital journalism, and more recently social media — and for the past seven years also has been a dean. He has led workshops in digital journalism and social media in newsrooms around the world, been an on-air tech commentator for local TV stations in New York and is a frequent guest speaker for journalism groups. He also has been an informal consultant on campus for developing platforms for online education, websites and using social media.
“Before, I’d get calls and be a sounding board or answer questions as a favor. Now it’s part of my job,” Sreenivasan says.
One of Sreenivasan’s mantras regarding technology is, “Be an early tester, a late adopter.” He plans to promote that philosophy University-wide. “We’re all trying to figure out what works. We want to be thoughtful and strategic about it and not jump into one thing right away. Across 250 years at Columbia we’ve figured out how to teach and how to learn really well. How do we use some of the new technologies and techniques to build on that, without affecting what’s been working so well? There’s no rush to announce anything big.”
Shira Boss ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA