Executive Director, New Program Innovation
Suresh Chalasani
Education
- PhD, Computer Engineering, University of Southern California
- ME, Automation (Computer Science), Indian Institute of Science
About Suresh Chalasani
In his role as executive director of new program innovation, Suresh Chalasani leads efforts to broaden Excelsior University’s portfolio of educational offerings and steers the implementation of new and redesigned academic programs, including additional modalities and instructional models, in collaboration with faculty and staff.
Chalasani is an experienced higher education executive, consultant, and professor. He comes to Excelsior from the University of Wisconsin (UW) as an accomplished administrator, faculty member, and education leader with significant expertise in program design and development, assessment, and accreditation. His subject matter expertise is in information technology, business analytics, financial technology, digital marketing, health care management, and project management.
Chalasani served as a professor of Management Information Systems at UW-Parkside. He developed curriculum and taught in a range of academic and professional programs including Management Information Systems, Data Analytics, Sustainable Management, Health Information Management and Technology, and Project Management. He also taught in the Master of Business Administration and the Master of Science in Healthcare Administration graduate programs. He served as the accreditation liaison officer for the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
Working collaboratively with faculty and staff from multiple UW System campuses, Chalasani led the design and implementation of UW Flexible Option Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Flex BSBA) program, the first competency-based business degree in the UW System. Under his leadership, Flex BSBA achieved accreditation from both HLC and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB). The innovative Flex BSBA became the first competency-based business program to be accredited by the prestigious AACSB International. He also led the most recent 10-year HLC re-accreditation effort at UW-Parkside and served on the UW system taskforce to transform online education.
Chalasani is an accomplished scholar, having received several research and teaching grants from the UW system and the National Science Foundation. As an assistant professor at UW-Madison, he conducted high-impact research that was published in prestigious IEEE journals and guided PhD students in their dissertation work. He has been the recipient of multiple teaching excellence awards, the Faculty Distinguished Service Award, and the UW MBA Consortium’s Outstanding Faculty Award. Chalasani also served as a consultant for multiple organizations in the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor.
