Rate My Professor Swathi Ravichandran

Swathi Ravichandran is Professor and Founding Director of the Six Flags Resort and Attraction Management program at Bowling Green State University, a role she assumed in 2019. The program, the only one of its kind in the country, is housed at Firelands College and offers hands-on opportunities through partnerships with industry leaders such as Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, Cedar Fair, and Universal Destinations & Experiences. She holds a doctorate in foodservice and lodging management and an MBA, both from Iowa State University. Prior to BGSU, Ravichandran spent 14 years on the faculty of the hospitality management program at Kent State University, where she served as provost’s fellow during 2017-18 and generated $1.6 million in grants for initiatives enhancing student access to higher education and degree completion. She has taught courses in human resources management, marketing, legal issues, and meetings management, and advised Kent State’s chapter of the Professional Convention Management Association.

Ravichandran’s research centers on hospitality human resources management and marketing. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, including “The effects of training satisfaction, employee benefits, and incentives on part-time employees’ commitment” in the International Journal of Hospitality Management (2018), “Impact of employees’ job control perceptions on their work-related responses in the hospitality industry” in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (2019, with Seon Jeong Lee), “Strategies to address English language writing challenges faced by international graduate students in the US” in the Journal of International Students (2017), “Adoption of pre-employment testing in the hospitality industry in the United States and Australia” in the Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality and Tourism (2021), and the book chapter “Impact of Festivals” in Festival and Event Tourism Impacts (Routledge, 2020). Her awards include Distinguished Educator of the Year from the Professional Convention Management Association (2014) and designation as one of “Ohio’s Finest Educators” by the 131st General Assembly of Ohio (2015). She has served as a commissioner for the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration, blogged for Restaurant Hospitality and EasyIce.com on human resources and legal issues, and delivered invited lectures as a speaker and research fellow at international universities. At BGSU, she obtained an $8,100 grant from the International Association for Amusement Parks and Attractions Foundation to fund student travel to the IAAPA Expo.