Dr. Thomas Melecki, former vice president for the National Student Loan Program (NSLP), has been appointed director of student financial services at The University of Texas at Austin.
He will oversee all operations of the Office of Student Financial Services (OSFS), the university’s on-campus financial aid resource. Melecki’s appointment comes after a nationwide, six-month search by an executive search firm and by an internal selection committee made up of a diverse cross-section of students, faculty and staff. Melecki’s appointment begins April 7.
“I am delighted that Tom Melecki is joining the Division of Student Affairs,” said Juan C. González, vice president for student affairs. “The selection committee and I have searched long and hard to make sure we found the best possible candidate. This position requires the highest levels of integrity, leadership and fiscal responsibility. We have found all of these strengthsand much morein Tom.”
“I’m very happy to come home to The University of Texas at Austin,” Melecki said. “Having earned my Ph.D. here and worked in the Office of Student Financial Services, it’s very gratifying to be able to bring all the experience, skills and knowledge I’ve gained in my career to serve the students of this great institution.”
The search to find a new director of student financial services began soon after Lawrence Burt was dismissed from the position in April 2007. Since that time, Dr. Charles A. Sorber has directed Student Financial Services on a temporary basis.
“I am forever indebted to Dr. Sorber for bringing his considerable experience, leadership and professionalism to this department,” González said.
Melecki comes to the university after 17 years with the NSLP, the nation’s sixth largest student loan guaranty agency. NSLP is a private, nonprofit corporation with annual revenues of more than $44 million. Melecki was the company’s chief compliance officer and expanded relationships with key congressional offices, the U.S. Department of Education, the state higher education coordinating commission and national higher education associations. He led initiatives to educate financial aid officers in improving their skills to advise students on how to better manage money and credit, leading to higher rates of student retention and academic success. He also authored and enforced business conduct policies to prevent unethical and illegal inducements by NSLP’s marketing staff and other employees.
Melecki resigned from NSLP in January under a business restructuring plan that saw five members of that organization’s six-person executive team leave the company after a new board of directors appointed a new CEO.
Prior to working for NSLP, Melecki served eight years, from 1982-1990, at the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation in Austin, Texas as an executive staff member. He established and managed company policies and procedures for institutions and lenders. He developed and conducted training seminars for aid administrators, lenders and guaranty agency personnel and wrote reports and testimony on statutory and regulatory issues. Melecki worked from 1978 to 1982 as a student development specialist in the Office of Student Financial Services at The University of Texas at Austin. He packaged and awarded federal, state and institutional student aid and counseled almost 1,700 students.
Melecki has co-authored “A Primer on the Federal Budget Process” and served on the Research Committee of the National Association of Student Financial Aid. He also served on the Private Loans Committee of the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs and the Communications Committee of the Nebraska Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Melecki is a member of the American Society for Training and Development.
He was president of the Nebraska Safety Council and chair of the Gridiron Club of Lincoln. He also served in leadership roles and on advisory boards for Lincoln, Nebraska-based civic associations EducationQuest Foundation, Leadership Lincoln, Inc., Lincoln Public Schools, Lincoln YMCA and the Nebraska Repertory Theatre.
In addition to his doctor’s degree in educational administration from The University of Texas at Austin, Melecki earned a master’s degree in college student personnel and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
