Melanie Burroughs, Associate Director of Systems for the Office of Student Financial Aid, is retiring from her position after more than 30 years at UGA. She reflects on her favorite memories of working at UGA and on the projects and innovations she played an integral part in during her time here.
What are your plans after you retire?
Travel with my family. We enjoy camping, and so far, I have only camped in a few other states. I also plan to ride my horse, Cracker Jack, a lot more. And when I am not camping or riding, there are quite a few ‘to-do’ projects on my home I would like to tackle.
How would you describe your role at the University of Georgia?
It’s never boring and never the same day twice. I am responsible for many of the systems that award and process Federal and State financial aid for UGA. Over the 30 years that I have been in Financial Aid, there have been a lot of changes to financial aid that directly impact my work.
What was your favorite part of your job?
I love to show staff tips and tricks to help them improve and streamline their processes. Launching new systems that will help both staff and students at UGA is great too!
What are some of the projects you’ve worked on over the years at UGA?
1995-96: The Automated Packaging Project – We were successful in fully awarding 97 percent of all original Award Offers, leaving staff to finalize only the remaining 3 percent manually.
2003: The Automated Award Letter Project – We produced our first electronic Award Offers in OASIS (Online Access to Student Information Systems). The savings to UGA was estimated to be $7,650 over just one night of processing when we produced 15,000+ electronic Award Offers and posted them to OASIS instead of printing, folding, stuffing, stamping and mailing them to students.
2009-10: The Nolij Document Imaging System Implementation – Financial Aid went green before going green was even a thing! Undergraduate Admission, the Registrar and Financial Aid joined forces to launch UGA’s first student-specific document imaging system. Later, the Nolij system would be upgraded to Perceptive Content.
2012 through 2014: ConnectUGA (“the Banner Project”) – This was the name of the new Student System implementation. I was the office’s project team lead, and we launched the current Banner Financial Aid system beginning with the 2014-15 aid year. The Banner system is now 10 years old, and it replaced the legacy mainframe system that had been in operation for several decades, including my time as a student.
What jobs have you had at UGA? What work did you do?
I started at UGA Financial Aid in March of 1993 as a Computer Services Specialist III. Initially, I provided desktop, printer and network support to the 20 people in our office. I occasionally helped others in the Vice President of Student Affairs division, which we were under at the time. As the office grew to a staff of 40, so did our IT team. We were able to hire a web developer and replace me as desktop support when I was promoted to Assistant Director of Systems and given more responsibility over various aspects of the mainframe system. In 2007, when my mentor and original hiring manager retired, I was promoted to his position of Associate Director of Systems.
Did your career go according to plan? What was different?
My career definitely did not take a direct path, but the side trips taught me valuable life and work lessons. I graduated from UGA’s Terry College of Business in 1989 with a degree in Management Information Systems. I was interested in computers and systems and wanted to put my degree to work. It took me nearly four years to get back to UGA, but I used that time wisely and took other jobs, which helped me to prepare for the career I have today.
During those years, I worked for my father at Fields Auto Parts in Comer, GA, where I brought up an inventory and point-of-sale system. I had to teach him and others how to use and care for it because they never had a computer before. I am proud to be the first in my family to graduate from UGA but not the last, as my niece and youngest daughter now hold degrees from UGA.
I also worked for a political campaign managing the supporter database and campaign contribution database. While my candidate did not win the 1990 election, the incoming Governor, Zell Miller, would go on to do great things for the state of Georgia and UGA! And shortly after Financial Aid hired me, the HOPE Scholarship would be born and go on to transform many students’ lives.
What are some of the ways campus has changed since you started work here?
For campus at-large, probably one of biggest changes since 1993 has to be the focus given to assist students in their higher education journey. I believe my office has been at the heart of this transition along with many other departments who strive to identify and assist students who might not otherwise succeed without that intervention. The current commitment to students by the Administration is exciting to see in action.
Specifically, my office has transitioned from a paper-driven, highly manual process to a streamlined, highly efficient, and mostly electronic financial aid process where counseling staff can focus on the student’s needs and the systems that support them. Even during peak times at the start of the semester, the student wait time to speak to a counselor is just several minutes. Previously, our office would have ‘lines out the door,’ and we would have reduced lunch breaks in order to serve our students in a timely manner.
What is your favorite UGA memory?
Getting that job offer after waiting all those years for the call! And winning back-to-back National Championships is pretty sweet too. Gooooo Dawgs!
What advice do you have for someone just starting out?
Give back to your alma mater by working here. The intangible benefits far outweigh a potentially higher salary elsewhere
Is there anyone you would like to thank who helped you along the way?
I have served five financial aid directors over my 30 years. Without their dedication, leadership, and guidance, the office would not have been able to build the best financial aid office in the state.
I have been blessed to work with an extremely creative, intelligent and highly motivated IT team within the office and within EITS. It really is amazing what you can accomplish with the right people in the right positions, and I have been a part of many successful system launches thanks to the multitude of talented staff at UGA.
Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank my UGA friends and co-workers who have listened to me, really heard me and shared the lunch table with me over my time at UGA. I will miss you the most!