Associate dean of students ready to prepare UHCL for changes ahead

October 20, 2017 | UHCL Staff

Iliana MelendezAfter receiving her master’s degree and working for eight years in residence life and in the Dean of Students Office at Texas State University in San Marcos, Iliana Melendez decided the time was right to start looking for an associate dean position in a college that was growing and transitioning.

“I was job-searching and I saw there was a lot of growth and change at University of Houston-Clear Lake. There seemed to be a lot of exciting reasons to come here, so I applied to become associate dean of students, and I’m really happy to be here,” Melendez said.

Currently working on her doctoral dissertation in adult professional and community education at TSU, Melendez said that her position at UH-Clear Lake gave her a unique professional opportunity. “We have a lot of non-traditional students at UHCL. I’m hoping to take the knowledge and research I have acquired and utilize it professionally here,” she said.

“Older, non-traditional students don’t learn the same way. It’s important to establish that balance between younger, traditional students and the other elements of our student population, and finding that balance is what will come into play for me professionally.”

With the new residence hall scheduled to open in fall 2019, Melendez said that an important aspect of her role as associate dean of students is to support Amy Snyder, the new director of student housing and residence life.

“Her world is budgets, strategic planning, and staffing right now. My role is to find out about policy regarding managing student conduct in the residence hall and establish a community that is understanding and supportive of our standards,” she said. “Once the students are on campus 24/7, we’ll have issues we as a university have never faced before. There will be a great deal of change coming up in the next few years on this campus.”

Melendez said her priorities are evaluating space and ensuring that standards are communicated efficiently to students and families, as well as training her staff – all to ensure a smooth transition to having students living on campus. “The residence hall will have 300 students in suite-style rooms,” she said. “Programming will change significantly on campus. Now, Atrium I in the Bayou Building is utilized for a lot of events, but we’re looking for a more centralized location for those activities.”

She added that the Recreation and Wellness Center, currently under construction, and the new residence hall will accommodate more programming. “There’s a nice green space in between as well,” she said. “The library will need to be open longer, and access to other study spaces must be made available. Dining services will change and be open seven days a week. We’re in the midst of deciding how that will work. We’re adding 300 people on campus in addition to the commuter students, so there is a great deal to think about.”

 Spearheaded by Snyder, Melendez said that interim Vice President of Administration and Finance Jean Carr, Associate Vice President of Finance Usha Mathew, and Executive Director of Procurement and Payables Debbie Carpenter were working collaboratively to come up with a meal plan options with declining balances. “We’re going to utilize the Patio Café and potentially expand,” she said. “We’re considering all the possibilities.”

All these changes require a great deal of thought, planning and preparation. “There will have to be security changes, including an increase in police patrols, and we anticipate a change in the type of conduct issues from what we’ve been seeing,” she said. “We’re preparing for these shifts and that’s where I feel I will come into play. We are working together, making sure that we come up with policies that make the best sense.”

For more information about the campus expansion or residence life, visit www.uhcl.edu/dean-of-students/.

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