One user desktop fails to load successfully

I have a Red Hat Linux 7 VM that I have been using for months. Suddenly today, I'm seeing a problem with the UI not loading correctly after I log into my usual user account. If I login as root, it works fine. Here's what I'm seeing:
1. I start up the VM and it appears to start normally
2. I reach the login page
3. If I login as root, the Gnome UI looks normal
4. If I login as another user (my usual user) the Gnome UI fails to load correctly. The background is black (but with desktop icons showing) and there is no top menu bar (Applications, Places, sound, etc)

Any ideas? I'm guessing something is failing during the desktop initialization, but I have no idea how to fix it.