Dana Blanton

Dana Blanton serves as Director of Clinical Education in the Clinical Affairs department at The Chicago School, Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine. Over the course of a distinguished career in higher education,

Ms. Blanton has developed comprehensive expertise spanning public and private institutions, as well as two-year and four-year colleges and universities. Her career began in admissions, where she established a professional foundation grounded in the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging commitments that have remained central to her work in every subsequent role.

Ms. Blanton brings extensive expertise in student recruitment and retention, career exploration, academic counseling, financial aid administration, and transcript evaluation, complemented by significant experience supporting allied health students through testing and assessment processes. Her breadth of knowledge is further reinforced by a thorough command of institutional best practices, policies, and procedures, as well as demonstrated compliance with COCA, HIPAA, FERPA, and Title IX regulations. Ms. Blanton holds a firm conviction that the delivery of high-quality educational services depends upon meaningful collaboration among multigenerational faculty, key stakeholders, and community partners.

In successive administrative appointments, Ms. Blanton has been entrusted with supporting first-generation, undocumented, international, and veteran students representing diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. As former Executive Director of Osteopathic Clinical Education with the UNT Health System, she directed the strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation of operational policies for the Office of Clinical Education, ensuring alignment with institutional goals and accreditation standards. In this capacity, Ms. Blanton developed and managed an annual departmental operating budget, analyzed expenditures and resource allocation to maximize operational efficiency, and provided executive leadership and supervision for departmental staff cultivating professional development and accountability at every level. On an annual basis, she authored and implemented Osteopathic Clinical Education elective course syllabi for both clinical and non-clinical tracks and taught and facilitated educational programs including clinical orientation and the Introduction to Clinical Education course to ensure student compliance with external stakeholder requirements.

Ms. Blanton has a proven record of success in developing and facilitating cross-functional training, team development, and conflict resolution. With extensive experience in federal and state compliance, budget management, and contract negotiation, she has successfully overseen budgets exceeding ten million dollars.

Ms. Blanton earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a Master of Education in Instructional Leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago (2003). Committed to continuous professional development, she subsequently completed certificates in Contact Tracing and Patient Safety and Quality Improvement from Johns Hopkins University through Coursera (2021), followed by HIPAA Workforce, OSHA Healthcare, Bloodborne Pathogen, and Remote Workforce Management certifications through 4MED (2023).

Throughout a career defined by both internal and external collaboration, Ms. Blanton has cultivated strong professional relationships that consistently promote positive outcomes for students, faculty, and institutions alike. Her broad leadership experience, comprehensive educational background, and unwavering dedication to excellence continue to inform a student-centered approach to teaching, learning, and the advancement of academic quality, culture, and institutional success