Meet Michael Blanton
Interim VP of Culture, Ethics, and Compliance; Vice President for the Office of Professionalism and Ethics; and Chief Compliance Officer at USC
“The work of maintaining a healthy culture involves all of us, but effective leaders set the tone from the top, model the behaviors, and influence the attitudes that teams adopt. As leaders, if we continually focus on culture, we will be more likely to work together effectively and contribute to USC’s efforts to fulfill its mission.”
With the promotion of Stacy Giwa to interim SVP of Human Resources, Michael Blanton recently assumed the role of Interim VP of Culture, Ethics, and Compliance, the office that houses the USC Culture Journey. Get to know Michael through this Q&A.
Q: How long have you been at USC, and tell us about your roles here.
A: I started at USC eight years ago, but prior to that I was a partner at two different law firms, where I served as outside counsel for USC for seventeen years. Currently, I am the Vice President for the Office of Professionalism and Ethics, which includes the Office of Athletic Compliance and the Office of Threat Management and Assessment. And now I am also the interim Chief Compliance Officer for the university, and the Interim Vice President for Culture, Ethics, and Compliance. So, I wear a lot of hats, but the work I do in each of these areas is interrelated. It all has to do with helping to make USC the best place it can be – a place where making decisions consistent with our Unifying Values, and complying with policies, laws and regulations are the expected and everyday courses of action for all students, faculty and staff.
Q: What is the primary function of the Office of Professionalism and Ethics (OPE) at USC?
A: OPE acts as the university’s central hub for all complaints and concerns involving misconduct. The office takes in reports, reviews them, performs all required internal and external reporting obligations or enlists the offices that are responsible for external reporting, and assigns matters to the appropriate partners throughout campus for follow-through.
Q: What most excites you about taking on leadership of the Office of Culture, Ethics and Compliance (OCEC)?
A: I was honored to take on this additional role, as I have worked with the OCEC teams for some time and am aware of how hardworking and impactful they are. Stepping into a leadership role for units that are already high-functioning was an easy decision. In addition to the Culture Journey team, OCEC includes the following teams: Operations, Clery Compliance, Youth Protection, ADA Compliance, Policy Compliance, and Research Compliance. You can learn more on the OCEC webpage.
Q: In your view, why is attending to culture important for effective leadership?
A: For an organization to function at a high level, it must be filled with well-equipped, engaged, and motivated people. We all know that people can quickly become disengaged and demotivated when their institutional culture is weak, negative, or toxic. I believe that to have a strong culture where all Trojans can thrive, staff, faculty and students must align around shared values and practices that guide our behaviors and the way we interact. That’s what the Unifying Values and Culture Journey are all about. The work of maintaining a healthy culture involves all of us, but effective leaders set the tone from the top, model the behaviors, and influence the attitudes that teams adopt. As leaders, if we continually focus on culture, we will be more likely to work together effectively and contribute to USC’s efforts to fulfill its mission.
Q: In January 2024, our university community engaged with the 2024 Culture Survey (24% response rate, with over 15,000 respondents). In your view, what elements of USC’s culture are most important to address and/or amplify at this point in time?
A: They’re all important. The Unifying Values all work together. Each depends on the other, so achieving high marks for one will typically lead to higher marks in others. That said, the values of Accountability and Open Communication consistently received lower “ratings” in our recent survey than did the other four values. So, we clearly need to focus our attention on figuring out how we can better live out those two values. Through the 170 Culture Sessions that our Culture Journey team has led this fall, we’ve collected valuable qualitative feedback from our community, including ideas on how we can improve. We are very grateful for the engagement from Trojans during report-back and discussion sessions. The qualitative data is very helpful to supplement the quantitative data from the survey itself.
Q: What is your favorite spot on campus, and why?
A: It’s such a beautiful campus. I don’t have one single favorite spot. Whenever I can, I like to walk around the campus. I get my steps in, and it’s great to take in all the positive energy.
Q: Anything else you would like to share?
A: For almost 25 years, I’ve worked as either outside counsel or as an employee of USC. With this perspective, I can say that USC has come a long way in terms of building a positive culture. There are many reasons for this and many people who deserve credit for the changes I have seen. But I’m confident that even when times are tough, the culture that’s being worked on here by each of you, will prove to be a solid foundation for the university. Ultimately, we want USC to be a great place to work and learn – a place we can all be proud of.