Ericka Dupclay, BA, MBA, CNHE, JM
Ericka Dupclay, BA, MBA, CNHE, JM, is a seasoned Chief Administrative Leader with more than 20 years of progressive experience spanning grants and contracts administration, academic medicine, and research operations. Based in Tomball, Texas, she is recognized for her expertise in compliance strategy, financial oversight, policy development, and large-scale operational leadership within complex university and healthcare environments. She currently serves as Chief Administrator of Project Strategic Planning—recently appointed to the role (approximately four weeks in)—where she supports universities in designing and implementing forward-looking systems that incorporate AI, strengthen stakeholder engagement, eliminate institutional risk, and drive measurable financial gains and operational efficiency.
Her career reflects a full-circle journey through grants and contracts, beginning in academic healthcare administration as a Director of Medical Records at a large, grant-intensive university. In that role, she led records management teams, mentored student employees, and built a strong foundation in stakeholder engagement, operational coordination, and service excellence. As her career advanced, she expanded into broader leadership roles, including serving at Baylor College of Medicine as a clinical director, where she managed multidisciplinary teams supporting physicians, faculty, and patients while strengthening administrative systems and compliance operations. She later transitioned deeper into research administration at Sam Houston State University and Baylor University, overseeing complex research portfolios, enhancing contract management processes, and improving operational efficiency across academic units.
Committed to continuous growth as a lifelong learner, Ericka earned her MBA in Accounting and Business/Management from the University of Phoenix and later completed a Juris Master in Contracts and Labor Law at the Emory University School of Law, with a focus on contract negotiation, stakeholder engagement, and conflict resolution. In her current leadership role, she concentrates on building scalable, compliant systems that reduce institutional risk, improve financial strategy, and strengthen university-wide infrastructure. She is widely recognized for her ability to analyze and manage complex contracts, align terms and conditions with institutional stakeholders, and design sustainable administrative frameworks that support long-term organizational success.
• Certifications in Management
• Certifications in Marketing
• Certifications in Healthcare Business
• Certifications in New Business Ventures
• Certification , Accounting and Business/Management
• Certification, Nursing and Healthcare Education
• Emory University School of Law - JM
• University of Phoenix - MBA, Accounting and Business/Mgt.
• Tulane University - BA, Social Sciences
• NIH NIDA Challenge Grant Winner
• Entergy Grant for COVID-19 Mask Production Project
• Board Member - Tulane Loyola Federal Credit Union
• Mentor - Ignite Foundation (New Orleans)
• Founder - A Change of Possession (Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Initiative)
• Mentor for IGNITE Foundation - Working with 8th to 12th grade students on life skills and corporate readiness
• COVID-19 Mask Production Project - Led student initiative at Sam Houston State to produce and distribute masks to first responders in Texas and New York
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being a lifetime learner and continuously moving up the corporate ladder by investing in my education. Each role I've taken has been a stepping stone, and I've always been willing to step into complex, highly regulated environments where there's not always a clear roadmap for success. Instead of being limited by constraints, I use them as opportunities to build, improve, and raise the standards. I believe in turning barriers into benchmarks and ambition into legacy. Throughout my journey, I've learned that every interaction is a contract, whether written or verbal, and understanding the intention of the words we use and how we can influence and build relationships and networks has been key. My willingness to embrace innovation, particularly incorporating AI into traditionally structured environments, combined with my commitment to mentoring others and engaging stakeholders, has allowed me to lead effectively across complex systems.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Ericka’s journey reflects the importance of investing in yourself and never stopping your pursuit of knowledge. From business school to earning her juris master’s degree, she has consistently demonstrated that growth comes from stepping outside your comfort zone and pursuing long-term goals.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Enjoy the journey. You are right where you're supposed to be in this moment. Be open to new ideas, new people, and new understanding. And there's nothing that's too big for you. But enjoy the journey. I live by a slogan that I share with young adults: turning barriers into benchmarks and ambition into legacy. The turning barriers into benchmarks part means to consistently step into complex, highly regulated environments where there's not always a clear roadmap for success, and instead of being limited by the constraints, use them as opportunities to build, improve, and raise the standards. Ambition into legacy means that short-term wins are wins, but you should build systems and frameworks to help you get results, whether in life or in corporate.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges is adapting to rapid technological changes, particularly with AI integration in healthcare and research administration. However, this also presents a major opportunity. Ericka is passionate about helping organizations and individuals embrace AI to improve efficiency, reduce risk, and create more streamlined systems. She also sees a growing opportunity in mentoring and preparing the next generation to navigate these evolving landscapes.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The value that's most important to me would be, first, confidence. When you have the confidence to understand who you are and where you are in your journey, you give yourself patience and grace to be able to grow. Growth happens in those uncomfortable moments, just like when your body changes and you get taller during growth spurts, your bones and joints hurt because you're growing. So in order to shed and grow to a new place, it's uncomfortable, and self-confidence is definitely needed. Accountability is also crucial - understanding that mistakes are going to happen, that's how we learn. But you take accountability, you own it, and you keep going because now you've learned. I would also say being open-minded is essential - to listen, to understand, and be able to ask questions. You have to be open-minded. Another great attribute I value is asking yourself: What do you do at the end of the day for you that doesn't just check a box, but makes you feel accomplished? That could be something as simple as sitting for 5 minutes and having a warm cup of coffee or tea, just moving out of the everyday life, or having a hot bath, whatever that looks like for you. Once we identify that and start to incorporate it in our daily life, we can now interact with other people better. That's when those soft skills kick in, and we're not moving into overdrive.