MSU hires Utah higher education leader as associate provost

Missouri State University hired P. Brandon Johnson as associate provost for student success. He starts in the role Aug. 1.

Johnson will replace Kelly Wood, who retired in May, and his starting pay will be $168,486, according to MSU.

After stints in Texas and Florida, Johnson was hired by the University of Utah. He has served as senior associate dean for student success and transformative experiences in the Office of Undergraduate Studies since 2022. 

MSU said in that role, Johnson led the learning center, the Office for First-Generation Success, TRIO programs, student success coaching, the first-year experience and a campuswide summer bridge program.

Johnson had a team of 36 professional staff and 100 student employees, as well as a combined operating budget of $3.7 million, according to MSU.

“Throughout Dr. Johnson’s career, he has demonstrated a thoughtful, strategic approach to student engagement and success, with an unwavering focus on helping students achieve their individual dreams,” said Clarenda Phillips, MSU provost and vice president for academic affairs, in a June 29 news release.  “I am confident he is the ideal person to lead our student success efforts at Missouri State.”

Johnson, who will report to Phillips, previously served as associate dean for undergraduate education at the University of Texas at Dallas and as director of the Center for Academic Achievement at Florida Gulf Coast University.

He has a doctorate in education studies with a focus on higher education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where his research centered on the retention of first-year African American males in living-learning communities. 

Johnson currently serves as president of the International College Learning Center Association and was a fellow in the Arizona State University/Georgetown University Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership.

“It’s an honor to champion student success at Missouri State and I’m grateful for the trust this institution has placed in me,” Johnson said in the release. “Students are at the heart of what we do, and I’m committed to creating environments and systems that support all students toward accomplishing their personal, academic and career goals.”