Missouri State names new associate provost for student success

Dr. P. Brandon Johnson is Missouri State University's new associate provost for student success .

He begins work Aug. 1. He will replace Dr. Kelly Wood, who retired in May.

"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 Dr. Clarenda Phillips , provost and vice president for academic affairs. "I am confident he is the ideal person to lead our student success efforts at Missouri State."

More about Johnson

Johnson joins Missouri State from the University of Utah, where he has served as senior associate dean for student success and transformative experiences in the Office of Undergraduate Studies since 2022.

In that role, he led a broad portfolio including a learning center, the Office for First-Generation Success, TRIO programs, student success coaching, the first-year experience and a campuswide summer bridge program. He oversaw a team of 36 professional staff and 100 student employees and a combined operating budget of $3.7 million.

Among his accomplishments at Utah, Johnson launched a Student Success Coaching program yielding notably higher first-year retention rates for Pell-eligible students, first-generation students and students of color. He also served as principal investigator on more than $4 million in federal and state grants supporting first-generation, low-income and foster care students.

Prior to Utah, he 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 earned his Ph.D. 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," he said. "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."

The associate provost for student success reports to the provost and provides strategic leadership for a portfolio of units that support students from matriculation through graduation. These include the Academic Advisement and Transfer Center, Bear CLAW , Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Academic Achievement Center , Honors College and Citizenship and Service-Learning .