Brandon Johnson

Brandon JohnsonBrandon Johnson is Vice President for Strategy, Communications and Institutional Research where he leads the University Communications and Institutional Research teams, and helps carry the university's strategic plan out of the document it lives in and into the everyday work of every division.

St. Cloud State's direction was set by people across this campus over the course of 2026. Johnson's job is to keep that work from becoming a binder on a shelf, and to report plainly on how far along the university actually is. His charge sits where strategy meets execution and evidence: he leads implementation of the strategic plan across every division, provides executive leadership to University Communications, and directs Institutional Research so that SCSU speaks with one trusted data narrative.

Prior Experience

Johnson holds two degrees from St. Cloud State and has spent nearly his whole career here. He started in 2001 as a residence hall director, living with up to 400 students and answering the door when a student needed help.

Since then, he has worked in residence life, international education, student services, business education, and academic administration. He ran the university's Center for British Studies in Alnwick, England. He spent five years directing the LGBT Resource Center, where the training and education he built reached more than 4,000 people in 65 campus classrooms, and in communities across Central Minnesota. From 2016 to 2022 he led the MBA program in the Herberger Business School and launched a fully online MBA that produced the program's largest period of growth.

From 2022 to 2026 he served as Associate Vice President for Academic Operations and Resources, responsible for a $90 million Academic Affairs budget and for the parts of Academic Affairs nobody writes press releases about: course scheduling, classroom and lab space, and the analysis behind the Provost's decisions. Johnson's work often made the difference between a student finishing in four years and a student finishing in six. He became Vice President in July 2026.

Education

  • Master of Science in College Counseling and Student Development, St. Cloud State University

  • Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies, St. Cloud State University

Personal

Johnson lives in the St. Cloud area and is a co-owner of a home decor shop and cafe in Sauk Rapids, which means his weekends double as an education in what it takes to run a small business in Central Minnesota and what employers here actually need from graduates. He has served on the St. Cloud Downtown Council and spent seven years volunteering with the American Cancer Society in Central Minnesota.

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