Background

Jamil D. Johnson is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs in the Department of Leadership, Learning Design, and Inquiry at the University of South Carolina (USC).

In the past academic year, Johnson has maintained an extensive record of grant and scholarly productivity.

Johnson currently serves as primary investigator examining first-generation student experiences and engagement in high-impact practices as a Student Affairs and Academic Support (SAAS) Faculty Research Fellow, funded through an intramural grant at USC.

Johnson’s book “Celebrating Students and their Experiences at HBCUs,” was published by NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education), the leading student affairs association, as part of his NASPA extramural grant to which he served as primary investigator during the multi-year funded project (2026).

The National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition published the 2023 National Survey on the First-Year Experience: Contemporary Strategies to Support Student Success (2023 NSFYE), a mixed-methodology series which he served as primary investigator (2025, 2026).

Johnson’s scholarly productivity includes the educational pathways of African American men, historically underrepresented students’ access and participation in higher education and graduate programs, first-generation students, Pell-eligible students, first-year seminars, first-year experience, high-impact practice engagement, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), TRIO federal programs (McNair undergraduate research program).

Johnson’s expertise in these areas has led to primary and co-authorship of articles, research reports, research briefs, book chapters, extramural and intramural grant funding. Johnson has also been nationally recognized and invited to interviews, presentations, consulting, teaching, and advising from national organizations, institutions, and consortiums. Johnson serves as an Editorial Review Board member on the Journal for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition and reviews for Teachers College Record.

Johnson is a proud TRIO Ronald E. McNair Faculty Mentor at the University of South Carolina. In 2026, under Johnson’s faculty mentorship in the TRIO McNair Program, his scholars were the most decorated research small group recognized with honors including Distinguished Scholar (2025 McNair scholar received the highest honor under Johnson mentorship), Outstanding Scholar, Emerging McNair Scholar, Most Progressive Scholar, and Most Collegial Scholar. Additionally, Johnson serves as faculty mentor to undergraduate students in the South Carolina Honors College. Johnson serves as mentor, advisor, and advocate for undergraduate and graduate students, HBCUs, staff, faculty, colleagues and communities across the United States.

Jamil D. Johnson earned his B.A. in history, M.A., and Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At the University of South Carolina (USC), Johnson previously served as Scholar-in-Residence and Associate Director of Research and Grants at the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. Prior to joining the faculty at USC, Johnson served as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. For six years, he served in a dual role as a higher education administrator responsible for student success initiatives in the first-year seminar program and first-year experience and as a graduate faculty scholar in the Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education at the University of Central Florida.

Johnson brings forth an extensive background in scholarly productivity, teaching, leadership, student affairs administration, mentoring, and advising that challenges students to learn and conduct scholarly research at a hierarchical level.

Education

• Ph.D., Educational Policy Studies, University of Illinois
• M.A., Educational Policy Studies, University of Illinois
• B.A., History, University of Illinois 

Course Information

• EDHE 737: Legal Aspects of Higher Education
• EDHE 835: Leadership in Higher Education 

Research

Jamil D. Johnson's scholarship examines the experiences of African-American males through the P-20 educational pipeline with a particular focus on their academic success in undergraduate and graduate programs. His research agenda extends to access and participation of historically underrepresented and marginalized students in higher education, Black and Latinx student success, first-year seminars, teaching and learning pedagogy, and mentoring. He engages in qualitative research methodology focusing on critical race theory, narrative inquiry, phenomenology, and ethnography to highlight the experiences of historically underrepresented and marginalized populations. 

Selected Presentations

(Complete listing in CV)

Johnson, J.D., Berry, T.R., Booker, A. (2022, March). Improving the Academic Success of Black Undergraduate Students; AAC&U 2022 Conference on Diversity, Equity, and Student Success. New Orleans, LA.

Johnson, J.D. (2022, February). Impact of first-year seminars for African American males. Accepted presentation; Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience (FYE). Orlando, FL.

Johnson, J.D. (2021, November). African American male voices from the field: From the Ph.D. to Assistant Professor. American Educational and Developmental Science Association (AESA), Portland, OR.

McLaren Turner, C., Wilkerson, A., Johnson, J.D. (2021, November). Catalyzing transfer student success through peer academic coaching. Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), San Juan, PR.

Johnson, J.D. (2021, February). Critical role of peer mentoring in first-year seminars. Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience (Conference held virtually due to COVID-19).

Clark, M. H., Babayigit, S, Krsmanovic, M., & Johnson, J. D. (2020, October). Untangling the web of evidence from an exploratory factor analysis [Paper presentation]. American Evaluation Association (AEA) Conference, Portland, OR. https://www.eval.org/p/cm/ld/fid=796 

Publications

Azizova, Z. T., Clark, M.H., Krsmanovic, M., Johnson, J. D., Mendez, J. (2021). Retention and Academic Achievement of Students of Color at a Large Urban Hispanic-Serving Institution. Journal of Latinos and Education, DOI: 10.1080/15348431.2021.1976184

Mendez, J. P., Johnson, J. D., Azizova, Z. T., Clark, M.H., & Krsmanovic, M. (2020). Widening the pathway to a degree: The impact of first-year seminar courses at an emerging Hispanic serving institution. Journal of First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 32(2).

Krsmanovic, M., Cox, T., & Johnson, J. D. (2020). Who improves most? The differences in first-year students’ learning attitudes and behaviors measured by college success factor index. Journal of the Scholarship on Teaching and Learning, 20(4).

Johnson, J. D., & Krsmanovic, M. (2018). Transforming first-year students into life-long learners through first-year seminar practices. Adult Higher Education Alliance. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED590267.pdf [pdf]