NCCU Professor Named Faculty Scholar; Will Lead Community-Based Partnership Through Dance

DURHAM, NC – North Carolina Central University (NCCU) assistant professor and director of dance Kristi Vincent Johnson, Ed.D., has been named a North Carolina Campus Compact Engaged Faculty Scholar and is the first scholar representing an HBCU since the program’s founding in 2015.

The initiative provides individuals the opportunity to lead a project to extend the practice and scholarship of campus-community engagement. Scholars also serve as consultants to North Carolina colleges and universities seeking to enhance community-engaged teaching and scholarship. The post provides a stipend and additional funds for professional development.

As an engaged faculty scholar, Vincent Johnson will lead “The Bull City Bridge Project: Building Community Through Dance,” a 12-week community-campus partnership between NCCU’s Dance Program and local high school dance programs at Southern and Riverside High Schools. It will offer student dancers an opportunity to participate in a community dance ensemble and receive professional-level training in preparation for a collaborative dance concert, scheduled for Spring 2022.

“As a North Carolina Campus Compact Engaged Faculty Scholar, I not only desire to stimulate conversations about how to increase engagement in the arts throughout our state but also to promote the development of student dancers as scholars, researchers, leaders, and engaged citizens,” Vincent Johnson said.

Vincent Johnson joined NCCU in 2014, as an adjunct professor and became an assistant professor of dance in 2020. During her time at the institution, she introduced and directed an annual high school dance day and provided lecture-demonstrations and performances for local elementary and high school dance programs and community organizations. She was also instrumental in implementing a dance minor at NCCU and establishing a partnership between NCCU’s Dance Program and the Durham Ballet Theatre.

“This program supports my efforts by providing a platform to leverage resources and initiate a fruitful collaboration with our surrounding community and beyond,” Vincent Johnson adds.

Before joining NCCU, she held faculty roles including visiting assistant professor and adjunct professor at universities and community colleges. She also served as an artist-in-residence at Louisiana State University.

Vincent Johnson’s reputation as a noted performer and choreographer precedes this appointment. In 2013, she was named the National Dance Association’s College/University Dance Educator of the Year.

She is also the founder and director of her nonprofit organization, The Triangle Dance Project. The community-based organization seeks to increase the visibility of dance programs in local communities and provide opportunities for independent dance artists to present choreography in a professional setting.

Vincent Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in therapeutic recreation from Southern University and A&M College and a master’s degree in modern dance from Texas Christian University. She earned a doctoral degree in kinesiology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Through her doctoral research findings, she provides faculty with the framework for establishing effective practices of public and private asset-based community-campus partnerships.

The North Carolina Campus Compact is the state affiliate of the National Campus Compact Organization, designed to support colleges and universities in producing civically engaged graduates and strengthening communities. NCCU is a founding member of the network that was established in 2002 and is hosted by Elon University. The statewide network includes 37 public and private community colleges and universities.