Dr. Jonelle Knox

Dr. Jonelle Knox is a nationally recognized higher education leader, scholar, and practitioner with more than 20 years of experience spanning academic affairs, student success, corporate risk management, and public service. He currently serves as Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs, Student Success, and Retention at New Jersey City University (NJCU), where he provides executive leadership for institutional strategies that strengthen academic support systems, improve retention and completion, and advance equitable student outcomes.

At NJCU, Dr. Knox has led transformative initiatives that have significantly enhanced student success infrastructure and institutional performance. His work integrates advising, academic support, early alert systems, and student engagement into a coordinated framework designed to improve persistence and graduation rates. He also plays a key role in academic operations, faculty collaboration, shared governance, and institutional planning.

Prior to NJCU, Dr. Knox served in senior academic leadership roles at the College of Staten Island (CUNY) and Westchester Community College (SUNY), where he contributed to strategic planning, enrollment management, academic operations, and cross-divisional student success initiatives. He has also served as a faculty member for more than fifteen years, teaching across multiple institutions including Bronx Community College, where he currently holds an appointment as Associate Professor.

Dr. Knox is President of the National Council on Student Development and serves as a Middle States Commission on Higher Education peer evaluator. He is an active contributor to national conversations on student success, equity, and leadership in higher education. His scholarship focuses on improving outcomes for underserved student populations, particularly Black male students, and advancing institutional models that integrate academic and student support systems. He is a contributing author and the editor of Black in the Middle: Navigating Power, Politics, and Purpose in Higher Education.

Before transitioning to higher education full-time, Dr. Knox built a successful career in corporate and government sectors, including roles with RBC Bank, the State of Maryland, the Internal Revenue Service, and NovaStar Home Mortgage. He later served as Assistant Vice President of Risk Management at LawCash, bringing a strong foundation in compliance, operations, and strategic risk management to his higher education leadership.

Dr. Knox holds a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration from Morgan State University, a Master of Arts in English (Writing and Rhetoric) from Lehman College (CUNY), a Master of Science in Criminal Justice and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Chicago State University, and an Associate of General Studies from Harold Washington College.