Our Team

Vaness Cox serves as the Assistant Director for Faculty Support and Work/Life in the Office of the Provost. Her portfolio includes operational and strategic support across a broad range of housing, schooling, and child care initiatives and services in support of the Columbia community.

Prior to joining the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Support and Work/Life in 2026, Vaness served as Director of Faculty and Staff Engagement and Enrichment at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

She received her B.A.s in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Missouri and her Ph.D. in Developmental and Media Psychology from the University of Michigan. She is a Chicago native, and, as such, loves house music and spends her free time writing kidlit based on her Chicago upbringing. 

Jo Golden serves as Senior Associate Director for Administration and Planning, supporting strategic and operational initiatives across the University, with particular emphasis on PreK–12 partnerships, including collaboration with The School at Columbia University and Tompkins Hall Early Childhood Center, as well as faculty housing initiatives. Her work also includes support for the Office of Work-Life through the Housing Information and Referral Service and other special projects advancing institutional priorities.

Jo has worked in higher education for 20 years, with experience spanning administrative leadership, enrollment management, policy development and evaluation, and student and faculty engagement. Throughout her career, she has led initiatives in admissions strategy, recruitment, customer service, and events programming, with a focus on effective operations and support for academic communities.

Prior to joining the Office of the Provost in 2024, Jo served as an Associate Director in the Wasserman Center for Career Development at New York University. Earlier in her career, she held several leadership roles in the Office of Admissions at Western Washington University in Washington State.

She received her bachelor’s degree in English and her Master of Education degree in Adult and Higher Education from Western Washington University.