Vice-Chancellor
A
Vice-Chancellor (commonly called the
VC) of a
university in
England,
Wales,
Northern Ireland, other
Commonwealth countries, and some universities in
Hong Kong, is the
chief executive of the University. In
Scotland and
Canada the
chief executive of a University is usually called
Principal or
President with Vice-Chancellor being an honorific.
Strictly speaking, he or she is only the deputy to the
Chancellor of the university, but the Chancellor is usually a prominent public figure who acts as a ceremonial figurehead only (e.g., the Chancellor of
Cambridge University is
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh), while the Vice-Chancellor acts as the day-to-day
chief executive. An assistant to a Vice-Chancellor is called a
Pro-Vice-Chancellor or
Deputy Vice-Chancellor – these are sometimes teaching academics who take on additional responsibilities. Some universities (e.g.,
Macquarie University) also have a full-time
Deputy Vice-Chancellor. In other universities (e.g.,
Deakin University), there are several Deputy Vice-Chancellors subordinate to the Vice-Chancellor, with Pro-Vice-Chancellor being a position at executive level ranking below Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
Canadian university Vice-Chancellors almost always carry the title of "
President (or equivalent) and Vice-Chancellor": likewise, in
Scotland, they hold the position of "
Principal and Vice-Chancellor". In the Scottish practice the one individual may have two sets of official robes, reflecting a continuing division of responsibilities between the two posts.
In the
Republic of Ireland, day-to-day operations of the universities are under the directorship of a President (a
Provost in the case of
Trinity College Dublin). However, the president of each constituent college of The
National University of Ireland also has the title of
Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the NUI.
In the
United States, a Vice-Chancellor is an assistant to a Chancellor, who is generally the (actual, not merely ceremonial) head of one campus of a large university which has several campuses. The head of the entire university is the
University President (the equivalent of a Commonwealth Vice-Chancellor), the
Chancellor is in charge of one campus, and a Vice-Chancellor is one of the chief assistants. Note that some systems, like the
California State University, invert this ranking so that a Chancellor is the head of the entire university.
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List of university leaders
