Chancellor (education)

A Chancellor is the head of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as Rector, President and Provost.

In most British Commonwealth (or former Commonwealth) nations, the Chancellor is usually a titular (figurehead) non-resident head, often with a Pro-Chancellor as practical Chairman of the governing body ("The Council"); the actual chief executive of a university is the Vice-Chancellor.

Canada, Hong Kong and Scotland

Canadian and Scottish universities have a figurehead Chancellor, but the day-to-day operations are typically handled by a "Principal" who also carries the title of Vice-Chancellor. In Canada, the Principal may also be called "President" or "Rector".

In Hong Kong, universities also have a figurehead Chancellor. Day-to-day operation is in the hands of either a Vice-Chancellor or a President, depending on the institution.

Republic of Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland the four universities all have a Chancellor as their figurehead leader. However day-to-day operations of the universities are under the directorship of a President (a Provost in the case of Trinity College Dublin). The National University of Ireland's constitutent universities do not have a chancellor each, rather, the president of each constituent university has the title of Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the NUI. In Dublin City University and the University of Limerick, the chancellor is also the chairperson of the university's Governing Authority.

Australia

In Australia, the Chancellor is Chairman of the University's governing body; thus, as well as having ceremonial duties, the Chancellor participates in the governance of the University (but not its active management). The Chancellor is assisted by a Deputy Chancellor (known as the Pro-Chancellor in some universities). The Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor are frequently drawn from the senior ranks of business or the judiciary (it is one of the few jobs considered compatible with judicial service). Some universities have a Visitor, who is senior to the Chancellor, and is generally the state Governor (or, for Catholic universities, a Bishop). Once upon a time, university disputes could be appealed from the governing board to the Visitor (as is still the case in the UK), but nowadays such appeal is generally prohibited by legislation, and the position has only ceremonial functions. (In fact, little function at all, since the Visitor will rarely attend University functions, unlike the Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor, who frequently preside at functions such as graduations.)

Macquarie University in Sydney, in particular, is noteworthy in having the unique position of Emeritus Deputy Chancellor, a post created for Dr John Lincoln on his retirement from his long-held post of Deputy Chancellor in 2000. The new position is not merely an honorary title, as it also retains a place in the University Council for Dr Lincoln.

United States

In the United States, universities usually call their heads "presidents," but the name chancellor is sometimes seen, most commonly in a system of connected state universities. A given state's university system is often headed by a "chancellor" who serves as the system-wide chief, while individual campuses are headed by presidents; a typical example is the California State University system. Exceptions include the University of Alaska system, the University of California (UC) system, the University of Colorado system, the University of Illinois system, the Louisiana State University System, the University of Massachusetts system, the University of North Carolina system, the University of Wisconsin System, and the Purdue University System, in all of which the two titles are reversed. So in California, for example, the California State University (CSU) chancellor supervises the presidents of CSU's 23 campuses, while the UC president supervises the chancellors of UC's 10 campuses. In the Indiana University System, the president holds executive authority for the system and there are chancellors at each campus, as in the above exceptions, but there is the additional post of "University Chancellor", which was created for popular past president Herman B Wells upon his retirement, largely as a sinecure position, and held by him until his death in 2000.

The College of William and Mary uses chancellor in the British way for a figurehead leader but the day-to-day head is an American-style "president," not a "vice-chancellor." The The Catholic University of America is headed by a President and the Archbishop of Washington serves as Chancellor. The current archbishop and chancellor, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, represents the university before the Holy See.

The University of Mississippi uses the chancellor system, with the chancellor serving as the chief executive officer of the system, while the medical school is headed by a vice chancellor and the four other campuses are headed by various deans that report directly to the vice-chancellor of academic affairs.

Washington University in St. Louis use the chancellor system

The Chancery of the Smithsonian Institution, a largely ceremonial office, has long been held by the Chief Justice of the United States.

Outside universities, the title is sometimes used to designate other education officials, such as the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.

India

In India, almost all universities have a chancellor (Hindi: kulādhipati) as their titular head as , whose function is largely ceremonial. The de-facto head of the university is the Vice-Chancellor (Hindi: kulapati). His equivalent for engineering institutes is the Director (Hindi: nirdéshak), even for those engineering institutes that are university equivalents, like the Indian Institutes of Technology.

Republic of the Philippines

In the Philippines, the premier state university (University of the Philippines) designates the head of its constituent units as the Chancellor. The constituent units make up the system, whose head is designated as the President. The Chancellor designates the different Vice-Chancellors for different areas of concern of the University: academic affairs, finance, community affairs, among others.