Chancellor (education)
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is usually a ceremonial non-resident head of the university. In such institutions, the chief executive of a university is the vice-chancellor, who may carry an additional title such as "president". The chancellor may serve as chairperson of the governing body; if not, this duty is often held by a chairperson who may be known as a pro-chancellor.
In many countries, the administrative and educational head of the university is known as the president, principal or rector. In the United States, the head of a university is sometimes referred to as the university president. In US university systems that have more than one affiliated university or campus, the executive head of a specific campus may have the title of chancellor and report to the overall system's president, or vice versa.
Chancellor
Australia and New Zealand
In both Australia and New Zealand, a chancellor is the chairperson of a university's governing body; thus, as well as having ceremonial duties, the chancellor participates in the governance of the university. The chancellor is assisted by a deputy chancellor. The chancellor and deputy chancellor are frequently drawn from the senior ranks of business or the judiciary. Some universities have a visitor who is senior to the chancellor. University disputes can be appealed from the governing board to the visitor, but nowadays, such appeals are generally prohibited by legislation, and the position has only ceremonial functions. The vice-chancellor usually serves as the chief executive of the university.Macquarie University in Sydney is an anomaly as it once had the unique position of Emeritus Deputy Chancellor, a post created for John Lincoln upon his retirement from his long-held post of deputy chancellor in 2000. The position was not merely an honorary title, as it also retained for Lincoln a place in the University Council until his death in 2011.
Bangladesh
Chancellor is a titular position in Bangladesh always held by the incumbent President of Bangladesh under the Private Universities Act 1992. The position in public universities is not fixed for the president under any acts or laws, but it has been the custom so far to name the incumbent president of the country as chancellor of all state universities thus established. The day-to-day business of the university is run by the vice chancellor. The vice chancellor has a deputy called the pro-vice-chancellor.Canada
Canadian universities have a titular chancellor similar to those in England and Wales, with day-to-day operations typically handled by a vice-chancellor. The vice-chancellor usually carries the joint title of "president and vice-chancellor" or "rector and vice-chancellor".Finland
In Finland, if the university has a chancellor, they are the leading official in the university. The duties of the chancellor are mainly to promote sciences and to look after the best interests of the university. As the rector of the university remains the de facto administrative leader and chief executive official, the role of the chancellor is more of a social, political and even historical nature. However some administrative duties still belong to the chancellor's jurisdiction despite their often arguably ceremonial nature. Examples of these include the appointment of new professors and docents.The chancellor of University of Helsinki has also the right to be present and to speak in the plenary meetings of the Council of State when matters regarding the university are discussed. Despite their role as the chancellor of only one university, they are often regarded as the political representative of Finland's entire university institution when they exercise their rights in the Council of State.
In the history of Finland the office of the chancellor dates all the way back to the Swedish Empire, and later the Russian Empire. Historically the chancellor's duty was to function as the official representative of the monarch in the autonomous university.
The number of chancellors in Finnish universities has declined over the years, and in the vast majority of Finnish universities the highest official is the rector. The remaining universities with chancellors are University of Helsinki and Åbo Akademi University.
France
In France, chancellor is one of the titles of the rector, a senior civil servant of the Ministry of Education serving as manager of a regional educational district. In his capacity as chancellor, the rector awards academic degrees to the university's graduates, oversees the legality of the universities' executive acts and channels funding from the ministry. The rector has no executive function in any university but remains a member ex officio of the board of every public university in his district.Germany and Poland
In Poland, the chancellor is the head of many universities' administration and the leader of the non-academic staff while the rector is the academic head. The main academic bodies of the university consists of: rektor, prorektor, dziekan, prodziekan, senat. In universities with presidential constitution, the university's president holds both the functions of chancellor and rector.Similarly, in Germany the chancellor is the head of the administration, and regularly is recruited not from a scholarly but from an administrative background. The chancellor is a member of the governing body of the university Hochschulleitung, which is directed by either a rector Rektor or a president Präsident, whose precise role may vary among universities. Traditionally, the chancellor had the role to represent the local king or later the government in the university and to make sure that the university is compliant with government laws and policies. After universities gained more autonomy in the 20th century, they also got more freedom in choosing the chancellor by themselves. However, still today the chancellor is not an administrator who is entirely subordinate to the president but an office holder who oversees a host of responsibilities assigned to him or her directly by higher education law. This can give the chancellor a considerable veto power in the university leadership.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong acts as the chancellor of all chartered universities, which includes all eight public universities and Hong Kong Metropolitan University. Day-to-day operation is in the hands of either a vice-chancellor or a president, depending on the institution.India
In India, almost all universities have a chancellor as their titular head, whose function is largely ceremonial. The governor of the state appointed as the union's representative of state by the president, is the honorary chancellor of all state-owned universities. The de facto head of any government university is the vice-chancellor.A private university or deemed university is headed by a president rather than a chancellor.
Ireland
In Ireland, four universities have a chancellor. The chancellor of the National University of Ireland is also chair of the senate of the university, while the chancellors of Dublin City University and the University of Limerick are also the chairs of those universities' governing authorities. The chancellor of the University of Dublin presides at meetings of the university's senate and is one of the two visitors of Trinity College Dublin.Malaysia
In Malaysia, the chancellor position is given to dignitaries such as royalty or prominent politicians by universities to represent the universities in the political arena. For example, the chancellor of University of Malaya, the oldest university in Malaysia is Sultan Nazrin Shah, the Sultan of Perak.All public universities except the International Islamic University of Malaysia used the term chancellor. While for IIUM, the Constitutional Head which has same degree as the chancellor is used.
Nepal
In Nepal, universities have a chancellor as ceremonial head. The de facto head of the university is the vice-chancellor. The chancellor is primarily responsible for attending the convocation programmes and accepting the resignation and appointment letter of a new vice-chancellor. Generally, the prime minister is considered the chancellor, and in his absence, the minister of education acts as the chancellor.Pakistan
In Pakistan, chancellor is normally the ceremonial figurehead of the government as well as the few private non-for-profit universities, who is normally the provincial governor where that university which government administration the university falls. The Chancellor is kept in hand of the head of State/Province for the unity of all public universities and shows governmental involvement in university's executive affairs. Day-to-day business of the university is run by the Vice Chancellor, deputed by Pro Vice Chancellor, in case of public university and Rector, deputed by Vice Rector, in case of private not-for-profit university. The Chancellor appoints the Vice Chancellor nominated by the search committee.Philippines
In the Philippines, the De La Salle University designates the head of its university as the chancellor. For the University of the Philippines, the entire system is headed by a president, while the eight constituent universities under the system is each headed by a chancellor. The chancellor designates the different vice-chancellors for different areas of concern of the university: academic affairs, finance, and community affairs, among others. Some more universities like University of Santo Tomas and other colleges institutions have chancellors. Its chancellor is the incumbent Master of the Order of Preachers ; meanwhile, the vice chancellor is the prior provincial of the Dominican Province of the Philippines. Their roles are largely ceremonial. The University of Santo Tomas is governed mainly by its rector magnificus in overseeing its academic, financial and other affairs. The Central Seminary under the University of Santo Tomas also has an appointed Chancellor who acts as the executive secretary of the rector and the guardian of the archives of the seminary.Other universities in the Philippines are mostly headed by their respective university presidents.