United States

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 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. Some systems, such as the California State University, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and University of Mississippi invert this ranking so that the chancellor is the head of the entire university. At the University of the South, the vice-chancellor is the administrative head of the university (as well as mayor of the town of Sewanee). The chancellor is a bishop of one of the 28 southeastern Episcopal dioceses that own the university and is elected by the members of the Board of Trustees. The chancellor neither resides at the university nor holds administrative power; the office of chancellor is a ceremonial one. Principal[edit]