Last Edited on 29-Jul-2008 11:51 PM

All the vice presidents have the same rank, but they are in charge of different areas of responsibility.

In business, multiple vice presidents have different areas of responsibility: one will be in charge of manufacturing, another sales, another advertising, and as many more as there are major divisions in the company. If the company is large, with many factories, the title of "vice president" may be used for the head of each factory, in which case, the overall corporation may have be a chairman, with a vice chair in charge of manufacturing, and more vice presidents overseeing shipping, sales, and advertising, in addition to the vice presidents in charge of the different factories. Or whatever hierarchical system that particular company likes!

In adademia, the divisions may be faculty, student body, recruitment, fund-raising, whatever the school needs. Now, the vice-presidents will have a method of deciding which one speaks for the president if the president if he is not available when something happens, but officially, they are the same rank.

In U.S. corporations, the title of Vice President is sometimes bestowed on people not because they're in charge of a division of the company but because the title impresses the company's clients. If a client or customer is dealing with someone who has the title of Vice President, the client or customer feels that he or she is dealing with a very high-ranking person, even though this might not be the case at all. Large corporations may have scores of "Vice Presidents." A small company where I worked had a total of about 120 employees. About 25 of them were "Vice Presidents."

I was unaware that the title of Vice President had become common in academic circles. It must be a relatively new development. The colleges and universities with which I have been associated had one president. Although he or she was the top person, this individual's focus was mostly on external matters – fund-raising, liaison with the community and with government agencies, public relations, and so on. The second-to-top person might have had the title of Provost (in the old days) or Academic Dean (more recently). In smaller institutions, this individual might be called the Dean of Faculty. This person oversaw the internal, academic affairs. At the next level was an array of deans. Some were heads of academic divisions (Dean of Liberal Arts, Dean of Fine Arts, Dean of Business Administration, etc.) Others oversaw certain functions. The Dean of Admissions, of course, was in charge of college admissions and perhaps also administered scholarships. The Dean of Students coordinated student activities, counseling, and the like. Finally, the hierarchy consisted of the chairs of the academic departments – the chair of the English department, the chair of the psychology department, etc.

In my 50 years, off and on, of involvement in academia, I do not recall meeting one person with the title of Vice President, though I met lots of deans and department chairs. I have not been associated with a large college or university for a very long time, so that might have changed. However, at the community college where I teach now, there are no Vice Presidents – only a President, an Academic Dean (who is second in command), deans of the various divisions, and department chairs.
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Rich Turner (The Curmudgeon Himself)

Last Edited on 29-Jul-2008 10:02 PM

Last Edited on 30-Jul-2008 12:49 AM