Office of the Vice-Chancellor and President

Act No. 35, 1924. University Amendment (Vice-Chancellor) Act, 1924. The Act provided for the Senate to elect a Deputy Chancellor to fulfil the duties of the present Vice-Chancellor and to appoint a permanent executive officer to take over the duties of Warden, who would be styled Vice-Chancellor. The first Vice-Chancellor to be appointed under the new constitution was Professor Sir Mungo W. MacCallum.

By-law VI (Calendar 1926, p 37) stated:

'(1) The Vice-Chancellor shall be the chief executive officer, and be specially charged with the duty of promoting the interests and furthering the development of the University .
(2) The Vice-Chancellor shall, under the Senate, subject to the by-laws and to any resolution of the Senate, -
(a) manage and supervise the administrative, financial, and other business of the University;
(b) collect and prepare for the Senate and Finance Committee all information, including estimates of receipts and expenditure required by them in relation to the finances of the University;
(c) consult with and advise the Professorial Board, and all other University Boards, Faculties, Committees, Professors, and other Heads of Departments, with a view to assisting the Professorial Board and other bodies concerned in the co-ordination of the work of the Faculties and the various Departments;
(d) have the care of the property of the University;
(e) have authority to incur expenditure not exceeding one hundred pounds for any urgent matter;
(f) exercise a general supervision over all persons in the service of the University;
(g) apportion administrative authority in any Faculty after consultation with the Dean and the Professors or Lecturers concerned;
(h) exercise a general supervision over the discipline of the University;
(i) give effect to the by-laws and to any resolution or report passed or adopted by the Senate;
(j) perform other duties as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Senate.
(3) Nothing in the by-law relating to the Vice-Chancellor shall affect the precedence or authority of the Chancellor or Deputy Chancellor.'

These duties were later slightly expanded (Calendar 1936, p 45). The Vice-Chancellor was to 'exercise supervision over the discipline of the University, with power, in the case of students, to impose penalties in accordance with academic usage for breach of discipline or for misconduct of any kind'. He was also to be 'ex officio a member of every Board Faculty and Committee within the University and, except in the case of the Finance Committee, he may, if he so desires, preside at any meeting of such Board, Faculty or Committee'.

By 1953, the by-laws concerning the Vice-Chancellor remained the same, with the exception that the amount that could be spent on any urgent matters had increased to one thousand pounds.

The title of Vice-Chancellor was changed to Vice-Chancellor and Principal in 1955 and two new administrative support positions were created within the Vice-Chancellor's Establishment (Calendar 1957, p1010). The Deputy Vice-Chancellor was to assist the Vice-Chancellor in consulting with and advising the Professorial Board and all other Boards, Faculties and Committees and academic staff, and the Assistant Principal who (1) ... shall assist the Vice-Chancellor as he may require and shall, under the Vice-Chancellor, be especially responsible for the use and care of the buildings and grounds of the University, and for the acquisition and development of new sites and buildings. And (2) ... shall be ex officio a member of the Professorial Board.(Calendar 1960, p 136).

The first Assistant Principal was W H Maze who had been appointed Registrar on 1 March 1950. He took up his new role on 8 August 1955. In June 1968 Senate approved the change of the title of Assistant Principal to Deputy Principal in 1968, the duties remained the same (Senate Report for 1968, Calendar 1970, p.1061)

By 1976, responsibility for the University's correspondence had passed from the Registrar to the Vice-Chancellor. The Vice-Chancellor was now to 'arrange for the conducting of correspondence of the University and answering of enquiries' (Calendar 1976, p 105).

By-law Chapter VI (Calendar 1976, p 106) allowed for the appointment of two Deputy Vice-Chancellors, the second of which was to assist the Vice-Chancellor 'especially in the fields of equipment, research facilities and funding and building priorities', while the Deputy Principal remained 'especially responsible for managing and supervising the financial business of the University'.

The Annual Report of 1982 (p 7), in noting the resignation of Mr H. McCredie as Deputy Principal, states 'that position was not filled but Mr S. B. M. Harrison (formerly Assistant Principal) was appointed as Bursar'. Although the title Bursar is listed among the principal officers of the University in the 1983 Calendar (p 15), the duties of the office are not mentioned in the by-laws until the 1987 Calendar (p 132).

Administrative re-arrangements in 1986 resulted in the creation of one position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor and two Pro-Vice-Chancellors, while the Registrar became 'Registrar and Deputy Principal' and the Bursar became 'Deputy Principal and Bursar' Their various duties and responsibilities were outlined on page 19 of the Annual Report, 1986.

The Annual Report, 1988, page 162, showed three Pro-Vice-Chancellor positions.

By 1989, two Deputy Vice-Chancellors and two Pro-Vice-Chancellors were listed amongst the principal officers of the University (Annual Report, p. 174).

By 1991, the Vice-Chancellor and Principal was assisted by two Deputy Vice-Chancellors, two Pro-Vice-Chancellors and an Assistant Vice-Chancellor, whose various responsibilities and duties as senior executive officers of the University were outlined on page 169 of the Annual Report.

Although there were substantial administrative changes in 1993 as a result of the Boston Consulting Group Review (Annual Report 1993, p 99), by-law 6 concerning the Vice-Chancellor has remained unchanged (Calendar 1996, p 55). Page 2 of the Annual Report, 1993, page 5 of the Annual Report, 1994, and pages 8 and 9 of the Annual Report, 1995, may be compared for an overview of the changes that took place.

Changes were effected by the then Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Gavin Brown, who came into office mid 1996. The then current University home page showed three Deputy Vice-Chancellors (Academic and Staffing, Planning and Resources, International and Development) and three Pro-Vice-Chancellors (College of Health Sciences, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Science and Technology) assisting and reporting to the Vice-Chancellor. In 2008 the University appointed a new Vice-Chancellor, Dr Michael Spence, who introduced a new management structure, which was approved by Senate in August 2008. Under the new structure there were seven principal offices of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC). 

In 2009 the Office of the Vice-Chancellor encompassed Secretary to Senate, HR, Office of the General Counsel and Strategic Planning with line management responsibility for directors of strategic administrative areas within the University. These include a number of deputy vice-chancellors, as shown by the organisation chart on page 41 of the 2009 Annual Report. As at February 2020 the Vice-Chancellor's portfolio included Higher Education Policy & Projects, Government Relations University Secretariat, Vice-Chancellor's Office, and Culture Strategy as well as line management responsibility forDVCs, Vice-Principals and General Counsel. [Organisational Chart https://www.sydney.edu.au/content/dam/corporate/documents/about-us/governance-and-structure/updated-org-chart-february-2020/org-chart-as-at-february-2020-updated.pdf viewed 9 Apr 2020]