Office of the Chancellor

About the chancellor

Dr. Elaine Vandehey has been chancellor since 2019 and is the ninth person to hold the job. She is an industrial engineer, a 1996 Porter graduate in mechanical engineering, and spent seven years as dean of the College of Engineering & Technology before moving to Millwright Hall. Her full biography is on her profile page.

The chancellor is the university’s chief executive. She reports to the president of the UW System and, through the president, to the Board of Regents, which hired her. Day to day, the office sets the budget envelope, signs off on major hires and capital requests, represents Porter to the Legislature and the region, and makes the final call when a question has been through every other office and is still a question. How authority is split between the system, the campus and the three senates is laid out on University governance.

The chancellor’s cabinet

The cabinet meets Monday mornings during the academic year and every other Monday in summer. Agendas are set by the chief of staff; summaries of decisions are posted to MyPorter within a week. The presidents of Faculty Senate, Staff Senate and Student Senate attend the first meeting of each month.

Duane Kolsrud, director of Facilities Management, attends whenever a building is on the agenda, which is most weeks. He has twice declined a seat at the table with a vice-chancellor title attached.

Priorities for 2026–27

Everything the cabinet funds is sorted against the four priorities of the strategic plan. This year’s specific commitments under each:

• Applied learning in every major. Fund paid co-op and research placements so cost is not why a student skips one; open the advanced manufacturing and robotics lab for fall 2027.
• Career outcomes. Hold the published career-outcomes rate at or above 95 percent and report it by program, not just campus-wide.
• Closing outcome gaps. Cut the first-year retention gap between first-generation and continuing-generation students from 4.1 points to under 3, working with the Office of Inclusive Excellence.
• Regional partnership. Grow employer-partnered capstones from 212 to 240 and finish the first year of the ten-year workforce agreement with three regional manufacturers.

Running underneath all four: a smooth provost transition in January, the first summer of the $15 million Founders Hall renovation, and the “Built for Work” campaign run by University Advancement.

Inviting the chancellor to an event

The chancellor accepts roughly 30 outside and campus speaking requests a semester and turns down about as many. To ask:

1. Submit the event request form in MyPorter (search “chancellor event”) at least six weeks ahead; four weeks for a campus event with students as the main audience.
2. Include the date, location, expected audience, what you are asking her to do (welcome, remarks, panel, presenting an award) and how long you need. Welcomes run three to five minutes.
3. Name one contact who will be reachable the day of the event.

The office replies within ten business days. Student-run events, employer partners in the region and Millrace Week get priority. If she cannot attend, the office will usually offer the provost, a vice chancellor or the relevant dean. Requests for a recorded video greeting need three weeks.

Open office hours

On the first Tuesday of each month during the academic year, the chancellor sits at a table in the Founders Union food hall from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. No appointment, no agenda, no staff taking notes unless you ask for one. Students go first if there is a line.

Fall 2026

October 6, November 3, December 1

Spring 2027

February 2, March 2, April 6, May 4

For a formal meeting, email the office with the topic and who would attend; most requests are scheduled within three weeks. A complaint about a specific office usually gets resolved faster by that office or the student ombuds, and the chancellor’s staff will say so rather than sit on it.