Vice Chancellor中文对称之谜

想谈一个不该有的错。

中国报报导马大前校长拿督拉菲雅（Rafiah）要求高教部副部长道歉的新闻。文中一再称呼拿督拉菲雅（Rafiah）为马大副校长，我百思不得其解。

报导原文摘绿如下：
“馬大前副校長不被續約
拉菲雅：國會發言中傷
副高教部長未道歉【按：“副高教部长”理应是“高教部副部长”】
（吉隆坡21日訊）馬大前副校長拿督拉菲雅指出，在國會發言中傷她的高教部副部長拿督依德利斯，目前未向她作出道歉。她說，她要求依德利斯公開道歉，但事件已過一個星期，依德利斯仍未聯絡她。。。。。。記者聯絡依德利斯時，惟后者指出，在議長未針對有關怡保東區國會議員林吉祥指他在副校長遴選課題上，誤導國會的動議做出決定前，他不願回應。。。。。。
高教部長拿督斯里卡立諾丁聲明，高教部無須預早通知馬大前副校長拿督拉菲雅，有關她不獲續約事宜。。。。。。。他說，當他出任部長時，為了制定合理的校長任期，所以才制定3年合約期限，而且拉菲雅的合約，是在他上任前已擬定。他說，他有在拉菲雅任職副校長兩年后，延長其任期6個月。卡立針對拉菲雅指其他男性校長獲3年任期，她卻只獲兩年任期一事，這么回應。拉菲雅在2006年5月獲聘出任馬大副校長，較后獲延長6個月，但在本月獲通知不獲續聘。【摘录自中国报国内新闻2008年11月22日】”

要厘清上述称呼的对错，我们先看网上英文词典的一些解释：
在英国和其他英联邦国家， 其大学采用Vice Chancellor称呼大学的首要执行员,而大学的首要执行员当然就是一校之长，即校长。
A Vice-Chancellor (commonly called the VC) of a university in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, India other Commonwealth countries, and some universities in Hong Kong, is the chief executive of the University. In Scotland and Canada the chief executive of a University is usually called Principal or President with Vice-Chancellor being an honorific.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_Chancellor)
另一个词条也说明：In most cases, the Chancellor is a ceremonial head, while the Vice-Chancellor is chief academic officer and chief executive. In Scotland, the Principal is the chief executive and is usually ex-officio Vice-Chancellor, which is a purely titular position. （http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki /List_of_British_university_chancellors_and_vice-chancellors）

当然，维基百科也从字义上进一步说明：Vice Chancellor是一所大学的Chancellor的副手，但是Chancellor 通常是卓越的公共人物，主要是出席典礼，因此Vice Chancellor 反而是执行每日任务的灵魂人物，是实际管理大学的人。换句话说，Chancellor虽然是正校长，但“正”的却是荣誉职位。
Strictly speaking, the VC is only the deputy to the Chancellor of the university, but the Chancellor is usually a prominent public figure who acts as a ceremonial figurehead only (e.g., the Chancellor of Cambridge University is HRH The Duke of Edinburgh), while the Vice-Chancellor acts as the day-to-day chief executive. An assistant to a Vice-Chancellor is called a Pro-Vice-Chancellor or Deputy Vice-Chancellor — these are sometimes teaching academics who take on additional responsibilities. In some universities (e.g., Macquarie University, Deakin University), there are several Deputy Vice-Chancellors subordinate to the Vice-Chancellor, with Pro-Vice-Chancellor being a position at executive level ranking below Deputy Vice-Chancellor.

在美国，用法则不一样。Chancellor 是货真价实的一校之长，而Vice Chancellor 则是副手，即副校长。详尽的原文解释如下：
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 University 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 and Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, 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 the village of Sewanee). The Chancellor is the most senior Episcopalian Bishop of the owning Dioceses of the University. The Chancellor neither resides at the University nor holds administrative power; the Bishop holds ceremonial office only.

我们再翻一翻朗文《当代高级英语辞典》2004年版。辞典第288页说：Chancellor是1.the Chancellor of the Exchequer[英国]财务大臣 2.a)the person who officially represents a British university on special occasions [英国大学的]名誉校长 b)the person in charge of an American university [美国大学的]负责人、校长 3）the chief minister of some countries [某些国家的]总理、首相。
第2213页说：Vice Chancellor是1.someone who is in charge of a British university [英国负主管之责的]大学（副）校长 2）someone who is next in rank to the Chancellor of a university in the US [美国的]大学副校长。　
值得注意的是：在英国VC就是大学校长，所以在辞典里“副”被挂号框起，表明不能照字面翻译。不过，在美国VC确实只是大学副校长，所以在辞典里“副”是不能不写出来的。

回到马来西亚，到底Vice Chancellor应该是校长还是副校长？马来亚大学的行政是跟随英国制度的，因此Vice Chancellor 当然是校长了。 其实，这么多年来，不只是马来亚大学，马来西亚其他大学虽然采用学期制上课，行政称呼还是以马大马首是瞻的，华文报章也向来都称呼Vice Chancellor或马来文的Naib Canselor为校长。我不明白为何中国报会一改常态，称呼马大的Rafiah 为副校长呢？