Dave Cillay has been appointed by Washington State University President Kirk Schulz as the university’s first Global Campus chancellor.

Cillay will maintain his current position as the vice president of WSU Academic Outreach and Innovation, while taking on the title, roles and responsibilities of WSU’s online degree program.

“Dave has done an outstanding job of guiding the growth of our Global Campus the past seven years,” Schulz said. “WSU is in the vanguard of U.S. universities delivering distance education, in no small part due to Dave’s vision and his expertise in developing programming that meets the specialized needs of these students.”

WSU is one of the first public universities in the nation to put its online campus into the same chancellor-level leadership structure as traditional physical campuses, according to a news release.

This fall semester, WSU Global Campus has 3,265 students learning solely online through the program that offers 19 undergraduate majors, 12 master’s degree programs, 20 online certificate programs and two teaching endorsements. More than 3,000 students enrolled at one of WSU’s campuses are also enrolled in one or more online courses this fall.

“I’m proud to be a part of this university and to work with the outstanding faculty, staff and students here at Global Campus,” Cillay said. “I’m also very grateful for the opportunity to work with university leadership who fully understand the value and impact of online learning, especially as WSU looks to the future.”