Although she's lived in Austria, Germany and Utah, Krista K. Rodin is thrilled to be in Storrs.

"I am really enjoying being at the University and working with such fascinating and wonderful people," says Rodin, the new dean of the Division of Extended and Continuing Education.

"Dr. Rodin brings to the position a wealth of hands-on experience in continuing education at both public and private institutions," said Fred Maryanski, interim chancellor. "Moreover, she has the breadth of knowledge and the background needed to lead the division into the 21st century."

Rodin is one of several senior-level appointments made during the summer. She replaces Robert C. Baldwin, who has retired, and is now serving as interim vice chancellor of academic administratio n, replacing Maryanski.

Baldwin is responsible for the regional campuses, Connecticut Information Technology Institute, Technical Services Center, Center for Health Fitness, academic renovations, and the Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletes.

Also in the Chancellor's Office, Dana Wilder has assumed academic budgeting responsibilities; the Office of the Registrar now reports to Susan Steele, vice provost for undergraduate education and instruction; and the Office of Institutional Research reports to Karla Fox, associate vice chancellor.

Other recent appointments include Ronald L. Taylor, professor of sociology and director of the Institute for African American Studies, as vice provost for multicultural affairs; and Thomas Peters, program director, as assistant dean for graduate student affairs and records; Gary M. English, professor and head of dramatic arts, as interim dean of the School of Fine Arts for one year.

Peters will oversee the Graduate Records Office, provide leadership in adminstering academic and administrative functions related to graduate programs, graduate faculty and graduate students, and will continue his work with the Graduate Faculty Council and the electronic Graduate Catalog. He also administers the Graduate School's Academic Integrity Policy, which was approved by the Board of Trustees last fall.

Peters holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from UConn, a master's degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a bachelor's degree from Bates College.

English is a stage designer and director with credits that include creative work in regional and university theater, on Broadway and Off Broadway, and in television.

He holds a BFA from the University of Arizona, and an MFA from Northwestern University. He has served on the faculty of the State University of New York and Carnegie Mellon University.

English has been honored for his work both as director and designer. The winner of press awards for outstanding design in Pittsburgh and Boston, he was honored by the Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell, Mass., as the outstanding contributing artist of the first 15 years of the theater.

English oversees the Connecticut Repertory Theatre on campus, which has won acclaim from the New England Theatre Conference. His production of Man of La Mancha won the Best Production of a Musical Award from the Connecticut Critics Circle, one of eight nominations his theater has received from the Critics Circle during the past three years.

Two deans, Michael Gerald of the School of Pharmacy, and Kirklyn Kerr of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, have been reappointed to second five-year terms.

Rodin, who began work on August 1, is an expert on distance education, and will be spending the next few weeks gathering ideas about where the ECE should be headed. She says she is working very closely with the other deans and with the regional campus directors to develop a new mission and vision statement and goals.

"We will work very closely with the regional campuses - they can function better with us, and we can function better with them," she says.

Rodin, who holds a bachelor's degree and a teaching certificate from Wayne State University, holds a Ph.D. in English and American Literature from the Universitát Salzburg in Austria.

She has served as dean of the Division of Continuing and Professional Studies at St. Joseph's College of Maine, and as director of academic programs for the Division of Continuing Education at the University of Utah.

She also was director of academic affairs for the City Colleges of Chicago European Division, working in Wiesbaden, Germany. Her distance learning program there stretched from the Azores to Saudi Arabia and Finland.

She has also directed numerous operas with professional companies in Utah, Germany, and Austria.

Karen A.Grava