Kraus named dean of freshmen

Kraus

arcy Kraus, senior associate director of academic support in the College, has been named the new dean of freshmen. She joined the College advising staff in 1999 and earlier spent seven years in the Office of Admissions. Kraus's career working with and guiding students also has included her role as director of freshman orientation for five years and as assistant dean of freshmen. She will continue as senior associate director of academic support.

Richard Feldman, interim dean of the College, announced Kraus's new responsibilities in a statement to faculty and staff. "She will bring a great deal of experience to this position," he said.

Kraus succeeds Deborah Rossen-Knill, who is director of the College Writing Program. She will step down as freshman dean after five years. Rossen-Knill will devote more time to her research, which investigates real and fictional dialogue and draws on work in literary studies, linguistics, psychology, and composition.

Kraus began her career in higher education as an academic advisor at the University of New Hampshire and Washington University in St. Louis. The new dean holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Viterbo University in Wisconsin and master's and doctoral degrees in psychology from the University of New Hampshire. Her dissertation focused on college students' learning and comprehension strategies.

In the College's Center for Academic Support, she coordinates readmission applicants, part-time matriculated student and advising, and the Quest program. She also serves as the assistant to the administrative committee. As dean of freshmen, Kraus will appoint and assess faculty advisors, monitor the academic progress of the freshman class, be involved in freshman orientation, serve as the College's primary liaison to parents of first-year students, and develop and monitor educational programs for freshmen.