Edward H. Yeterian becomes Colby's dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs July 1, taking over a tremendous variety of responsibilities, including a leading role in determining where the College is headed as the new millennium dawns. Yeterian replaces Robert L. McArthur, who has served as head of the faculty for more than 10 years and who will return to teaching duties in the Philosophy Department.     Yeterian was elected to a three-year term designed to see the College through the remainder of the 20th century and the transition from President Bill Cotter's administration to his successor's, which is scheduled to occur in 2000 or 2001, Cotter said.     Yeterian came to Colby in 1978and has distinguished himself as a teacher, a researcher and an administrator. His résumé includes a page and a half of entries documenting service on College committees. Perhaps most notable, he has chaired the Health Professions Preparation Committee since arriving at Colby, and he points to an 80 percent success rate in the last decade helping Colby graduates get into medical schools.     With 11 years experience as chair of the Psychology Department and two years as chair of the Social Sciences Division, he will take a distinguished record of success as an administrator to a higher level, where his leadership will affect all three academic divisions encompassing 25 departments and eight additional interdisciplinary programs.     "Ed has enormous faculty support," Cotter said." He was the overwhelming choice of the faculty and administrators. His record as an administrator in his own department is terrific, both in terms of the people he's recruited and the mentoring process that supports them."     Yeterian grew up in New Britain, Conn., where the value of education and the efficacy of hard work was instilled by his parents and grandparents and burnished in the machine shop where he got his first summer job. That work ethic helps explain how he balances teaching, research, frequent publication, administration, committee service and family life (he is married and has a son and daughter, both teenagers).     The ability to juggle multiple tasks is critical for the dean: "You almost have to be a workaholic for that job," Cotter said.     As dean and vice president Yeterian will supervise Colby's academic program and faculty as well as athletics, the library, the art museum and the Registrar's Office. He will oversee spending for instruction and research, which together make up half of the College's annual budget. "Ed will be terrific," said McArthur. "It's very important to have someone who is as solid and respected as he is."     A key role of the dean is recruiting the most qualified people for faculty positions. That defines the personality of the College even after the dean's term is over, Cotter said.     Yeterian said that when he recruits new faculty members, "I try to envision them as a member of the department and the College in general--as part of the community." He looks for teachers who can go beyond merely presenting well-organized and concise information to make a connection with students and develop a "presence" in the classroom.     McArthur said there will be considerable turnover in the next five years as professors hired during the growth years of the 1960s and '70s retire. Mentoring newer faculty members, directing the tenure process and retaining faculty members who may weigh offers from competing institutions are also important parts of the job.     Recognizing that part of his job will be to maintain enthusiasm and morale in an era of extremely limited growth in faculty positions, Yeterian said he plans to focus on what the College can do within its existing programs and resources. The College's emphasis will continue to be on preparing students who know how to find and critically evaluate information and who can solve problems and communicate clearly and compellingly, he says.     Yeterian, who is 50, earned his undergraduate degree at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., before getting a master's and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. He earned a postdoctoral degree in neuroanatomy and neurology from Harvard Medical School before coming to Colby. Concurrent with his Colby service he has been an adjunct professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the Boston University Medical School.     His research tries to explain conditions such as Parkinson's disease and other disorders of motor functions.