(UND Athletics) – The University of North Dakota announced today that Athletics Director Bill Chaves has received a four-year contract extension. Chaves, who was named UND’s 16th athletics director in 2018, will now be at UND through spring 2026.
“Bill Chaves has done a fantastic job of managing and promoting UND athletics, as well as seeing to the well-being of our University’s student athletes during challenging times,” said UND President Andrew Armacost. “He’s displayed outstanding leadership and has been an extraordinary partner across all divisions and units on campus.
“We are proud that under his leadership, our student athletes have demonstrated their ability to shine in sports, in the classroom and in the community, fulfilling the most important mission of an institution of higher education,” Armacost added. “Bill has also played an instrumental role in guiding UND’s transition into two new athletics conferences. I look forward to working with him over the next four years.”
Chaves said he, too, is looking forward to continuing his work under Armacost’s leadership.
“UND is an amazing institution of higher learning, and I have been so fortunate to be able to serve for the past four years,” he said. “I look forward to continuing to work with so many great colleagues on campus and in our department.
“I continue to wake up every day trying to figure out how to make our student-athletes’ experience a memorable one, and the best it can be, while also continuing to try and make our State, alumni and supporters proud.”
Four more years
Under Chaves, UND introduced its first official mascot in the University’s history. Since fall 2018, the Fighting Hawks nickname and likeness have touched all corners of campus as the newest features of UND’s institutional identity – this includes the minting of “fightinghawks.com” as the official website for UND Athletics.
Chaves’ tenure also saw the Athletics Department develop and adopt a strategic plan, called the Flight Plan. The plan dovetails with the University’s strategic plan and was developed with input from athletes, coaches, alumni and supporters, among other constituents.
Along with those developments, UND and most of its sports teams joined the NCAA Division I Summit League conference during the 2018-19 academic year. The football team, which joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020, became the first team to win a conference championship in its first year. During Chaves’ tenure, UND has so far made two FCS playoff appearances and reached the quarterfinals for the first time in program history in 2020 – nationally ranking as high as No. 2 during the season.
With those successes in mind, UND extended its usage agreement with the City of Grand Forks/Spectra Entertainment to play football in the Alerus Center through 2030.
Also during Chaves’ tenure, UND extended its usage agreement with the Ralph Engelstad Arena through 2030, ensuring a home for the University’s Division I hockey program. The team is consistently ranked among the best in the nation, having most recently won an NCAA Championship in the 2015-16 season. In 2021, the Ralph Engelstad Arena played host to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff – the first of such tournaments to be played on a college campus.
The Fighting Hawks have won back-to-back NCHC regular season championships, and this year, they may well become the first in conference history to win a third consecutive Penrose Cup.
In addition to the recent successes of the hockey and football programs, the Fighting Hawks men’s basketball team earned its first win over a Power Five Conference team in UND’s Division I history, against the University of Nebraska in 2019. That season, Head Coach Paul Sather became one of only three other head coaches to take his team to the Summit League Tournament Final in his first season. Also during that season, the women’s basketball team reached the Summit League Semifinals.
Other “firsts” under Chaves came for UND’s women’s soccer team as well as the men’s and women’s tennis teams, which reached their first conference tournament appearances in Division I history in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
Chaves also helped create the Department’s Student-Athlete Inclusion and Diversity Committee in 2019.
Taking an active role in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, Chaves chaired an extensive working group of community stakeholders to chart UND Athletics’ reopening for the Fall 2020 semester. In a statement at the time of the group’s formation, Chaves said he wanted to use the Grand Forks community’s synergy to “do things right” in protecting public health to the greatest extent possible while reopening spectator sporting events.
One result involved the switch from physical to digital in event ticketing, including for season ticket holders. The change was implemented in spring 2021, following a similar change for UND student tickets.
Growth and renewal
Chaves also has overseen physical changes to athletics spaces and facilities on campus, many of which are ongoing. In early 2021, the University community said farewell to the old Memorial Stadium next to Columbia Road. The stadium, which was first dedicated in 1927 to UND alumni who served in World War I, was long the home of UND football.
Future developments on Memorial Stadium’s site include a new home for UND Athletics’ offices in a five-story structure – developed in a private-public partnership – that will also include a student-athlete academic center, as well as top-floor apartment units.
“It’s comforting to know that the grounds that Memorial sat on will be occupied by generations of UND student-athletes for years to come,” said Chaves at the March 9 recognition ceremony. “Our heritage will always be commemorated, as today’s Athletics Department could not be what it is without all of the contributions from those who came before us.”
Just east of the Memorial Stadium site is the Frederick “Fritz” D. Pollard Jr. Athletic Center, which was renamed in early 2021 to recognize the life and achievements of Pollard Jr., the storied UND student-athlete who passed away in 2003. A bronze medalist at the 1938 Olympic Games, Pollard Jr. played football, boxed and ran track-and-field at UND. He was inducted into the initial UND Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 1975.
Under Chaves, development of the Pollard Jr. Athletic Center will continue into Phase II, which will add further structures to the state-of-the-art training facility to provide space for spectator seating, weight training facilities, locker rooms and the UND Athletics Hall of Fame.
Athletic, academic and civic excellence
Academically, UND’s student-athletes continue to shine under Chaves’ leadership. The Spring 2021 semester marked 26 consecutive semesters with grade point averages sitting above 3.0 across all sports. A total of 163 student-athletes made that term’s Summit League Academic Honor Roll, with 83 named to the conference’s Commissioner’s List of Academic Excellence.
These academic performances rank the University among the top schools in the Summit League every year.
Moreover, Chaves during his tenure oversaw the Athletics Department’s continued commitment to community service. Last month, the NCAA announced that UND had won the NCAA Team Works Community Service Competition, leading all other Division I institutions. Some 99 percent of all Fighting Hawk student-athletes had participated in at least one service opportunity, amassing a total of 2,051 hours of community service throughout the September to November 2021 competition.
Chaves’ career highlights
Chaves currently is completing his fourth year on the National Association of Director of Athletics (NACDA) Board of Directors. He served on the NCAA Council from 2015 to 2018.
Prior to his career at UND, Chaves served as Director of Athletics at Eastern Washington University from 2007 to 2018. He was a two-time recipient of the national Athletic Director of the Year award, earning the honor in 2013 and 2016.
At EWU, the football program won five Big Sky titles during his tenure while qualifying for the FCS playoffs six times and advancing to the semifinals four times. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams made historic runs into postseason NCAA tournaments under Chaves’ leadership, including the men’s first-ever postseason Division I win in 2016.
Chaves led several fundraising initiatives to help the athletic department grow and keep pace with other Division I programs, including new scoreboards for EWU’s football and basketball facilities, new seating and locker-rooms enhancing a majority of EWU’s sports programs, and the installation of Eastern’s striking red turf at its on-campus football field. Chaves also negotiated an all-department apparel deal with Adidas.
*Alec Stocker Johnson, UND Athletics
