GRAND FORKS, N.D. – University of North Dakota Director of Athletics Bill Chaves announced a pair of departmental staff elevations, effectively immediately, on Tuesday. The elevations continue the departmental plan instituted by Chaves that was previously announced on Jun. 13, 2022.

"I am delighted to be making these staff changes so that Nicole and Brian can assist in leading our department into the future," said Chaves. "These two decisions are connected to last summer's department reorganization and I believe it was appropriate to do to provide the correct oversight and leadership in these two important areas within our administrative team."

Nicole Letofsky will transition into the new role of Associate Athletics Director of Marketing and Communications. Letofsky will continue her oversight of the department's marketing program, a position that she has had since Sept. 2019, while now taking on a leadership role with the communications and content teams. She will also be on senior staff, while working directly with Assistant Athletics Director of Athletic Communications and Content Alec Stocker Johnson on macro-focused items for the mar-comm area of the department.

Letofsky has worked at North Dakota since Feb. 2019, serving as the primary marketing contact for nearly every varsity sport at UND during her time and is also the department's advisor to UND Spirit Squads. She earned her bachelor's degree from Iowa State in 2012 before completing her master's in 2018 at Northern Colorado.

Brian Strom, the longest-tenured employee at North Dakota Athletics, has been elevated to the position of Assistant Athletics Director of Facilities and Aquatics Operations. In this new role, Strom will handle facility operations and external rentals on all athletic department buildings while also serving as the main contact for the Hyslop Sports Center pool area.

Strom served as the head diving coach at North Dakota for nearly 30 years, earning multiple accolades at the local, conference and national levels. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Crookston in 1978 with a degree in natural resources and from the University of North Dakota in 2002 with a degree in physical education.

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