UND extends athletic director Faison's contract through 2012 UND has extended Athletic Director Brian Faison's contract through June 2012, UND President Robert O. Kelley announced today. "Brian has done a superb job in his first year as our athletic director. He has provided steady, calm, articulate leadership, which is evident throughout our Athletics program. A result has been a number of winning seasons and a major conference championship. Brian has also demonstrated a commitment to developing student athletes and their coaching staffs. I'm very proud of our students' academic performance, and I know that Brian shares that pride and commitment to academic excellence. We very much look forward to Brian's leadership as we progress as a Division I institution," said Kelley. Kelley noted that during his first year, Faison: * Guided UND through its first year of Division I transition, restructuring the department and introducing new administrative initiatives to meet the demands of the transition. * Successfully negotiated a ten-year agreement with the Alerus Center for football. * Secured conference affiliation with the Great West Conference providing conference homes for 16 of UND's 18 varsity sports. Men's and women's hockey compete in the WCHA. * Enhanced UND's statewide profile through community outreach initiatives and an expanded UND Sports Network. Some other milestones during Faison's first year: * Annual giving to the Fighting Sioux Club set a record. * North Dakota student-athletes continued their tradition of academic excellence: twelve student-athletes were named Academic All-District and a record six student-athletes were named Academic All-Americans by ESPN The Magazine; two student-athletes received NCAA Post-Graduate scholarships; 80 student-athletes received conference academic honors. * Student-athletes provided 5,595 hours of community service. * Football had the largest season opening crowd in UND football history; football set a record for average attendance; women's hockey finished seventh in the nation in average attendance, men's hockey finished second in the nation in average attendance. * Men's hockey won the MacNaughton Cup (WCHA regular season champions), women's basketball went undefeated at home, men's basketball had their first winning season in three years, and volleyball went from a record of 6-23 last year to 24-8. -- Peter Johnson, Executive Associate Vice President for University Relations, 777-4317, peterjohnson@mail.und.nodak.edu