UND announces nickname voting dates
University of North Dakota President Robert Kelley has announced the voting dates for final selection of a nickname for UND’s athletics teams.
The voting process, which will be conducted completely online, will begin at 8:00 a.m. Central Time Monday, October 19 and will close at 12:00 midnight Central Time on Friday, October 23. Voting will be open to the following groups:
· Current UND Students
· Current UND Faculty
· Current UND Staff
· UND Retirees
· UND Alumni
· UND Donors
· Current Season Ticket Holders to UND Athletic Events
During the voting process, eligible voters will cast one vote for a single option on the ballot. Eligible voters will choose one of five nickname options:
Fighting Hawks
Nodaks
North Stars
Roughriders
Sundogs
Voters who fall into more than one of the above categories—such as a staff member who is also an alumnus—may only vote once, and any identified multiple votes will be voided.
The online voting process will be conducted by Qualtrics, a third-party survey technology provider. Following the closing of the vote at midnight Central time on Friday, October 23, Qualtrics will tally the votes. UND expects to receive the report from Qualtrics and announce the vote results early the week of October 26. If any of the proposed nicknames receives a majority of the votes, that name will be determined to be the new athletics nickname for the University of North Dakota.
In the event that no single nickname receives a majority of the votes, stakeholders who were eligible to take part in the initial vote will be able to participate in a runoff vote between the two top vote-getters.
Said UND President Robert Kelley, “We are very pleased to be approaching this important milestone in the nickname selection process. The five potential nicknames were thoughtfully recommended by the Nickname Committee after an extensive public comment period. I encourage all eligible voters to carefully consider these potential nicknames and choose the one that they feel best represents the University of North Dakota.”
How the Vote Will Work
During the week of October 12, prior to the opening of the voting period, voters will receive an email from Qualtrics with voting instructions.
Voters should retain this email so that they can follow the voting instructions it contains when the voting period opens on October 19.
Current UND students, faculty and staff will receive the emails at their UND (UND.edu) email address. Other voters have until October 1 to confirm their email addresses:
• Alumni and Donors: By the October 1 deadline, go to UNDalumni.org/update to provide your email address. You will be asked to provide additional contact information to verify your identity.
• Retirees: By the October 1 deadline, register at the Qualtrics Web site indicated on the direct mail card you are receiving. You will need to provide the seven-letter code on the address label of the card you received.
• Current season ticket holders (non-Champions Club): Contact the Ralph Engelstad Arena Box Office at 701.777.4689 between the hours of 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, or email tickets@theralph.com any time between now and October 1.
