Colleen Heimstead joined the North Dakota State University athletic department in July 2005 as the associate director of athletics for compliance and was named senior associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator in July 2015. She is NDSU's sport administrator for cross country, track and field, and women's basketball.
Heimstead is responsible for all facets of NCAA, conference and institutional compliance at NDSU. She works closely with campus departments such as Student Financial Services, the Office of Admission, Registration & Records and Athletic Academic Advising to ensure NCAA compliance for 16 sports and approximately 400 student-athletes.
She completes various NCAA reports such as sport sponsorship and demographics, revenue distribution information, GSR data, federal graduation reports, and assists with EADA and APR reports. Heimstead also works closely with outside consultants on gender equity reports.
Prior to NDSU, from 2000-2005, Heimstead was the assistant athletics director for compliance at the University of Northern Iowa. She was an assistant women’s basketball coach at UNI from 1992-2000.
Heimstead attended Southern Illinois University from 1988-1992 where she was a member and two-year captain of the women’s basketball team. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences with a minor in chemistry in May 1992.
Heimstead is a native of Elk Mound, Wis., and a member of the 2015 Elk Mound High School Hall of Fame class. She enjoys running, lifting weights, golf and triathlons, and sings with the worship teams at Hope Lutheran Church in Fargo.
