University of St. Thomas Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Associate Athletics Director, Compliance
- Email:
- Phone:
- 651-962-5959
Andrew Nelson joined St. Thomas as the Associate Athletic Director, Compliance in August 2020.
Nelson leads all compliance efforts for the athletic department, including NCAA Division I rules education for student-athletes, coaches, and staff, building institutional compliance systems, interpreting current, new, and proposed NCAA Division I rules and regulations, as well as monitoring all compliance-related activities such as appeals, waivers, eligibility, financial aid, and reporting.
Nelson comes to St. Thomas after spending nine years at the University of Minnesota. While with the Gophers, he was promoted twice within the compliance office. Starting as a compliance coordinator in 2011, he advanced to Assistant Director in July of 2014 and was most recently the Associate Director of Compliance from September of 2017 to July of 2020. In his roles, Nelson was responsible for overseeing all athletic compliance for Gopher football, men’s and women’s hockey, and baseball. He also played an integral role in developing a comprehensive athletic compliance manual with policies and procedures for the department prior to the 2018-19 season. Nelson also supervised the athletic compliance office internship program. Additionally, Nelson had an impact outside of his role in compliance. Most recently, he served as an adjunct professor for the University, a position he had held since January of 2015. He was also a team host for the men’s and women’s ice hockey Frozen Four in 2018, as well as the men’s basketball Final Four in 2019.
Prior to his time at Minnesota, Nelson volunteered in the University of Denver compliance office. He also served as a legal intern, compliance assistant at the University of Colorado for two years. Nelson got his start in college athletics, and specifically in compliance at Iowa State University as a summer intern during the summer of 2008.
Nelson received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Iowa in the spring of 2007 before earning his Juris Doctor from the University of Denver in 2010.
Nelson and his wife, Sarah, reside in St. Paul with their daughters (Zora and June).
