Sept. 25, 2015

In this edition of Frazier’s Corner, NIU Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics Sean T. Frazier answers some of the most frequent questions he has been hearing from fans.

When will we hear more about what is happening with the Facility Master Plan?
Last October, we introduced the Athletics Facility Master Plan, the first comprehensive facility planning document for NIU Athletics since 1991. Over the last 11 months, the development staff and I have spent a lot of time in meetings with various stakeholders, members of the community, local businesses and others. We have had a great response to these meetings. The Athletics Facility Master Plan is critical to our future, but we must go through the process in the right way before moving ahead publicly. We are in the silent phase and have received a lot of interest on a number of the facilities highlighted in this project. We will do our due diligence and observe the proper approval protocol. Our plan needs to be a self-supporting, privately-funded project. Know that the Facility Master Plan is on our collective agenda EVERY DAY and I look forward to the time when I can share more specifics with all of our fans. At the end of the day, the great news is that we have had significant interest in our Athletics Facility Master Plan.

How is NIU Athletics being affected by current state budget impasse and will that affect the commitment to supporting Cost of Attendance?
The lack of a state budget for 2015-16 is having an effect on our entire university, and athletics is no different. We will do our part along with every department on campus, but we will not sacrifice in the area of student-athlete well-being. Last year, NIU was one of the first Mid-American Conference institutions to publicly make a commitment to provide NIU student-athletes with Cost of Attendance stipends in order to remain competitive in recruiting; Cost of Attendance refers to additional monies provided to scholarship student-athletes to help them pay for expenses not covered by their scholarship checks.

In order to provide Huskie student-athletes with Cost of Attendance stipends, as well as the additional meals approved by the NCAA last year, we have made Revenue Generation an even greater priority for our entire department. The idea for the Victor E. Ball, our first-of-its-kind fundraising event, came out of this group.

The inaugural Victor E. Ball will be held November 7, 2015 at the home of the Huskie golf programs, Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. Mr. Jerry Rich, a great friend of NIU Athletics, has graciously provided the Pavilion at Rich Harvest Farms as the site for the Victor E. Ball. It’s going to be a fantastic evening with featured speaker, Michigan State Head Basketball Coach Tom Izzo, master of ceremonies Dave Kaplan, our celebrity live auctioneer Chandler Harnish and more. There will be a live and silent auction and a chance to hear our student-athletes tell their stories. Proceeds from the Victor E. Ball will support our commitment to Cost of Attendance.

We know there is a three-year strategic plan, but are there specific goals for 2015-16 and if so, what are they?
Well, we just mentioned one of our goals above and it’s continuing to raise the revenue to support initiatives like Cost of Attendance, finding new revenue streams and doing everything we can to help our student-athletes achieve success both in the classroom, in competition and in life. We will continue to refer back to our Strategic Plan because that really is the blueprint for what we’re trying to accomplish over the next few years. We’re going to support our student-athletes and coaches as they strive to graduate and win championships. And we’re going to represent the university, promote NIU and tell its story every chance we get.

There have been many changes to the fan experience over the last two years, what’s next?
I’m very happy with the strides we’ve made in improving the game experience for our fans. Our approach has been two-sided. We’ve added the Premium Experience hospitality areas at both football and basketball for our donors who enjoy those types of amenities, and we’ve made improvements to the basic features like concessions and restrooms.

Last year, we added the Sky Club, the Yordon Terrace Suites and the Coaches’ Club and this year, we gave our fans a totally unique view with the opening of the End Zone Club. You could feel the energy in the End Zone Club during our first two home games and I think our fans in that area really enjoyed the experience. At basketball, we now have the Nelson Club with pregame meal options. If you are looking for an upgraded experience, we now offer those opportunities with our events and I encourage you to call the Huskie Athletic Fund at 815-753-9513 or go to huskieathleticfund.com for more information.

It hasn’t all been about donors though, we upgraded our concessions – an area we will continue to work on – we created the “outer concourse” on the west side with more restroom facilities, and we added The Yard, our official pregame tailgate. The Yard is open to all fans and with the activities in the Kids’ Zone, the live music and the pregame pep rally atmosphere, it has really been taken to a new level this year.

We also introduced beer sales on the West Side of Huskie Stadium and that will carry over to the Convocation Center for our basketball games. We have new inflatables in the Kids’ Zone, different concessions options, including the Doghouse DeKalb and funnel cakes. Inside the stadium, we extended the fascia scoreboards on both the east and west sides of the stadium. Fans who attend basketball games in the Convo will appreciate our new sound system.

More improvements are on the way, and we’ll be reaching out to fans to get their feedback. As I always say, if you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward, so we’re going to continue to push the envelope.

You mentioned the Victor E. Ball as an upcoming fundraising evening, but you also have many events that are free or low cost and open to all fans. How important are these activities to growing the fan base? Events which involve our students, ticket holders and community are extremely important and we will continue to host them! The Family Fun Day and Movie Night at Huskie Stadium in August is a great example, but we’ve got several more opportunities coming up. I hope to see many, many Huskie fans at these outstanding events. If you are reading this, I challenge you to bring a friend and help get their Huskie-fandom started!

Midnight Madness with the NIU Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams - FREE
Oct. 8, 8:30 pm – NIU Convocation Center (Details Coming Soon!)

Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony – FREE Oct. 9, 5:30 pm – Holmes Student Center

Mondays with Monty - $10 buffet lunch
Oct. 5, Nov. 9, Dec. 14, Jan. 4, Feb. 15 – Fanatico Cucina Italiana, DeKalb

Coffee with Carlsen - $10 buffet breakfast
Oct. 20, Nov. 17, Dec. 15, Jan. 19, Feb. 16, March 15 – Lincoln Inn, DeKalb

NIU student-athletes continue to excel both in the classroom and in competition, while representing Huskie Athletics in the community. How has NIU been able to achieve a successful balance in all three areas?
I agree with this question! I am very proud of our student-athletes – for what they are able to accomplish, sure, but also for the way they go about their daily business. We have GREAT student-athletes who love this university, love to compete and love representing NIU. There is a family atmosphere among our teams. They enjoy supporting each other, interacting with kids and others in the community, and they push each other to get better every day. Thanks to our generous donors, we are able to provide the support they need to be successful. This allows them to train and improve, eat healthy, receive tutoring and great coaching. I hope that Huskie fans take pride in every victory by all of our teams and in the way NIU student-athletes represent all of us.

What role do you think an athletic program can play in recruiting and retaining students at NIU?
There is no doubt a strong, vibrant athletic program such as ours can play a huge role in recruiting and retaining students. NIU Athletics, and specifically NIU football, is a national brand. We stand at the forefront and eagerly accept responsibility in providing a rallying point for our students, faculty, staff, alumni and community to come together. It is vital to have a vibrant atmosphere to be a true college town. We want NIU Athletics to be the leader in supporting our local communities and specifically the DeKalb community. I heard the cheers from the stands at Ohio State. In a stadium of 100,000 people, you heard the Huskie fans - 5,000-strong - yelling “NIU, NIU,” and the national television audience heard it too.

Students have been a focus of our fan experience initiatives. We need the stands full of our students, their energy, their enthusiasm and yes, even their music :)! We want them to have fun, to stand and scream and yell and cheer together, and most importantly, to come back – week after week as students and eventually as alumni, year after year.

I hope the answers above have addressed some of the questions you have had about Huskie Athletics. As you can see, we have a lot going on and it’s going to get busier with basketball season getting started in about five weeks. Please check NIUHuskies.com regularly for all the latest news, or join the 25,000 who follow us on Facebook at NIU Huskies.

I look forward to seeing you soon at one of our events! Go Huskies!

Sean T. Frazier
Associate Vice-President & Director of Athletics