DeKALB — NIU Athletics has launched the Campaign to Sustain program, which will focus on continuing the success of the athletic program.

Sean T. Frazier, associate vice president and director of athletics, introduced a fundraising initiative along with the six members of the Huskie athletic fund staff that helped contribute to the idea at the Victor E. Ball Saturday. Frazier said raising money is a priority to keep NIU Athletics moving in the right direction and this is the most important initiative the organization has taken since he began working here.

“[Campaign to Sustain] was something that was developed by myself and our fundraising team to really take a look at sustaining our excellence in academics, athletics and our tradition,” Frazier said. “[Being located in Illinois], we’re in a bit of a budget impasse, and it’s been that way for the last two to three years. It’s taken its toll on state institutions like [NIU].”

Frazier said the financial state of the university and the athletic department has gotten worse every year since the state failed to pass the budget for higher-level institutions. Football Head Coach Rod Carey said community participation is crucial for the athletic program to continue to succeed.

“We need everyone who cares about Huskie Athletics — whether you are an alum, a former student-athlete, a member of the community or a fan — to come together and support the [program],” Carey said, according to NIU Media Services. “This isn’t about supporting one program or one person; it’s about enabling all of us as coaches to continue to recruit on a level playing field to bring great student-athletes here to compete for a great university.”

NIU plans to spend a projected $100 million to expand its athletic facilities in the coming years, which includes renovations to Huskie Stadium, the Convocation Center, the soccerfield, Ralph McKinzie field, the Nelxon Club building a nutrition center and an Olympic sports village, according to the athletics campus master plan on huskies.com.

However, Frazier said until the money for the plan is appropriated and accounted for in one way or another, the construction will not begin.

Ally Lehman, former NIU women’s basketball guard, said athletes are fortunate enough to receive travel and lodging during road games and the Campaign to Sustain program will continue to give athletes those privileges.

“We’ll definitely have more of a competitive edge with more money,” Lehman said. “We are very fortunate, and I think [money] has something to do with that.”

The most recent NCAA legislation regarding this rule was initiated Aug. 1, 2015. It allows schools to pay their athletes’ cost-of-attendance scholarships, according to NCAA.org.

The scholarships are given to students on a financial-need basis and cover things such as textbooks and other academic expenses that a standard athletic scholarship does not include. The cost of attendance scholarship covers extra educational expenses.

“This need for us is about [$3,100 on average], which translates minimally to [an additional] $725,000 to our operation of budget,” Frazier said. “What we need [NIU] to do is fundraise. We’re not getting any money from the campus, from student fees or anything like that.”

The Mid-American Conference made it a regulation that all conference schools were going to take part in the cost-of-attendance legislation. However, the NIU Athletic Department has relied on external funding for these cost-of-attendance scholarships in previous years, and it has nothing to do with Illinois’s budget impasse. It has been over two years since NIU has been state funded

“I made the commitment to [externally raise money for cost-of-attendance scholarships] because if we were going to remain competitive, we were going to have to raise this money externally,” Frazier said. “I think, externally, it makes sense for student-athletes, and it also makes sense for our supporters to know they’re making a difference by funding something like this.”

Frazier said NIU Athletics has always had a good relationship with the academic department and wants to donate a portion of the money raised through the program to the use of academic development.

Donors will have the option to allocate a portion of their offerings to the academic department, and there is no set percentage or amount of money they will be asked to donate to the academic department.

Frazier said the Campaign to Sustain program was primarily brought into place to make it easier for the Athletic Department to pay for athletic scholarships and to maintain their competitive advantage.

“As student-athletes, we would not be able to accomplish everything we do without the support we receive from donors,” Lehman said, according to NIU Media Services. “These donors are supporting us as we pursue our dreams, as we pursue greatness in competition and in our careers. That kind of support makes me want to work harder and someday be able to do something just as great to support others. I’m excited to see a new campaign to help NIU student-athletes now and in the future.”