Athletic Director Sean Frazier is tweaking the Facilities Master Plan to focus on how students, not just student-athletes, will be able to use facilities.

The Facilities Maser Plan, which calls for additional complexes and upgrades of existing athletic facilities, features a privately funded $138 million price tag. Athletics has recognized it needs to be part of the solution in enrollment, Frazier said, which is why it is trying to work students into the equation of the Facilities Master Plan.

“We’re thinking about that very strategically on making these facilities multi-purpose, but, more importantly, one of those jewels to the campus to help our recruitment and retention,” Frazier said.

The revised vision of the Facilities Master Plan will combine the worlds of Athletics and the general student body so they’re not seen as two separate spheres. Student inclusion in Athletics is an aspect Frazier said he’s seen at other institutions where he’s been, naming specifically the University of Wisconsin.

“If you go across the country you’ll see that stadiums and athletic facilities … are open to students,” Frazier said. “Some of them have pieces of academic units, some of them have pieces of social units within the fabric of Athletics.”

Inviting students and the community into the facilities outside of athletic competitions was something Frazier started with the Movie Night at Huskie Stadium.

“I want Huskie Stadium to be open 365 days a year,” Frazier said. “There’s something very collegial about college stadiums and college athletic facilities that the general student population really wants to be a part of. When I first got here I talked to rec sports … about the rec sports programs having their championship games on our facilities, in our indoor facilities, in our Convo, on our field. Why not?”

Senior psychology major Gregg Jacobson, who’s on the D-III hockey club team, said the hockey program has been trying to get a rink on or around campus. He said allowing students to use athletic facilities would be a positive step.

“I don’t know if they’d ever do this, but maybe like convert the basketball court to an ice arena,” Jacobson said. “I think if they did that students could just go there and public skate, too. Sororities and fraternities can have events with it. It’d be great to see students being able to use the facilities.”

Samara Lopez, freshman pre-nursing major, said being able to use the facilities would be cool but what the students already have is suitable.

“I feel like we already have a really good Rec Center and places to go and run and play sports and whatever,” Lopez said.

Frazier said the Athletic Department is still in the “silent phase” of talking with donors, supporters and corporations to see which facilities they’re interested in funding first. He said he’s heard interest from supporters for all of the facilities.

“I have to do my due diligence to make sure whatever we do, we do it right and we do it for the right reasons,” Frazier said. “It’s more important for us to get it right instead of just speed it up.”

Whatever the first facility the Athletic Department decides to tackle, Frazier said the proposed renovations will help NIU keep up with the times because the idea of infusing students, the community and Athletics “is not anything new.”

“It’s not like we’re in a pro facility, and that’s only that,” Frazier said. “We are in a college environment. We need to open it up not only to our campus but to our community.”