DeKALB—Athletic Director Sean Frazier announced Thursday that athletic department employees will see pay cuts “of one kind or another” to help the department save money during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Frazier announced Thursday, in an edition of his “Frazier’s Corner,” that himself and Football Head Coach Thomas Hammock will each cut their pay by 10% starting July 1.

The statement also said the school’s head basketball coaches, Mark Montgomery for the men’s team and Lisa Carlsen for the women’s team, will both have pay cuts of an unspecified amount.

“With the university making cuts in several areas across the board, all of our head coaches — as well as many members of our staff — will see salary reductions of one kind or another,” Frazier said in his Thursday release. “This is just one area where we can realize some financial relief and support NIU.”

Frazier said prior to today’s announcement that all measures have been taken into consideration over the past several weeks.

“Everything is being considered, nothing has been finalized,” Frazier said in a Northern Star interview April 27. “Just like we did in 2015 and 2016, we’re looking at all the reductions.”

Frazier also told the Northern Star that the department has a better feeling for making cuts having dealt with the two-year budget impasse that prevented the school from receiving state funding.

“Because we have a better road map because of the budget impasse, we know exactly where those particular areas should be at this point,” Frazier said.

Despite the swirling changes at the department, Frazier is optimistic and said in his Thursday release that he believes college athletics will resume come the new academic year.

“I do believe there will be college athletics this fall,” Frazier said in his Thursday statement. “As a country, we can’t wait to have sports back and we’re going to figure out how to make games happen. Given that, health and safety will always be our number one priority. We need to ensure that games will be safe for student-athletes, coaches, event staff and eventually for fans.”