Let's say you're a student-athlete who was late for an NCAA drug test. Or you're a student-athlete who took an over-the-counter medication for a bad cold and it caused a positive drug test. Your school has ruled you ineligible for competition for at least one year. Is there anything you can do to appeal this sanction? Yes -- the NCAA drug-testing program has an appeals process.

The institution may initiate an appeal on behalf of a student-athlete who tests positive for a banned supplement or violates the NCAA drug-testing protocol. The appeal is conducted via a telephone conference call between the school and the drug-education and drug-testing subcommittee of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports. The National Center for Drug Free Sport facilitates the appeal conference. However, it is the NCAA subcommittee that hears the appeal and renders a decision.

The subcommittee, which is composed of team physicians, athletic trainers, athletics administrators, a lawyer and a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative, can accept the appeal, in which case the sanction is removed. It can also deny the appeal and the one-year sanction remains, but the subcommittee cannot reduce the sanction. For example, it cannot impose a six-month sanction in place of the one-year sanction.

Most schools that have a student-athlete who tests positive or who violates protocol do not appeal because the school has adequately educated the student-athlete about NCAA-banned substances and the student-athlete realizes he or she got caught. Furthermore, most appeals that are filed are denied because the student-athlete admits to using a supplement and merely claims ignorance of its banned status. Such appeals are not successful.

Beginning this year, schools that participate in an NCAA drug appeal will be asked by Drug Free Sport to evaluate the process via a survey. The drug-education and drug-testing subcommittee wants to ensure that NCAA schools that are involved in an appeal are satisfied that the process was expedient (if necessary), provided a reasonable opportunity for all involved parties to present information, and was carried out in a reasonable manner that allowed the student-athlete to tell "his/her side of the story."

The subcommittee knows that a correlation likely exists between satisfaction of the process and the outcome of the appeal. However, it does not seek to know the level of satisfaction with its decision, but rather wants to ensure that the process continues to be held in high regard.

For further information about the NCAA drug-testing appeal process, go to: http://www.ncaa.org/health-safety.

Frank Uryasz is the president of the National Center for Drug Free Sport.