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NCAA News Archive - 2001
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The National Center for Drug-Free Sport
For most athletics administrators, postseason championships, banquets, graduation and facility renovations have come and gone for the year. Many administrators are in the midst of strategic planning and finalizing athletics budgets for the next academic year. How many, however, are considering using the summer months to review and revise their institution's drug- and alcohol-testing policy?
If you're not, you should be.
First, you should not be the only person reviewing your institution's drug-testing policy. You may want to include legal counsel, the faculty athletics representative, coaches, athletic trainers, the life-skills coordinator, the substance-abuse counselor, the compliance coordinator and student-athletes. In addition, you may want someone from student affairs to review it to ensure that it is consistent with your institution's code of conduct or judicial affairs process.
When was the last time someone reviewed the policy? There should be a "version date" or "last modified" date on the policy to ensure that the one being sent to your student-athletes is the most recent. "Circa 1991" doesn't work. The policy also should include a clear explanation of the purpose of the drug-testing program. Everyone who reads the policy should know why your institution administers a drug-testing program.
The policy should clearly indicate who will be subjected to drug testing, and it should mirror your mission statement. For example, if your policy says "all student-athletes, including both scholarship and nonscholarship student-athletes," does that include cheerleaders? Do you drug-test student managers, student athletic trainers or graduate student coaches? A drug-testing policy should be specific to the groups that are eligible for testing. If your current policy states that a manager is subject to testing but the last time you tested managers was when "Thelma and Louise" was on the big screen (1991), you should remove that group from the policy. Be sure to consult legal counsel regarding the testing of groups other than athletes.
The policy should contain the method by which student-athletes will be tested. This language must be specific as to screening levels and to the confirmatory tests the laboratory uses. The laboratory your institution uses should provide you with the necessary methodology language. If you are not familiar with terms such as ng/mL, enzyme immunoassay or gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, ask the laboratory to explain them to you and then include them in the policy, if applicable.
The policy must explain how student-athletes can be selected for drug testing (randomly selected or based upon a reasonable suspicion of drug use), when they can be tested (in season, out of season, in the summer, throughout the calendar year), how often they can expect to be tested (at least once a semester), and how much notice they will be given before a drug test (short notice, no notice, announced or unannounced).
It is imperative that you follow your drug-testing policy. For example, if the policy states that a student-athlete may be tested during the summer, but you have never done so, then either test during the summer or eliminate this language from the policy. The deterrent effect of drug testing is seriously compromised if student-athletes do not believe they will be tested.
Your institution's policy should include specific language regarding the drugs for which it may test student-athletes. If your policy states your institution is using the NCAA-banned classes list, then your policy must be consistent with that of the NCAA. The NCAA list is reviewed and revised at least once a year. Accordingly, your list must be updated annually. If you are reviewing your policy for the first time in a few years, it probably does not include the drug "ecstasy," but arguably it should. Furthermore, the policy should state that certain dietary supplements may contain banned substances such as anabolic steroids and ephedrine.
Does your institution test for alcohol? If so, be sure to include it in the banned-substances list. It is a good idea to include a sample list of banned substances as part of your institution's policy.
As you are reading your institution's policy, decide if it clearly explains the actions, if any, your school will take against someone who tests positive. The policy should explain specific penalties for positive drug tests for first, second or third offenses. The policy should address the sanction for a student-athlete who fails to show up for or is late for a drug test.
Unfortunately, some athletes will attempt to manipulate their specimen. As a result, your policy must explain the penalty for such actions. The policy also should address the penalty for an athlete who fails to complete the requirements of a previously imposed sanction. (For example, if the student-athlete fails to attend counseling, the athlete will be suspended for the remainder of the season.) As a practical matter, you should then ask yourself these two questions: Are we following the policy? Are we consistently applying these sanctions? If the answer is no, you may want to revise your sanctions or revise how you are applying them.
Finally, your institution's policy must include an appeal process for student-athletes who test positive. Legal counsel must be involved in reviewing and revising this section of the policy because many legal issues arise from poorly written and poorly administered appeals (for example, notice, due process, right to a hearing, standard of review). Make your legal counsel feel important -- ask for their help.
I have touched upon only a few of the more important areas of a drug-testing policy review. If you are beginning to feel that the task of reviewing your drug-testing policy is complex, you are right. It is not a project to be completed in a few days. But don't put it back in the red notebook on the bottom shelf. Keep reading.
Andrea S. Wickerham is legal relations and policy director for The National Center for Drug-Free Sport.
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