Aug 16, 2010 9:16:10 AM

The NCAA Executive Committee on Thursday approved changes to the Association's drug-testing procedures that allocate resources more efficiently to higher-risk sports and student-athletes without compromising the overall effectiveness and integrity of the program.

The changes result from the Executive Committee asking the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (the governance group that oversees the drug-testing program) to recommend changes in the drug-testing plan that would increase deterrence without increasing costs.

The primary changes for the year-round testing program include the following:

• The number of repeat testing sites will increase for the year-round testing program. Repeat testing will not include a specific predetermined number of samples to be collected to allow for more repeat testing sites.
• Institutions and student-athletes in repeat testing situations for the year-round testing program may receive no notice before testing. The "no-notice" approach will also be used in the summer testing program.
• Repeat testing may target higher-risk sports and student-athletes (for example, highly ranked student-athletes, redshirts or injured student-athletes).
• Ephedrine will be eliminated from the year-round and summer testing panels.
• The championships testing program may target higher-risk championship events at which to test for anabolic steroids. Conversely, testing at lower-risk championship events may be reduced.
• In the summer testing program, selection focus will shift to include not only an institutional orientation (a number of student-athletes from a randomly selected institution) but also an individual orientation (for example, collegiate athletes playing in a summer baseball league).

The competitive-safeguards committee indicated that in the past, beyond year-round testing in football and baseball, the testing program has treated all sports relatively equally in that all were tested for the same substance and all student-athletes were selected randomly without consideration to relative risk.

Research related to the program over time, however, showed a wide variance of risk of drug use by sport.

Many elements of the current plan will not change. The National Center for Drug Free Sport will still administer the program, and World Anti-Doping Agency certified laboratories will continue to be used to process samples.

Other elements that remain intact:

• All Division I institutions will be tested.
• All Division II institutions that sponsor football will be tested.
• At least 50 percent of the Division II institutions that do not sponsor football will be tested.
• Football and baseball student-athletes will always be tested.

Corresponding and affiliate membership

In addition to discussing the drug-testing changes, the Executive Committee also asked the divisional governance structures to consider legislation in the upcoming cycle to revise the "corresponding" and "affiliated" membership categories.

Traditionally, "corresponding" members receive NCAA publications and other correspondence materials that are now publicly available online. Thus, the Executive Committee is recommending that the "corresponding" category be eliminated.

"Affiliate" members traditionally have received more benefits, including access to the Association's marks and the ability to send a non-voting member to the NCAA Convention. Those benefits will remain for affiliate members, but the Executive Committee wants the designation to be restricted to coaches and sports associations for sports sponsored by the NCAA and to associations composed of college/university administrators.

In addition, the Executive Committee is recommending that the fee for affiliated membership (it has been $225 for many years) be significantly increased and that the fee be tiered toward the type of access to the Association's marks the specified affiliate receives. Prospective affiliate members also would have to go through a rigorous application process.

In other action at the Executive Committee meeting, the presidents supported NCAA Interim President Jim Isch's authorization to prepay the Association's future NIT obligations. The prepayment option at a discounted rate results in a $1.13 million savings.