Athletics Veritas is a weekly series aimed at helping higher education executives, faculty, and other stakeholders stay tuned in on trending national issues impacting college athletics, especially NCAA Division I. Athletics Veritas is created by senior DI athletic administrators around the nation.
Term-in-Ology:A Drug Testing Due Process Change That May Have Flown Under The Radar
As the pandemic, social justice issues, conference re-alignment, and many other headliners consumed college sports the last couple of years, one legislative change affecting the drug-testing appeals process and, in turn, student-athletes’ due process and eligibility, was adopted.
In the area of drug-testing penalty policies, Division I rules hold that a student-athlete who, as a result of a drug test administered by the NCAA, tests positive for use of a substance in a banned drug class shall be declared ineligible for further participation in postseason and regular-season competition in accordance with the ineligibility provisions. Depending on the class of drugs triggering the positive test, a student-athlete could be withheld from competition for a full-season and charged a season for that missed season.
Historically speaking, unlike other NCAA committees with authority over appellate opportunities, the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport's options to provide relief during the drug-testing appeals process have been dictated by legislation.
This adopted proposal from spring 2021 paved the way for the CSMAS, which oversees the NCAA Drug-Testing Program, to have full authority over the drug-testing appellate process. This authority was intended to ensure the CSMAS can properly effectuate the intent of the NCAA Drug-Testing Program while providing it appropriate flexibility to consider emerging trends in drug-testing. It is important to note that the existing legislated options were incorporated into the drug-testing appeals process.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
