Substance Abuse Education and Testing Test Selection Methodology

All student-athletes will be required to annually read and sign the McPherson College Drug Testing Consent Form (PDF) prior to participation in athletics.

The Substance Abuse Committee will, in accor­dance with this policy, determine the times and dates for urinaly­sis. All students-athletes will be subject to selec­tion accord­ing to the following criteria:

A. Computerized Random

In most months, throughout the academic calendar year, random drug testing will be administered by an external certified drug testing agency. Using a computer-generated random selection program, the third-party administrator will randomly select McPherson College student-athletes to provide a urine sample for drug testing. All student-athletes will have an equal chance of being chosen, regardless of whether they have been previously tested during their athletic career at McPherson College. Any McPherson College student-athlete may be tested at any time during the athletic calendar year. Computerized Random tests will be paid for by McPherson College Athletics.

Reasonable Suspicion testing will be used when a quantity of proof or evidence exists that is more than intuition or strong feeling. Such reasonable suspicion must be based on specific, contemporaneous, articulate observations concerning the appearance, behavior, speech or body odors of the student-athlete. These include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Reduced quality of academic or athletic performance                               
   
2. Inability to get along with others; isolation, or withdrawal
3. Suspicion through smell, sight, or sound
4. Presence of, or possession of, drug related paraphernalia.
5. Chronic, or unpredictable irritability
6. Infraction with local law enforcement involving drug or paraphenalia possession, distribution, sell, or use.

Reasonable Suspicion cases can be submitted to the Committee Chair by selected employees of McPherson College, limited to head coaches, faculty, Resident Directors, and the campus counselor, but not McPherson College students. A Reasonable Suspicion Reporting Form (PDF) must be completed by the person with the concern. The Committee Chair, in coordination with members of the Substance Abuse Committee, will review the submitted documentation. The individual submitting the document can remain anonymous if he or she so chooses. The final decision to test on suspicion shall be at the discretion of the Committee Chair (and his/her expert consultants if desired) based upon the detailed written request, the Committee Chair’s professional judgment, and any additional information the Committee Chair might gather as part of his/her consultations and investigation.

If the determination is that no reasonable suspicion exists, the Committee Chair will communicate the decision to the Substance Abuse Committee. The documentation submitted will be kept on file in the athletic training room.
 
If it is determined that there is reasonable suspicion, the Committee Chair will contact the student-athlete and members of the Substance Abuse Committee to organize a brief meeting amongst both parties. The purpose of this meeting is to notify the student-athlete of the reasonable suspicion, and the consequences in the event of a positive drug test. A test will be scheduled to occur within 18 hours of notification, or as scheduling allows.  

Reasonable Suspicion testing will occur either a) on-site in conjunction with scheduled drug testing dates, or b) at Corporate Health through McPherson Hospital in McPherson, Kansas. Certified Drug Testing personnel at McPherson Hospital will serve as collectors of the test, in accordance to Drug Free Sport protocol. The specimen will then be shipped to Drug Free Sport for analysis. First-time Reasonable Suspicion testing will be paid for by McPherson College Athletics. All subsequent Reasonable Suspicion tests during a single student-athlete’s McPherson College athletic tenure must be paid for by the student-athlete. Failure to provide funding for the drug test will be deemed a positive test, with sanctions determined according to this policy.  

• Refusal of the student-athlete to submit to Reasonable Suspicion testing may result in the student-athlete being declared ineligible for all forms of team activity for a period of 365 days.

The Department of Athletics reserves the right to test an entire team, or randomly selected student-athletes on a specific team, based on suspicion of illicit drug use. Funding for Team testing will be paid for by McPherson College Athletics.

The Athletics Department reserves the right to administer tests to teams (or randomly-selected individuals on teams) that have qualified for national competition at the end of the regular season. The athletic department will pay for Championship testing. Positive drug tests as a result of Championship testing will result in automatic participation suspension for the national event, regardless of event count. The student-athlete will be unable to serve on the official travel party for the national event. All sanctions not related to participation suspensions will be in accordance to Disciplinary Sanctions, as listed in this policy.

Student-athletes who provide a positive drug test during any McPherson College drug test will be:

• Subject to re-testing at any point during their McPherson College athletic career at the discretion of the Substance Abuse Committee.

All re-testing must be paid for by the student-athlete. Funding must be available and present prior to testing. A re-test will not occur unless funding is received in advance. Charging to student accounts via McPherson College will not be allowed. Failure to complete a drug test will be deemed a positive test.