2016-17 Season
October 3, 2016
Background:
- Augustana U of Alberta Athletic Director Greg Ryan filed an appeal with the ACAC office on September 19/16 in reference to ACAC (Interim) Commissioner Alan Rogan’s Eligibility Ruling of Sept. 15/16 disqualifying Owen Sobchuk from eligibility for participation in fall 2016 (see attached ruling).
- Following the 15-16 ACAC Men’s Hockey season, Mr. Sobchuk transferred from Keyano College to U of A Augustana during the summer of 2016. Having earned 17 credits in the 2015-16 academic year, Commissioner Rogan ruled that Mr. Sobchuk did not meet the 18 credit requirements for ACAC Academic eligibility in a two semester sport which would allow him to resume participation in the Fall 2016 semester at U of A Augustana after his transfer.
- An ACAC Ad Hoc Appeal Review Committee unanimously agreed on September 26/16 to accept that
d) Failing to consider relevant information or taking into account irrelevant information
constituted acceptable Grounds of Appeal for the Appeal to move forward to an Appeal Panel Tribunal.
Appeal Hearing:
- An Appeal Panel Tribunal was formed, consisting of Francois Fournier (Chair), Bob Murray and Ellery Pullman. Mark Kosak continued in the role of Case Manager.
- The Appeal Hearing was conducted by WebEx video conference on Friday September 30, 2016.
- Appellant Greg Ryan, accompanied by current Augustana Men’s Hockey Head Coach Blaine Gusdal and former Keyano College Men’s Hockey Coach Nate Bedford, was provided the opportunity to present the U of A Augustana Appeal of the Commissioner’s ruling.
- Other witnesses who provided evidence and answered questions from the Appeal Panel were Keyano College Assistant Athletics Director Jonathan Lambert and Interim Commissioner Alan Rogan
The role of the Appeal Panel, as described in OC Article III, Section 4, is as follows:
10. Appeal Decision
10.1 At the conclusion of the hearing, the Appeal Panel will, within the appropriate timeline, issue a
written decision with reasons. The Appeal Panel may decide:
a) To reject the appeal and confirm the decision being appealed; or
b) To uphold the appeal and refer the matter back to the initial decision-maker for a new decision; or
c) To uphold the appeal and vary the decision should it find that an error occurred and such error cannot be corrected by the original decision-maker for reason of lack of clear procedures, lack of time, or lack of neutrality; and
d) To determine whether costs of the appeal, excluding legal fees and legal disbursements of any parties, will be assessed against any party. In assessing costs, the Appeal Panel will take into account the outcome of the appeal, the conduct of the parties and their respective financial resources.
Decision:
The Appeal Panel unanimously agreed ‘To uphold the appeal and vary the decision finding that an error occurred and such error cannot be corrected by the original decision-maker for reason of lack of clear procedures’. The outcome of the Appeal Hearing concludes that Owen Sobchuk is immediately eligibility to participate in the Fall 2016 semester in the sport of Men’s Hockey at U of A Augustana.
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Rationale:
- Whereas the terminology in the Operating Codes states that ‘…an error occurred and such error cannot be corrected by the original decision-maker…’ (ie. Interim Commissioner Alan Rogan), it may be more accurate in this case to explain that ACAC Eligibility Rules did not provide the Commissioner with the flexibility and latitude to consider mitigating circumstances in making the original ruling. There was no error per se, and the Appeal Panel determined that the Commissioner applied the correct ruling based upon ACAC eligibility rules in OC Article I, Section 5.
- U of A Augustana stated that a delay in the transfer of the student-athlete’s academic records from his former institution (Keyano College) to Augustana during the summer of 2016 in the aftermath of the devastating fires which precipitated an evacuation and the closure of Keyano College for several months was a factor in this matter. Had Mr. Sobchuk and Augustana known earlier than July that Mr. Sobchuk completed only 17 credits in the 15-16 academic year, there may have been an opportunity for Mr. Sobchuk to complete one additional course in the summer of 2016 to ensure that he earned 18 credits prior to August 31, 2016 as required. The Appeal Panel agreed that the circumstance of the Ft. McMurray fire and the subsequent closure of Keyano College could have indeed been a mitigating factor in reviewing Mr. Sobchuk’s transfer and eligibility status. Furthermore, the Ft. McMurray fires can be viewed as an unforeseen circumstance warranting exceptional consideration for Mr. Sobchuk in this matter.
- The Appeal Panel dismissed the Augustana position that confusing and/or inaccurate information/direction was provided to the student-athlete by Keyano College officials which should therefore warrant consideration for Mr. Sobchuk. While it is conceivable that Sobchuk’s eventual academic circumstance was impacted by the incorrect advice he may have received from Keyano College officials, the Appeal Panel determined that it would set a dangerous precedence to accept this as the rationale for overturning the application of eligibility regulations. ACAC member institution representatives are universally expected to understand ACAC eligibility rules and provide accurate advice to student-athletes. When there is confusion or uncertainty or complications with a student-athlete’s eligibility status, the ACAC office staff or Commissioner are available to provide clarification. The ACAC simply cannot accept as rationale for an eligibility appeal that a student-athlete was improperly advised, as regretful as that may be for any affected student-athlete(s).
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- Lastly, the Appeal Panel confirmed that the original interpretation of Mr. Sobchuk’s eligibility and reinstatement status provided by the Commissioner was in fact accurate, and that any suggestion that Mr. Sobchuk could commence the reinstatement process in January 2016 is erroneous. Despite only earning 6 credits in the Fall 2015 semester, Mr. Sobchuk was still technically eligible to continue participating in Winter 2016 by ACAC eligibility rule. It was a Keyano College Athletics eligibility standard which rendered Mr. Sobchuk unable to continue participating in Winter 2016. Regardless of the internal Keyano College academic policies, Mr. Sobchuk could not commence the ACAC reinstatement process (ie. earn a minimum of 9 credits in one semester) until he was technically ineligible by ACAC rule. That ACAC ineligibility did not happen until after August 31/16 when it was clear that Mr. Sobchuk did not earn 18 credits in the calendar year from Sept. 1/15 to August 31/16.
This ruling will be circulated to the ACAC Conference Council 3 days after presentation to the appellant. Please direct any comments, questions or concerns to the Case Manager.
c. ACAC Conference Council Alan Rogan,
ACAC Interim Commissioner Bill Hendsbee,
ACAC Commissioner ACAC Office Staff
2016-17 Season
September 15, 2016
Facts:
Owen Sobchuk was a member of the Keyano Men’s Hockey team during the 2015-16 season. Mr. Sobchuk attained 6 credits in the fall semester meeting the ACAC requirement to continue competing for the team. However he did not meet the Keyano College Athletic Department academic standards and was therefore unable to compete for Keyano in the second semester. Mr. Sobchuk did remain at Keyano College in the second semester and attained 11 credits finishing the academic year with 17 credits in total.
Mr. Sobchuk transferred to University of Alberta, Augustana and the institution seeks a ruling on his eligibility status for competition for the 2016 fall semester.
Ruling:
Article I Section 5 Rule 1.1.4.3 of the ACAC Operating Code states as follows:
Two Semester Participation: To be a student in good standing, a student athlete must pass eighteen (18) credits in an academic year to be eligible to participate in the subsequent semester and must pass a minimum of six (6) credits in the September – December semester to be eligible for the January – April semester. If the student athlete does NOT earn the required 6 credits (or equivalents) between Sept. to Dec., the student athlete is immediately ineligible for participation in the winter semester and is subject to the conditions of the Reinstatement Rule.
If the student athlete passes six (6) or more credits in fall semester academic progress is measured again by August 31st to determine if the student athlete has earned the required eighteen (18) credits over the academic year.
Although I applaud Keyano College for setting a higher academic standing for their student athletes the ACAC reinstatement rule cannot be applied due to the fact that the student athlete in question did not meet the institutions academic standards. Since Mr. Sobchuk did achieve the minimum 6 credits in the first semester he did require a minimum of 18 credits by the end of the academic year to be immediately eligible to compete in the 2016 – 2017 season.
While reviewing this case I did look at the application of the one semester participation rule as is could be argued that Mr. Sobchuk’s participation fell under the one semester rule.
Article 1 Section 5 Rule 1.1.4.4 states the following
One Semester Participation
A studentâathlete who begins play for an ACAC team in September (and only participates for one semester), must pass a minimum of either:
a) 9 credits in the semester of participation; or
b) 18 credits over the full academic year in order to be eligible for participation in the subsequent academic year.
Academic eligibility for a one semester participant is assessed at the conclusion of the academic year August 31st. If the student athlete fails to earn the 18 credits over the academic year or 9 credits in the semester of participation, the Reinstatement Rule is applied on August 31st and participation in the subsequent fall semester is denied.
Even if the one semester rule could be applied in this case Mr. Sobchuk is still required to earn 9 credits in a semester or 18 by the end of the academic year. As with the two semester participation rule the reinstatement rule in this case cannot be applied until the end of the academic year.
As a result, it is my ruling that Mr. Sobchuk is ineligible to compete in the ACAC 2016 fall semester.
Sincerely,
Alan Rogan
ACAC Acting Commissioner |