Arbiter Frequently Asked Questions, Exams of Banking and Finance

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This FAQ contains answers for the following questions.

Question Page How do I get an Arbiter account? ................................................................................................... 1 How do I log on to Arbiter?............................................................................................................ 1 What information does Arbiter absolutely require?........................................................................ 2 What is the “Ready To Be Assigned” check box?.......................................................................... 2 How do I see my schedule? ............................................................................................................ 2 I am trying to see my schedule but all I see is a blank calendar ..................................................... 3 How do I accept or decline games? ................................................................................................ 3 What does the “Sport & Level” mean?........................................................................................... 4 How can I see the people I am officiating with? ............................................................................ 4 What is a “Block”?.......................................................................................................................... 4 How do I set blocks?....................................................................................................................... 5 Can an assignor ignore a block? ..................................................................................................... 5 What happens if I decline a game? ................................................................................................. 5 What happens if I turn back a game?.............................................................................................. 5 What is the difference between a “Decline” and a “Turn Back”? .................................................. 5 What if the Date, Time, or Field for a game changes? ................................................................... 6 I have an Arbiter account and just joined Northville. Did my blocks transfer? ............................ 6 Can I use my Northville Arbiter account for another community? ................................................ 6 Should I set up a separate email address for each community that I want to work for?................. 6 What is a “Group”?......................................................................................................................... 6 How do I change the group that I am working on?......................................................................... 7 What is an “Account Type”? .......................................................................................................... 7 Does it matter which group I choose when signing in? .................................................................. 7 How do I change my Email Address?............................................................................................. 7 I have two Arbiter Accounts. How can I combine them?.............................................................. 7 I’ve moved out of the area and I no longer want to work for a certain group. What do I do? ...... 7

How do I get an Arbiter account?

You must be invited to join Arbiter by an assignor. Contact the Assignor that you want to work for and give him your email address. The assignor will handle creating an account and emailing details on how to log on.

How do I log on to Arbiter?

Go to http://www.arbitersports.com. In the upper right corner of the screen there is a place where you can enter your email address and your password. If you check the “Remember Me” check box, your password will be stored so you will automatically be logged on each time you go to Arbitersports.com. If you have forgotten your password, you can click the “Forgot Password?” link and Arbiter will email your password to the email address you have on file.

What information does Arbiter absolutely require?

Arbiter requires the following information:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your Zip Code (Arbiter calls it your “Postal Code”)
• You must also check the “Ready to be Assigned” check box

What is the “Ready To Be Assigned” check box?

This appears on your “Main” tab. There is a separate check box for each group you belong to. To set it, just click on the box. The change takes effect immediately – you do not have to click any sort of “Save” or “OK” button. In the example image, the “Ready To Be Assigned” check box is checked for the Northville Soccer Association group. You must check this box individually for each group that you are a member of.

You can also change the “Ready To Be Assigned” flag from the “Profile” tab. Click on either the “My Account” or the “Profile” buttons to bring up the “Profile” page. If you change the ready flag from this page you must also click the “Save” button.

How do I see my schedule?

Choose the “Schedule” tab, then the “Calendar” subtab, be sure all your groups are checked, and if you don’t see your schedule, click the “Standard View” link.

The “Show All” check box will show past games as well. Normally the display only includes future games.

I am trying to see my schedule but all I see is a blank calendar

You have accidentally changed your display view to one of the calendar setting.

Click the “Standard View” link and then click the “Save Settings” link.

The “Save Settings” links makes Arbiter remember that you want to see the “Standard View” the next time you open this page. Notice that on some computers the “Save Settings” link may wrap around such that “Save” appears on one line while “Settings” appears on the next line. You can click on either word to save the settings.

The “Scale” box allows you to specify the number of minutes in each time block on the “View By Day” and “View By Week” displays. This value is saved when you click the “Save Settings” link.

How do I accept or decline games?

Check either the “Accept” or “Decline” check box by each game.

Once you have checked all the boxes you want, click either of the “Submit” buttons.

What does the “Sport & Level” mean?

This varies by group. In Northville the Sport is always “Soccer” and the Level is a code for the type of game.

The first couple of characters are the age: Either “HS” for high school open or else a number which is the age group such as “12” for a U12 game.

The next letter is either B for Boys or G for Girls.

The letters after the first dash indicate the league that scheduled the game. Typical values are: “NC” for Northville Cup, “R” for WSSL Recreational, “S” for WSSL Select, or “P” for the Michigan State Premier Soccer League (MSPSL or simply “Premier”). If you see a code you don’t understand, ask the assignor.

The letters or number after the second hyphen indicate the division within the league. When teams can be ranked, they are assigned to divisions according to their skill level where the strongest teams are in division 1, the next strongest teams are in division 2, and so on. There are situations where the teams cannot be ranked because they have no track record. This is particularly true at the U9 level in the fall. In this case the divisions are given color names such as “Red”, “Blue”, “Green”, etc. Teams are randomly assigned to divisions. The division name does not provide any indication of the strength of the teams or the range in skill levels of teams in the division.

For example, the level “12G-S-1” means that this is a U12 Girls game in WSSL Select division 1.

How can I see the people I am officiating with?

Click on the game number:

What is a “Block”?

Arbiter assumes by default that a referee is available to officiate any game at any time. Blocks are a mechanism that allows referees to indicate to the assignors the games that they cannot officiate. The most common type of block is a “Calendar” block whereby a referee can indicate dates and times that they cannot officiate. Other types of block include site blocks (parks where a referee does not want to officiate), teams that a referee does not want to officiate, partners (referees that a referee does not want to work with), postal code (zip codes of fields that a referee does not want to work in), and travel limits (mileage from home to field) that a referee does not want to exceed.

Some groups may restrict the types of blocks you can create. All groups allow you to create date/time blocks. Some groups may restrict your ability to create team, partner, travel limit, or postal code blocks.

How do I set blocks?

This is a big topic. It is described in this document: http://www.northvillesoccer.org/Arbiter%20Blocks.pdf

Can an assignor ignore a block?

The answer is “Yes…but…” Arbiter can be configured to show the assignor either available referees or all referees for a game. When Arbiter shows all referees, it indicates whether a referee has blocked the game and on request will show the details behind the block but it will still allow an assignor to assign the referee to the game. In practice it would be rather unusual for an assignor to ignore a block unless there were special circumstances.

There is a way to create “Firm” blocks which the assignor cannot override but this requires extra work. It is easier to decline a game if the assignor is ignoring a block without your permission. By creating a block, you have told the assignor that you are not available.

What happens if I decline a game?

Arbiter usually creates a block which might be a full day block or might be a part-day block covering the duration of the game. This block is created in the group that contains the declined game. Blocks are not created in any other group. The type of block that is created is specified by the assignor for that group that the game belongs to. This block cannot be removed.

What happens if I turn back a game?

Turning back a game means saying that you can no longer officiate at a game after you had accepted the assignment. Some groups may allow you to turn back a game directly from the schedule page provided the game is far enough in the future. If Arbiter does not allow you to turn back a game then you must contact the assignor to turn back the game. When you turn back a game Arbiter creates an entire day block for the group where you turned back the game.

What is the difference between a “Decline” and a “Turn Back”?

From a process point of view, a “Decline” is rejecting an offer to officiate at a game (i.e. you had not previously accepted the game) while a “Turn Back” is rejecting an offer to officiate at a game after you had previously accepted the offer. Technically Arbiter handles both actions the same way (taking you off the game, creating the appropriate block) however Arbiter retains a record of the decline/turn back and can produce a report of all declines or turn backs for the assignor. Based on these reports the assignor may then decide to take further actions such as sending comment emails or not assigning games.

Both declines and turn backs cause assignors more work. Some assignors view declines as a problem because that means that you are not doing a good job of maintaining your availability

schedule. Other assignors realize that maintaining an accurate availability calendar in Arbiter is very hard to do and don’t worry too much about declines. Turn backs are more of a problem because assignors attempt to optimize the matching of officials to games. When you turn back a game the assignor may have to scramble to find a replacement and may have to choose from less than the best match available. Therefore assignors usually view turn backs as a more serious matter.

What if the Date, Time, or Field for a game changes?

If you are available at the new date/time, Arbiter may assign you to the new game. If this happens Arbiter will send you a notification of the new date/time and ask you to accept or decline it. Unfortunately Arbiter currently does not tell you the old date/time so you can remove the old game from your calendar. If you are not available at the new time (i.e. have set a block) then Arbiter will unassign you from the game and send you an email.

I have an Arbiter account and just joined Northville. Did my blocks transfer?

No. Furthermore Arbiter does not have a mechanism for transferring blocks from one group to another. After accepting an invitation to join Northville, you must recreate your blocks in Northville.

Can I use my Northville Arbiter account for another community? Simply give the email address that you want to use for that community to the assignor for that community. After the assignor has set up your account, the next time you sign on to Arbiter, you will be told that a new group is “…inviting you to be a part of their organization.” Click on the “Accept” button. Arbiter accounts don’t belong to Northville. It just happens that you need to go through special steps the first time you accept an invitation to join Arbiter.

Should I set up a separate email address for each community that I want to work for? In general it is generally easier to use a single email address for all communities that you work for. While separate email addresses have certain advantages such as if you decline a game offer which results in a block being automatically added, that block will not propagate to the other communities that you work for. However you will have to set up blocks individually for each community. Notifications for events in each community will go to different email addresses. Finally you will not be able to get a combined one-page summary of the games you have signed up for.

What is a “Group”?

A group is Arbiter’s term for an organization that assigns referees to games. In some cases such as Northville a group is just one community. In other cases such as the “Joe Trachy” group multiple communities are included.

In Michigan there is a special group called “Michigan Super Group” that all referees can see but cannot access. This is a special group managed by the Michigan Referee Committee that is used to identify all referees in Michigan for various administrative purposes. This group is not used for scheduling games.

How do I change the group that I am working on?

Click the “Switch Views” button and then click the “Type” (account type) associated with the organization you want to work on.

What is an “Account Type”?

There are three main account types: “Official” for referees, “Contact” for club contacts, and “Admin” for referee assignors. Each account type has different capabilities. For instance, only officials can accept and decline game assignments while only Administrators can add games to the schedule. Contacts have the ability to examine the status of all teams they are associated with but have limited update rights.

Does it matter which group I choose when signing in?

If you are looking at your schedule or are setting time blocks, it does not matter which account you choose. You can see your entire schedule across all groups regardless of which group you choose when you sign in. To set or reset the “Ready To Be Assigned” flag for a group, set a travel limit, or create partner or team blocks you must be signed on to the associated group.

How do I change my Email Address?

Click the “My Account” or “Profile” button bring up the “Profile” page, change the email address on that page, and then click the “Save” button. Arbiter will update all its records.

I have two Arbiter Accounts. How can I combine them? Sign on to the account that you no longer want to use. Change the email address on this account to be the email address that you do want to use. Arbiter will combine the records for the two accounts.

I’ve moved out of the area and I no longer want to work for a certain group. What do I do?

Contact the assignor for that group. Only the assignor can remove you from a group. In the mean time, be sure to uncheck the “Ready To Be Assigned” check box for that group. Be sure to

update your zip code. Arbiter generally will not recommend officials who have to drive more than a preset number of miles to get to the game.