diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 12ac017..b9b5c5f 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -55,8 +55,6 @@
 gem 'devise_invitable'
 gem 'omniauth'
 gem 'omniauth-shibboleth'
-#rolify for roles
-gem 'rolify'
 # Gems for repository integration
 gem 'email_validator'
 gem 'validate_url'
@@ -68,9 +66,6 @@
 #
 gem 'mysql2', '~> 0.3.18'
 
-#cancan for usergroups
-gem 'cancancan'
-
 #
 #    VIEWS
 #
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 009f630..29d2181 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -78,7 +78,6 @@
       thor (~> 0.19)
     builder (3.2.2)
     byebug (9.0.5)
-    cancancan (1.15.0)
     capybara (2.7.1)
       addressable
       mime-types (>= 1.16)
@@ -268,7 +267,6 @@
     ref (2.0.0)
     responders (2.2.0)
       railties (>= 4.2.0, < 5.1)
-    rolify (5.1.0)
     ruby-progressbar (1.8.1)
     rubyzip (1.2.0)
     sass (3.4.22)
@@ -339,7 +337,6 @@
   better_errors
   binding_of_caller
   byebug
-  cancancan
   caracal
   caracal-rails
   contact_us (>= 1.2.0)
@@ -370,7 +367,6 @@
   recaptcha
   redcarpet
   responders (~> 2.0)
-  rolify
   sass-rails
   swagger-docs
   therubyracer (>= 0.11.4)
diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v0/statistics_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v0/statistics_controller.rb
index 0709a06..ec21140 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v0/statistics_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v0/statistics_controller.rb
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@
         # takes in an array of active_reccords and restricts the range of dates
         # to those specified in the params
         #
-        # @params objects [Array<ActiveReccord>] any active_reccord reccords which
+        # @param objects [Array<ActiveReccord>] any active_reccord reccords which
         #   have the "created_at" field specified
         # @return [Array<ActiveReccord>] filtered list of objects
         def restrict_date_range( objects )
diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index fa81497..698b136 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -9,9 +9,6 @@
   # Override build_footer method in ActiveAdmin::Views::Pages
   require 'active_admin_views_pages_base.rb'
 
-  rescue_from CanCan::AccessDenied do |exception|
-    redirect_to root_url, :alert => exception.message
-  end
 
   rescue_from Pundit::NotAuthorizedError, with: :user_not_authorized
 
diff --git a/app/models/ability.rb b/app/models/ability.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index e283051..0000000
--- a/app/models/ability.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-class Ability
-  include GlobalHelpers
-  include CanCan::Ability
-
-  def initialize(user)
-    # Define abilities for the passed in user here. For example:
-    #
-      user ||= User.new # guest user (not logged in)
-      if user.has_role? constant("user_role_types.super_admin")
-        can :manage, :all
-      else
-        can :read, :all
-      end
-
-    can :manage_settings, User do |viewed_user|
-      viewed_user.present? && user.id == viewed_user.id
-    end
-    #
-    # The first argument to `can` is the action you are giving the user 
-    # permission to do.
-    # If you pass :manage it will apply to every action. Other common actions
-    # here are :read, :create, :update and :destroy.
-    #
-    # The second argument is the resource the user can perform the action on. 
-    # If you pass :all it will apply to every resource. Otherwise pass a Ruby
-    # class of the resource.
-    #
-    # The third argument is an optional hash of conditions to further filter the
-    # objects.
-    # For example, here the user can only update published articles.
-    #
-    #   can :update, Article, :published => true
-    #
-    # See the wiki for details:
-    # https://github.com/ryanb/cancan/wiki/Defining-Abilities
-   
-  end
-end