Drew University
Institutional Review Board
Ethical and Procedural
Guidelines:
Human subjects research at Drew University is guided by the ethical
principals laid out in The
Belmont Report
and the procedures as described in the Department of
Health and Human Services Policy for the
Protection of Human Research Subjects (45
CFR,
Subtitle A, Part 46).
Human Subjects Research
Oversight
All research involving human
subjects conducted
at the university is
subject
to oversight by the Drew University Institutional Review Board
(IRB). Research involving human
subjects must be
reviewed annually although some research may require more
frequent review.
1) Research is
defined as “a systematic
investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation,
designed
to develop or contribute to generalizable
knowledge."
45
CFR, Subtitle A, Part 46.102d. Types of research
that require
review include:
- Both funded and un-funded
research;
- Pilot studies;
- Class projects that will be submitted for publication;
- Honors or senior theses involving human subjects research;
- Independent research performed by faculty, students or staff.
Note
that this
definition of research excludes classroom exercises or projects
that have student learning as their primary objective. Such
exercises
are not subject to IRB oversight, and it is the responsibility
of the instructor to be sure that student
projects meet the institution's ethical and scientific standards. Students
or instructors with questions about classroom exercises or projects may contact
the IRB chair for guidance.
2) Human subject
is defined as a
living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or
student) conducting research obtains either 1) data through
intervention (i.e physical procedures such as drawing blood
in a medical experiment) or interaction with the individual; or 2)
identifiable private information (information about behavior that
occurs in a
context in which an individual can reasonably expect that no
observation or recording is taking place). 45
CFR, Subtitle A, Part 46.102f.
Note that
this definition of human subject excludes naturalistic observations made
of individuals in
public places. This type
of activity involves no intervention, and reasonable people cannot
assume that they will NOT be observed when they are in public places.
Students or
instructors with questions may contact the IRB chair for
guidance.
It is expected that most of the human subject research conducted at Drew University
will be exempt from IRB review and that most of the research requiring
a review
will qualify for an expedited review. Principal
investigators can find instructions for obtaining an exemption or
initiating
an IRB review here.
IRB Membership
The Drew University IRB shall have at
least
five members as described in 45
CFR, Subtitle A, Part 46.107.
Current members of the Drew University IRB are:
- Jonathan Reader, Professor of Sociology and IRB Chair
- Janet Davis, Professor of Psychology
- C. Wyatt Evans, Assistant Professor of History
- Arthur Pressley, Associate
Professor of Psychology and Religion
- Reverend Robb Shoaf,
Pastor United Methodist Church in Madison
The IRB chair has completed Human
Subjects
Assurance Training.
Guidelines for the IRB chair can be found here.
All IRB members have familiarized themselves with
45
CFR,
Subtitle A, Part 46, and The
Belmont
Report.
Human Protections Administrator
(Cannot be the IRB chair)
- Provost Pamela Gunter-Smith
The Human Protections Administrator has completed Human
Subjects
Assurance Training and Human
Participant Protections Education for Research Teams