Welcome to the web site for Middlebury College's Institutional Review Board (i.e., our IRB), formerly known as the Human Subjects Review Committee. This site provides the College's policy and protocol on research involving human subjects as well as the forms necessary for obtaining approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB). If you are conducting a research project using human subjects you will need to obtain approval of the IRB prior to collecting data "the IRB is not a restrictor of a right but a grantor of a privilege".
A link to an on-line application form appears at the left. To fill out the application simply tab from space to space and either type in your information or click on the correct check box. Please print and submit two copies of the signed proposal cover sheet to Eileen Fahey, IRB Coordinator, MBH 412, McCardell Bicentennial Hall. The Board strongly prefers that the application and supporting documentation be forwarded electronically to Eileen Fahey at efahey@middlebury.edu.
We also require all principal investigator's to complete human subjects training. The National Institutes of Health has a computer based course that you can complete, at the end of the course there is a certificate that you can print out, please submit a copy of that certificate with your application. You can access the NIH course here: http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php it is called, Human Participant Protections Education for Research Teams.
You may download the college's human subjects policy in Acrobat format here or you can read parts of it from this web site. The links on the left lead to different sections of the policy. Our policy and protocol follow those mandated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Protection from Research Risks. The useful links section of this site provides links to the Federal Regulations governing human subject research. There are also links to other college policies.
Most applications will be reviewed within two weeks. Some protocols will need to be seen by the full board though, specifically externally funded research. Your protocol will need to be received at least one week in advance of our monthly meeting to be included on our agenda.
Next Meeting - Wednesday, October 22, 2008.
Proposals will be accepted until Wednesday, October 15. Proposals submitted after that date will be placed on the November meeting agenda.
Please submit your inquiries to James C. Davis, Chair of the committee or to Eileen Fahey, committee coordinator at efahey@middlebury.edu