Policy on Protection of Human Subjects
VI. Institutional Review Board
Composition: the Institutional Review Board will have a minimum of five members including
a member of the Psychology Department, currently Jason Arndt, a member of the Sociology-Anthropology Department, currently David Stoll
a member whose primary concerns are in non-scientific areas, currently Jonathan Miller-Lane of Teacher Education and John Maluccio of Economics
a representative from the public without active ties* to the College or to the organization sponsoring the research, Bonnie Stevens
an administrator (ex officio) currently Dean for Faculty Research and Professional Development James Ralph.
The chair of the committee is appointed by the administration of the College, currently it is James C. Davis of the Religion Department. Records of the committee are stored in the office of the committee's coordinator in Bicentennial Hall 412.
Institutional members of the Institutional Review Board are appointed by the Committee on Committees and serve from September through August with the understanding that, although the committee does not typically meet during June, July, and August, members may be contacted during the summer months if the need arises. The community member representative of the Institutional Review Board is invited by the Dean of the Faculty to serve on a yearly basis.
The community member may serve as many consecutive terms as he or she is invited and willing.
Procedures: The Institutional Review Board exists as a standing committee. The committee reviews Level I: Exempt and Level II: Expedited proposals every two weeks and Level III: Full Board proposals once a month. A majority of the committee members must be present to constitute a quorum. They may only act in the case of a Level III: Full Board review on materials distributed one week before the scheduled meeting or by the unanimous consent of the entire committee. The action of the committee is generally by consensus; if there is no consensus, the committee will decide in favor of the major opinion. If the committee is split, the administrator will vote.
The institiutional review board as informed by the guidelines and regulations of various government agencies will be the author of these policies and shall change these policies only by consensus at official meetings of that body.
Applicants should submit in advance of the committee meetings appropriate materials documenting original human subjects research (see above) to the IRB Coordinator. Forms are available from the coordinator (x5029) or the web site.
*People with active ties to the College include employees, students, and alumni of the College. Spouses, parents, or offspring of employees, students, or alumni of the College should decline to serve as members of the committee if they feel they will be biased by their relationship to such individuals. In such cases where a spouse, parent, or offspring of an employee or student of the College serves as a member of the Institutional Review Board, that person should be replaced by another community member in the deliberations about particular cases where a conflict of interest might exist.