2.03.05 - Institutional Review Board

Policy Title: Institutional Review Board

Impact: Employees, Students, and all NIC Community Members

Responsibility: Planning and Effectiveness

Effective Date: 08/24/2020

Revised Date:

Reviewed Date:

Relates to Procedure: 2.03.05

Legal Citation(s): Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45: Public Welfare, Part 46 - Protection of Human Subjects

I. Policy Narrative

Federal law requires all entities conducting research on human subjects to have an Institutional Review Board, or IRB.  In accordance with the guidelines outlined in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45, Part 46, it is the policy of North Idaho College to protect employees, students, and community members participating in research projects conducted on college grounds by employees or students. 

II. DEFINITIONS

Research: "a systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. Activities which meet this definition constitute research, whether or not they are conducted or supported under a program which is considered research for other purposes." (CFR 45: 46, 102, item l)

Human Subjects: "living individual(s) about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research obtains (1) data through intervention or interaction with the individual, or (2) identifiable private information." (CFR 45: 46, 102, item e,1)

Minimal Risk: “the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research are not greater in and of themselves than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests.” (CFR 45: 46, 102, item j)

Principal Investigator: A Principal Investigator is the primary individual responsible for the preparation and administration of a research project.

III. COMPLIANCE

This policy addresses all research projects involving human subjects in the following aspects:

• Research taking place on the NIC campus, even if the researcher is not an NIC employee or student
  
  
• Research using input from NIC students or employees
  
  
• Research in the community, sanctioned or assigned by NIC faculty or supervisors

Such research projects must be submitted for IRB review unless they fall into one of the “Exempt” categories defined in the procedure accompanying this policy.

Procedure Title: Institutional Review Board

Impact: Employees, Students, and all NIC Community Members

Responsibility: Planning and Effectiveness

Effective Date: 08/24/2020

Revised Date:

Reviewed Date:

Relates to Policy: 2.03.05

Legal Citation(s): Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45: Public Welfare, Part 46 - Protection of Human Subjects

I. Procedure Narrative

This procedure clarifies the functions of the Institutional Review Board in human research projects affiliated with North Idaho College.

II. IRB REVIEW PROCESS

Principal Investigators will follow the process below:

1. Complete the Application for Human Subjects Research on the NIC Planning and Effectiveness website.
   
   
2. Submit the application and all supporting materials to irb@nic.edu. Applications will be acknowledged via e-mail within five business days.
   
   
3. IRB meets monthly to review applications. Principal Investigators will receive initial feedback within 30 days of application submission, with the research identified in one of three categories: Exempt, Expedited, or Full Review.
   
   
4. For research identified as meeting the requirements for a full review, the Principal Investigator will be asked to attend a future IRB meeting to address any concerns or questions from the IRB membership.

III. EXEMPTIONS

1. Course-related activities designed specifically for educational or teaching purposes, including:
   
   
1. Collection of student work for the purpose of celebrating or showcasing learning.
2. Class projects that involve human participants and systematic research methods, but present no more than minimal risk and do not result in generalizable research conclusions.
3. Class demonstrations and laboratory exercises using students enrolled in an academic program.
4. Student teaching, educational/clinical internships, practicum experiences, service learning, and experiential learning opportunities.
   
   
2. Research conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings that specifically involves normal educational practices that are not likely to adversely impact students' opportunity to learn required educational content or the assessment of educators who provide instruction. This includes most research on regular and special education instructional strategies, and research on the effectiveness of or the comparison among instructional techniques, curricula, or classroom management methods. For example:
   
   
1. Data collection and/or surveys conducted by NIC personnel for the intent and purposes of improving services and programs of the college or for developing new services or programs for students, employees, or alumni, as long as the privacy of the subjects is protected, the confidentiality of individual responses is maintained, and survey participation is voluntary.
   
   
3. Secondary research that makes use of publicly available data, or coded information or biological specimens, as long as the investigator cannot link the coded data or specimens back to individual subjects.
   
   
4. Scholarly and journalistic activities (g.,oral history, journalism, biography, literary criticism, legal research, historical scholarship), including the collection and use of information, that focus directly on the specific individuals about whom the information is collected, and that is not generalizable beyond that individual.
   
   
5. Research that only includes interactions involving educational tests (cognitive, diagnostic, aptitude, achievement), survey procedures, interview procedures, or observation of public behavior (including visual or auditory recording) as long as
   
   
1. the identity of the subjects cannot readily be ascertained, or
2. disclosure would not reasonably place subjects at risk of criminal or civil liability.
   
   
6. Research involving benign behavioral interventions in conjunction with the collection of information from an adult subject through verbal or written responses (including data entry) or audiovisual recording if the subject prospectively agrees to the intervention and information collection as long as
   
   
1. the identity of the subjects cannot readily be ascertained, or
2. ii. disclosure would not reasonably place subjects at risk of criminal or civil liability, or be damaging to the subject’s financial standing, employability, educational advancement, or reputation.