Introduction

The Faculty and Staff Edition of the IRB Handbook provides an overview of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at United States University (USU) for this group (if you are a doctoral student, please refer to the IRB Handbook - Doctoral Student Edition). While the USU IRB follows a detailed standard operating procedure (see section 700 of the USU Policy and Procedure Manual), this Handbook provides highlights relevant for faculty and staff going through the IRB process.

You may wonder if your project/research requires formal review from the IRB. As faculty or staff contributing to a graduate culture, you will likely seek to publish or present the results of your scholarly work. Most journals require proof of IRB approval when manuscripts are submitted for publication. Even if your project does not meet the definition of human research, many journals now require certification by the IRB that IRB review was not required so it is clear it was not only the investigator deciding their research did not need review.

While activities that collect and analyze data within a college or department as standard operating procedure for the purpose of understanding or improving the process do not require IRB approval, if you believe you may want to disseminate this work, both CIR (see policy 211) and IRB approval may be required.

Since this approval cannot be given retroactively, reach out to the IRB prior to beginning your project/research for guidance. The IRB can be contact via email at IRB@usuniversity.edu.