Welcome to the Lourdes College Institutional Review Board (IRB)


What is the IRB?

The purpose of the Lourdes College  Institutional Review Board (IRB) is to protect the rights and dignity of persons who serve as research participants, and to promote excellence in research.  The IRB reviews and approves all human subjects research proposals, whether conducted by Lourdes College students, faculty, or staff;  or  by outside researchers using Lourdes College as a research site, by applying federal regulations and college standards for the protection of human subjects. These standards include respect for autonomy, careful evaluation of the potential risks and benefits of the research, and fairness in the selection of research subjects.

What Research Must Be Reviewed by the IRB?

All research involving human subjects that is conducted by a Lourdes College investigator (student, member of the faculty, staff or administration), or by an investigator from another organization who wishes to use Lourdes College as a research site, must comply with federal and college requirements for the protection of human subjects. The Lourdes College Institutional Review Board (IRB) is responsible for ensuring that all Lourdes College research meets these requirements.  Therefore, any investigator who plans research associated with Lourdes College must first apply to the IRB for review and approval of their research.  The Lourdes College IRB protects the rights of human research subjects and supports excellence in research endeavors. 

Research Conducted by Students: Students will work closely with their instructor and/or faculty advisor to develop a research application and to conduct the research. The student, faculty advisor and program director must all sign the IRB application to provide assurance that human subjects research requirements will be met.

  1. Capstones, independent study, personal scholarship: All independent research projects conducted by a student principal investigator must be submitted to the IRB for review and approval.  No research activities (including, but not limited to interaction with subjects, gathering preliminary data, or pilot studies) may begin until the investigator has received an approval letter from the IRB.
  2. Classroom Projects: Classroom projects or assignments involving that involve systematic data gathering from persons who are not members of the classroom, including surveys, interviews, focus groups and experiments must be submitted for IRB review and approval.
    Classroom projects involving only students from the class may be submitted to the IRB using a Classroom Project Protocol Form [to be determined

Research Conducted by Faculty, Staff or Administration: Researchers are reminded that any project that gathers data by interacting with human subjects should be submitted to the IRB for review. This includes preliminary studies as well as research applications in final form. Some research projects may be exempt from further IRB review. The IRB will assist researchers in making this determination.

  1. Pilot Studies, Preliminary Studies or Feasibility Studies
    Data gathering or subject interaction of any kind, even with a small group of subjects, requires IRB review and approval as final projects. The research application and informed consent process should indicate that the study is a pilot.
  2. Research Involving Secondary Use of Data
    Projects that use human subjects data that has been previously gathered, whether from Lourdes or other sources, require IRB review and approval. If Lourdes College data is to be used, researchers should include a Permission to Include Lourdes College Personnel or Data in Research form with their application.
  3. Research Conducted At Another Institution or Off-Campus Site
    Irrespective of the research site, any human subjects research conducted by any Lourdes College student, employee, faculty or staff member requires IRB review and approval.  Researchers using an outside agency as a research site should include an  Agency Permission for Data Collection for a Research Project form.

Who are the IRB Members?

Chair

  • Joyce P. Litten, Ed.D., M.S.S.A., L.I.S.W., Associate Professor, Chairperson and Program Director, Department of Social Work (Non-Scientist)

Members

  • Ellen W. Bernal, Ph.D., C.I.M., Assistant Professor, Philosophy and Values; IRB Coordinator (Non-Scientist)
  • Nancy Brown, M.A., Associate Professor, Department of English (Retired), (Community Member, Non-Scientist)
  • Mark S. Christensen, M.A., Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Chairperson, Department of Philosophy and Values (Non-Scientist)
  • Frank DiLallo, M.Ed., Ohio L.P.C., Safe/Drug Free Consultant and Diocesan Case Manager, Diocese of Toledo, Ohio; (Community Member, Non-Scientist)
  • Michael P. French, Ph.D., Professor, Education and Director of Graduate Education (Non-Scientist)
  • Kim Grieve, Ph.D., Dean of Students (Non-Scientist)
  • Dariel A. Jacobs, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Graduate Education (Non-Scientist)
  • Mary Anne Kubat, M.S.N., Assistant Professor and Chair of Undergraduate Clinical Education, Nursing (Scientist)
  • Paul Longenecker, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Business and Leadership Studies (Non-Scientist)
  • Patrice McClellan, M.A., Assistant Professor and Director, Masters of Organizational Leadership (Non-Scientist)
  • Liz Nims, Ph.D., R.N., C.N.P., Assistant Professor, Nursing (Scientist)
  • Keith K. Schlender, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate School, Institutional Official (Scientist)
  • Deb Vargo, Ph.D., R.N., C.N.E., Associate Professor and Director, M.S.N. Program (Scientist)

Ex Officio

  • Janet Robinson, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs

The IRB Review Process

When a research application is received in the IRB Office, the following steps will take place.

  • The IRB Office will check the application for completeness. If items are missing, the investigator will be informed and asked to submit them.
  • The IRB Chair and IRB Coordinator will determine whether the application may be considered exempt from further IRB review, or whether it will be reviewed using an expedited or full IRB review process.
  • Expedited reviews take 10 business days or less from the time the Application is complete.
  • Full IRB Committee reviews take place on the 4th Friday of the month. Follow up communications will be sent to the Investigator within 7 business days of the IRB meeting.
  • The IRB will decide whether to approve the research without modification, require modifications prior to approval, table or disapprove the research.
  • The results of the review will be communicated to the investigator (and faculty advisor, if applicable.) The investigator may respond in writing to any IRB stipulations. 
  • When the IRB has approved the research, the researcher will receive an approval letter and may begin the research. Under no circumstances may research begin until the IRB approval letter is received.

Meeting Schedules and Deadlines

The full IRB Committee meets on the fourth Friday of every month. Applications requiring full committee review must be placed in the IRB mailbox in MCH no later than two full weeks prior to the meeting date. The meeting dates and deadlines for the remainder of 2010 are as follows:

  • July 9 for the July 23 meeting
  • August 13 for the August 27 meeting
  • September 10 for the September 24 meeting
  • October 8 for the October 22 meeting
  • November 5 for the November 19 meeting
  • December 3 for the December 17 meeting

Research Application Forms

Please use the links under Forms and Documents on the left to locate IRB resources. Please note:

  • Research projects initiated prior to Fall Semester, 2010 may use the old Application form.
  • Research projects initiated during Fall Semester, 2010 must use the new Application form.