Institutional Review Board
Southern Utah University (SUU) is committed to the protection of human participants in research. In accordance with the Federal Policy on the Protection of Human Subjects (45 C.F.R. 46) and Southern Utah University’s Federal Wide Assurance, all research involving human participants must be conducted in a manner that prioritizes the rights and welfare of human subjects participating in research. All students, staff, faculty, units, and affiliates of Southern Utah University share in the responsibility for promoting the welfare of human research participants in research, primarily by adhering to the relevant laws, regulations, and professional and ethical standards governing the conduct of such research. The SUU Institutional Review Board (IRB) is the multidisciplinary committee of faculty, staff, and community members that oversees the ethical conduct of human subject research conducted by SUU students, staff, faculty, units, and affiliates.
Research Categories
***ALL IRB PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS ARE REVIEWED ON A ROLLING BASIS***
Certain research activities may be classified as exempt. Exempt research must be found to meet one of the seven categories that are exempt from the requirements of 45 C.F.R. 46.
Note that exempt does not mean research activities are exempt from review. Per SUU Policy 6.20, all human subject research is reviewed by the SUU IRB. Research activities found to qualify for exemption are exempt from the specific and ongoing requirements of 45 C.F.R. 46 (e.g., continuing review).
Research activities that do not qualify as exempt research may be approved following an expedited review by the IRB. Expedited research must meet the following basic criteria:
- The research activities present no more than minimal risk to human subjects, and
- The research activities involve only procedures listed in the nine categories eligible for expedited review.
When research activities do not qualify as exempt or expedited research, they must be reviewed at a fully convened IRB meeting.
Note: Very few research proposals require this level of approval. If you are unsure whether your IRB proposal will require a convened IRB review, you should submit as soon as you have completed the proposal elements rather than wait for the deadlines below. All proposals are reviewed on a rolling basis to determine which level of review and approval is required.
Spring 2025 Tentative Dates for Convened IRB Meetings (1st Wednesday)
- January 8, 2025 (Reviewing Proposal Submissions Made By December 10, 2024)
- February 5, 2025 (Reviewing Proposal Submission Made By January 10, 2025)
- March 5, 2025 (Reviewing Proposal Submissions Made By February 10, 2025)
- April 2, 2025 (Reviewing Proposal Submissions Made By March 10, 2025)
Submitting an IRB Proposal
Faculty Supervisors: Want to give students feedback before submission? Use the IRB Worksheet.
CITI Training is researcher ethics training. A completion certificate is good for 3 years.
Which Trainings Should You Take?
- Faculty and Staff complete the “Faculty/Staff Researchers” training
- Education Graduate Students complete the “Education Graduate Student Researchers” training
- All other students complete the “Student Researchers” training
- External (non-SUU) researchers should submit both a CITI (or comparable) certificate and score report.
You must be logged in to a Google account to complete this form.
All IRB Proposals should include:
- CITI certificates for all researchers involved in obtaining consent and collecting/analyzing data.
- An informed consent document
- Other supporting documents (surveys; interview questions; etc.)
- Read the email response you receive from the IRB.
- Complete any requested revisions and/or submit supporting documents.
- You do not need to resubmit the IRB Proposal Form itself unless requested by the IRB.
Managing Your Approved IRB Proposal
Once your IRB proposal is approved, the expectation is that the study will follow the parameters the researchers have outlined in their submitted materials. However, there may be situations where you want to change the way you previously outlined your study, or you may want to communicate with the IRB about particular aspects of your study and your interactions with participants. The following list includes frequently used forms and processes for researchers who find themselves in such situations.
Access the Modification/Addendum Form
This form should be used to obtain approval for changes (modifications or addendums) to a previously approved IRB proposal. Examples of changes include but are not limited to:
- a change in the principal investigator (or supervisor if PI is a student);
- changes to the materials list, participant selection and/or recruitment, incentives/compensation for participation, procedures, and/or informed consent.
Approval must be obtained prior to initiating these changes, unless they are to eliminate an immediate risk to participants or others. If this is the case, the IRB chairperson and the director for the office of sponsored research must be contacted immediately.
Note that a change in the number of research participants does not require approval unless participants meet the definition of vulnerable and/or the proposal was judged to involve greater than minimal risk. If either applies, only a decrease in the number of participants may be made without first seeking approval.
Access the IRB Incident Report Form
As a researcher, you should be particularly mindful of the risks that participants might encounter in research activities. You must immediately contact the IRB through the above form if you deviate from your approved protocol and/or you become aware of or encounter additional risks to research participants.
This form should only be utilized when the following situations are suspected or encountered:
- Your study has deviated (i.e., differed), either intentionally or unintentionally, from the procedures outlined in your approved IRB protocol. You should report any deviation, even if the deviation was made to prevent unnecessary risk for research participants.
- You become aware of risks to research participants that you were not anticipating.
- Your participants are affected by risks beyond what you anticipated, or they are affected by unanticipated risks.
Access the Continuing Review Form
This form should be utilized to continue an approved research project when a protocol has an expiration date. Researchers who have an approved protocol following a full board review, or who have protocols initially approved before 2019, may need to use this form to continue human subject research studies.
Researchers should complete this form 30 days before the expiration date of their current protocol to avoid having to discontinue research activities. Expiration dates for protocols can be found on the approval letter sent to researchers by the IRB.
Access the Project Closure Form
This form should be utilized to formally indicate the end of contact with human subjects in an approved research protocol. Note that data analysis may continue on research projects provided that analysis does not involve contact with human subjects (e.g., a member check).For other situations or questions, please contact the SUU IRB at irb@suu.edu.
IRB Current Status & Turnaround Time
Monthly Average Review Times: Initial Review and Decision
Note: "Initial Review" is the time between submission and the IRB's first review of the proposal. "Decision" includes the initial review period, as well as the time it takes a researcher to revise their proposal submission and materials prior to approval.
Support from the IRB
The SUU IRB is ready to provide a range of supports for researchers: both students engaging in research activities, as well as faculty and staff conducting human subject research. Some of the supports the IRB can provide researchers include, but are not limited to:
- Answering questions about research ethics and/or various IRB processes
- Providing consultative services for researchers as they prepare their study and IRB proposal
- Visiting classes and presenting on IRB processes