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The policy for classroom-related activities is that IRB review is waived only when the collection of information from participants is exclusively for the purpose of class discussion or for the purpose of training in research or research methods. In this situation, the instructors are responsible for educating students about the protection of human subjects and providing ethical guidance for all student projects. The course syllabus must include a component for training students about the ethics of collecting information from human participants (instructors may want to use an on-line training module such as http://cme.nci.nih.gov/ which provides the student with a hardcopy certificate certifying their training or http://www.research.umn.edu/consent/). Instructors who decide that their classroom related activity is waived from IRB review may choose to submit their course syllabus to their Local Review Board for confirmation of their decision. Instructors who are uncertain about whether their classroom activities need IRB review should submit their course syllabus to their Local Review Board for evaluation. Note: any data collected for a class project should not be used for publication unless that class project had previously been approved by the IRB.

Although classroom project data may be used as pilot data collected preliminary to the actual research project, it should not be used in publication or presentation outside of the classroom. Classroom data may be collected for dissemination within the institution for administrative and evaluative purposes without IRB review.

Class-related projects that must receive IRB review include:

1. All masters’ theses and doctoral dissertations that involve human research participants require submission of a protocol application (see “Protocol Application Template” on the web-site).

2. All projects that involve human research participants for which findings may be published or otherwise disseminated beyond the classroom require submission of a protocol application (see “Protocol Application Template” on the web-site). This may include independent study projects, experiential learning projects, and undergraduate Honor’s projects.

3. Class-related projects that involve human research participants for which the data collected are archived for any purpose other than administrative evaluations (e.g., examining changes in student performance) or classroom demonstrations (e.g., showing changes in student demographics across the years). Administrative evaluations and classroom demonstrations are exempt because they do not involve dissemination of the information beyond the institution.

If there is any chance of later publication, it would be prudent to seek IRB review of the informed consent form and the materials used to collect information from the participants in advance since publication will require consent of the participants. The IRB cannot provide retroactive approval. IRB approval of class-related projects extends for the duration of the University year, unless substantial changes have occurred in the character of the student projects. Class-related projects should receive annual review.

If the same course protocol will be used in several courses during an academic year, the IRB may be able to approve all uses with a single application. The protocol must be reevaluated annually, however, to ensure that the guidelines are maintained and to bring the protocol up to date with any changes in the federal guidelines.

An example of an acceptable course protocol is a course in psychology taught several times per year by different faculty members. The course involves a cluster of independent projects conducted by the students. In the course protocol, the instructor states that students will complete prototypic IRB application forms and submit them to the instructor for review and approval. The instructor's course protocol adheres to the following terms: