Role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB)
American College of Education accepts responsibility for ensuring that the confidentiality, safety, health, and welfare of research participants are protected. The college operates an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to review and approve all research proposals*.
The IRB is an administrative body of American College of Education that was established in 2011 to protect the rights of human research recruited to participate in research activities conducted under the auspices of the institution. The IRB will assess the researcher’s plans for human subject protection and ensure ethical guidelines are followed before, during, and after the research project. The IRB has authority to approve, require modifications in, or disapprove all research activities.
Institutional Review Board Membership
Members of an Institutional Review Board will be appointed by the senior academic leader at ACE. The IRB must consist of at least five (5) members who are diverse in nature. The following characteristics must be considered when members are appointed:
- Scientific and non-scientific areas. At least one member must have a background in science (e.g., biology, psychology, chemistry) and at least one member must come from a non-science area (e.g., history, English, philosophy).
- External to the institution. One member must be not affiliated with the institution (Community Member).
- Diversity of representation. Someone who has knowledge of or experience with vulnerable populations should participate as a member of the IRB.
- Diversity of gender. The IRB should have both male and female representation.
- Diversity of profession. The IRB should have representatives from different professional areas or backgrounds. The committee should include those with different educational backgrounds and professional experience. The IRB should have representation from administrative staff and teaching faculty at the College.
- No conflict of interest. Individuals involved with the dissertation process or those that oversee it cannot serve on the IRB (i.e. the DRR and senior academic leaders cannot be IRB members).
IRB members will be appointed for a period of one year from time of appointment. Members are able to serve on the IRB for more than one year if agreed upon by the senior academic leader, IRB chair, and IRB member.
Furthermore, all IRB members are required to have completed CITI training within five (5) years of appointment to committee. CITI training certificates that demonstrate completed training within five (5) years are required to be received prior to reviewing submissions.
Ethical and Non-Bias Review
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is responsible for reviewing research proposals at American College of Education to ensure that human subject rights are protected. The IRB reviewers need to be independent of the research and non-biased to ensure a fair and ethical review.
To prevent any conflict of interest in reviewing research proposals, the members assigned to review a particular research proposal must be independent of the research proposal. ACE defines independent as follows:
- No IRB member can approve any research proposal they submitted.
- No IRB member can approve any research proposal on which they advised or contributed in any manner.
- No IRB member can approve any research proposal submitted by anyone for whom they serve on their dissertation committee.
- No IRB member, if they are in an academic leadership position, can approve any research proposal submitted by a student or faculty member within their department.
- No IRB member can review a research proposal where they are participating in some capacity (advisor, joint research, etc.).
If a research proposal is submitted where an IRB member has a relationship as outlined above, the IRB member must recuse themselves from the review and subsequent approval of the research proposal.
*The IRB does not review and approve of students’ research contributing to academic progress, such as that conducted in the context of a Research Methods course. Research contributing to academic progress is generally supervised by faculty; dissertation research and capstone research projects are covered by the ACE Institutional Review Board and its policies (as is research conducted by faculty and staff).
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