Institutional Review Board

Owens State Community College (OSCC) encourages and supports the scholarly endeavors of students, faculty and staff of the College.

Pursuit of scholarly work and research will often involve the use of human subjects for data collection and analysis. OSCC’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews human subjects research proposals to ensure that the rights and welfare of human subjects used in research studies by College personnel and students are protected; that risks have been considered and minimized; that the potential for benefit has been identified and maximized; that all human subjects only volunteer to participate in research after being provided with legally effective informed consent; that any research is conducted in an ethical manner and in compliance with established standards.

Those individuals seeking to conduct such research may not solicit subject participation or begin data collection until they have obtained clearance from the Owens State Community College Institutional Review Board.

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) for Human Subjects Research at Owens State Community College has responsibility to oversee procedures for carrying out the College’s commitment to protect human subjects in research.

The role of the IRB is to review proposed research projects that involve the use of human subjects; ensure that the individuals involved in the project are treated ethically; ensure that all subjects are provided with substantial information about the study and consent to be a subject in the study; and that all private information will be handled confidentially.

The IRB is authorized to review, approve, require modifications in, or disapprove research activities conducted by or through the College using human subjects.

The IRB does not assume the role of evaluating the soundness of the proposed research study, the merits of the research design or the potential contribution of the research to the scholarly literature. Rather, the IRB is charged with evaluating each project’s compliance with ethical standards in regard to issues such as informed consent, confidentiality and any risk to the participants.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued these designations to Owens State Community College:

IRB00008704: Owens State Community College IRB #1
FWA00018805: Federal Wide Assurance

Research on behalf of Owens State Community College, related to OSCC employment or academic studies, or personal research unrelated to a planned academic program of study at another college or university that is conducted by Owens employees or students must be reviewed and approved in writing by the IRB before the research is initiated.