Institutional Review Board
Welcome to the Human Subjects Review Board (HSRB)
Important Updates
● HSRB review for Fall 2022 will begin on TBD and end on
TBD at 5:00 pm.
● Paperless submissions using Adobe Forms and requiring a PSC log-in will be used going forward. The links below for HSRB forms have been updated to take proposers to the appropriate form. Please email hsrb@philander.edu with any questions or issues.
● Ethics training update: As of September 27, 2018, the National Institutes of Health no longer hosts online research ethics training. However, their training module and accompanying quiz questions are public domain and will continue to be used in-house by PSC. Please see the new document below for more information. For questions about completing this training, please email HSRB@philander.edu.
● IMPORTANT: On January 21, 2019, new federal regulations regarding human subjects research went into effect. In response to these policy changes, our review process and related documents have been adapted to adhere to these new regulations.
Summary of changes to HSRB Policies and Procedures that are being presently implemented:
● the addition of a “concise summary” on informed consent forms (Form B: see the Appendix to the Policies and Procedures document);
● the expansion of categories of research that qualify as exempt from HSRB review and require only minimal HSRB monitoring; and
● changes to post-approval monitoring of research projects.
At this time, Philander Smith College is not planning to implement procedural changes related to Broad Consent, as detailed in the Final Rule. Full information about the Final Rule can be found here:
HSRB Review Process
Philander Smith College is committed to the ethical treatment of all human participants in research conducted by its faculty, staff, and students. All research involving human participants conducted by faculty, staff, or students at Philander Smith College must be reviewed and approved by the PSC Human Subjects Review Board (HSRB). The PSC HSRB operates according to the guidelines in the Code of Federal Regulations (45CFR46) and other state and institutional guidelines.
Human Subjects Research Review
For research that does not qualify for exempt status (see HSRB Policies and Procedures and "Is my research exempt from review?"), there are two reasons why you would need HSRB approval prior to data collection:
- The research conducted with human participants involves more physical, mental, psychological, or social risk than people would experience on a daily basis. It doesn't matter the type of research – it could be based on interview, survey, or experimental methodologies. If the research asks about sexual or health history, or inquiries about any other socially-sensitive information, it must come through the Board. More detailed explanations of this kind of risk can be found in the PSC HSRB Policies and Procedures below.
- The research conducted with human participants will be published or presented off campus. Please note that undergraduate research conferences have an exemption, unless they involve the level of risk described in #1.
Submitting HSRB Proposals
If you have research that you want to be reviewed, you will need to submit your proposal using the link to PSC Adobe Forms. This will require a PSC login that will serve as your signature for the proposal. If you experience any other technical difficulties while completing these forms, please contact ______________ at hsrb@philander.edu.
