| Institutional Review
Board and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Applying for IRB Approval: The Georgetown Experience
I had applied for IRB approval for a research project in the past, so
I expected the IRB application for my VKP plan to be as straight-forward
as had been the earlier application. My first stumbling block was trying
to understand the forms. Was my research really exempt? What forms did
I need to fill out? I spent quite a bit of time filling out an Application
for Social and Behavioral IRB Review, only to find out I didn't need to
fill it out. As it turned out, the form I needed to complete was quite
simple and the Georgetown VKP staff sent over a cover letter with my proposal
that stated that VKP projects as a whole should be in the exempt category.
This blanket cover letter may have confused the IRB office because my
proposal was the only one that was sent over at that time.
In the meantime, I explained VKP and my project to my class, stressing
that it was voluntary. This was a freshman seminar so I also made sure
that only persons over the age of 18 signed up for the project, given
that in the District of Columbia persons under the age of 18 are considered
minors and would have to have their parent's signature. I also gave the
students handouts on VKP and gave them each release forms to be handed
in after they read the material and felt comfortable volunteering.
I did get a notice in about a week that my request was received, but
the chair requested a one-page summary of my project. I e-mailed him the
summary, then silence. I was anxious to get started on the project, so
a week later I e-mailed the Chair of the IRB to see if I had been granted
the exemption. More silence. I e-mailed again two weeks later; the IRB
Chair was in Chicago on a fundraising trip, but he thought everything
was taken care of. He'd get back to me on Monday. More silence. I hated
to keep bothering him, but it was now the week of interviewing the students,
so a desperate e-mail brought a positive response. About another 10 days
later I received my exemption from the IRB. (Whew.)
All told, the process took about 6 hours of my time to prepare the proposal
and follow-up summary (4 hours of which were spent filling out the wrong
form), an hour of the VKP staff time preparing the cover letter and delivering
the package to the IRB office, perhaps a half an hour for the IRB Chair
to read the proposal and make a decision, 10 minutes for the IRB staff
person to prepare the exemption letter, and 7 weeks to get from start
to finish. It has to be easier next time!
Betsi Stephen
Georgetown University
Betsi
Stephen's Consent Form
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