Institutional Review Board
SUNY Orange encourages and supports the scholarly endeavors of its students, faculty, and staff.
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) advocates for the rights and welfare of human research participants and promotes quality research by fostering an institutional culture embodying the highest ethical standards of research.
The IRB administers the institutional program to protect individuals who participate in research and assists faculty and staff in protecting the participants of research.
The IRB at SUNY Orange has the responsibility of overseeing its Policy and 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;
- Ensure that all private information will be handled with anonymity and confidentiality.
The IRB can review, approve, and require modifications in, or disapprove research activities conducted by or through SUNY Orange using human subjects. The IRB does not assume the role of evaluating the merits of the research design nor the potential contribution of the research to scholarly literature. Rather, the IRB is charged with evaluating each project’s compliance with standards in regard to issues such as informed consent, confidentiality, and any risk to participants, values to SUNY Orange, and compliance with SUNY Orange procedures.
If you need a more accessible version of any of the forms below, please contact Christine Work, Institutional Planning, Assessment and Research.
Applying for IRB Review - Policy and Procedures
To apply to the IRB for review of a proposed research initiative or project, please review the Policy and Procedures Manual.
All applicants must complete a Human Subjects Research Form according to the level of anticipated review [Exempted, Expedited, or Full-Board Review]. Each form contains specific instructions and requires certain information.
Additionally, all "investigators and research personnel" must complete the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Extramural Research web-based training course, "Protecting Human Research Participants" prior to submitting their application. (See Page 20 of the IRB Policy and Procedures Manual for more information.)
Please submit electronically all completed forms to Christine Work in Institutional Planning Assessment and Research.
Note - Depending on the complexity of the proposed research project, the review process may take several weeks. Please allow enough time before the proposed start of the project.
Human Subjects Research - Levels and Forms for IRB Review
The IRB conducts three types of reviews depending on the nature and scope of the research project. The timeframe for review and required accompanying material depends on the type of review.
Below is a link to a full description of each type of IRB review and its related form:
Informed Consent
The IRB utilizes the consent process to insure that subjects are fully aware of the risks and the benefits and that they participation in the project is voluntarily. The consent form is a key element in this review. “Informed Consent” means insuring that potential subjects and/or their legally authorized representatives are fully informed of all aspects of their participation in a research project so as to be able to exercise free power of choice without undue inducement or any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, or other form of constraint or coercion.
Below is a link to the Informed Consent Forms to be utilized:
Resources regarding informed consent, include:
- Webpage describing the basic elements of information necessary to informed consent
- SAMPLE Consent Form - Coming Soon!
- Consent Form Checklist
Additional Resources
The following resources provide background and information for those interested in understanding more about the functions and purposes of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs).
Following these links will take you out the SUNY Orange website. The College cannot be responsible for the content of these external websites.
US Government HHS (link)
NIH human subjects site (link)