At Erskine, the IRB serves a regulatory function that is essential to ensuring both ethical and legal standards regarding data and research at the institution as a whole. As a vital part of this Christian community, it is essential that the process of maintaining the highest standards be clear to all individuals. If you have questions that do not appear here, please feel free to email the IRB Chairperson, Dr. Matthew Cawvey at cawvey@erskine.edu or call him at (864) 379-8855.
The following decision tree is designed to help you choose the appropriate form to use for submitting a research proposal to the IRB. This includes all research with:
- humans,
- animals,
- life-potentiating substances (including but not limited to genes and base-pair proteins), and
- materials relating to recent decedents.
This includes all research involving talking to people, surveys, biomedical assays, interventions, analyses of personal information, etc. Please remember that all faculty, staff, and students of Erskine College and Seminary are required by federal law to submit such forms BEFORE collection of any data. Remember that if you are unsure, please contact the IRB Chair for assistance cawvey@erskine.edu or (864) 379-8855.
Data subject to IRB approval include:
- Anything beyond the standard practices for your job as defined by your job description.
- Anything within your job description when it is to be used for scholarly publication in any form.
- Anything that is not described in the course description of a course at the College or Seminary.
- Anything that is to be used for submission to a scientific or scholarly funding agency.
All persons desiring to submit an application must first take the appropriate ethics training available to Erskine personnel at http://www.citiprogram.org. NO AUTHORIZATION TO COLLECT DATA CAN BE OBTAINED BY THOSE NOT TRAINED IN RESEARCH ETHICS. Additional training and certification may be required for data collection from protected populations, such as children, elderly persons, institutionalized/hospitalized persons, those deemed mentally incompetent, etc. If you have questions, contact the IRB Chair before submitting your application.
Please use this decision tree to find the correct form for you to use:
D.Min. Students and Faculty/Staff:
Does the research contain information of any medical or biological nature (including medical records) other than a direct report of a diagnosis from a participant or referent?
All Master’s Students:
Is the project for a single course, or for your thesis?
If single course, use Form C (class project form)
If for your thesis, answer the following question:
Does the research contain information of any medical or biological nature (including medical records) other than a direct report of a diagnosis from a participant or referent?
College Students:
Is the project for a single course, or for your thesis?
If single course, use Form C (class project form)
If for your thesis, answer the following question:
Does the research contain information of any medical or biological nature (including medical records) other than a direct report of a diagnosis from a participant or referent?
If you need consent or consent and assent forms for your study, please use these templates as a starting point:
If you are recording the data collection, use this template and include it in the application to the IRB:
If you are collecting medical/biological samples from humans, you must obtain the following consent from participants: