Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Monitoring Research Involving Human Subjects for Data Collection & Analysis

Feather River College is committed to assuring that on-campus research does not involve risk to participants and follows good standards of data collection, data security, informed consent, and assurances of anonymity and confidentiality.

An Institutional Review Board (IRB) exists to screen research proposals. The Board convenes upon request and will provide timely feedback to researchers.

Membership includes:

• CSSO/Dean of Students, or designee
• Director of Human Resources, or designee
• Director of Institutional Research, or designee
• Up to two other members as needed for subject of research

The IRB will forward recommendations to the Superintendent/President for final approval.

External Research Requests

All external researchers must receive IRB approval prior to engaging in any data collection at FRC. Requesters must submit a completed form, which includes the following:

• Purpose of the research
• Research question(s)
• Methodology including data collection methods
• Data security, informed consent, and assurances of anonymity and confidentiality (as appropriate)
• Project timeline
• IRB approval from home institution (if appropriate).

External Research Request Form

Internal Research Requests

Internal research requests will be reviewed by the IRB with a recommendation to the Superintendent/President for final approval.

Internal research projects may benefit from IRB guidance, however not every request requires review. Long-standing established projects, which were originally developed and approved by other FRC shared-governance bodies (e.g., Student Services Council) are generally exempt from IRB review unless some significant changes were made to the methodology or collection methods. Final approval rests with the Superintendent/President.

Internal researchers are encouraged to submit proposals to the Director of Institutional Research to receive feedback and determine if the request merits review. The FRC IRB may convene outside of the formal review process to provide consultation on prospective projects.