Institutional Review Board

The Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) Institutional Review Board’s (IRB) mission is to assure the safety of participants in research projects, to assure the provision of full and informed consent by participants, and to guide researchers as to the ethical conduct of human research. The IRB reviews, approves or disapproves, and conducts continuing review of, research involving human participants.  The primary purpose of IRB review is to assure protection of the rights and welfare of human participants.  DMACC’s IRB is composed and functions according to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Part 56 and Title 45, Part 46.  Research involving human participants may not be conducted at DMACC or by a member of the DMACC community without prior approval from the IRB.

The goal of the IRB is to provide a climate for research and scholarly activity at DMACC while protecting the well-being of human subjects. The fundamental principles of human subject protection are (1) people should not (in most cases) be involved in research without their informed consent; and (2) subjects should not incur increased risk of harm from their research participation beyond the normal risks inherent in everyday life.

It is the role of the DMACC IRB to review proposed research projects involving human subjects; ensure individuals involved in the project are treated ethically; ensure all subjects are provided with substantial information about the study and that they consent to be a subject in the study; and that all private information is handled appropriately.  The IRB is authorized to review, approve, require modifications in, or disapprove research activities conducted by or through the College using human participants.

All researchers, including students, who wish to conduct research on human subjects at DMACC must first complete the Responsible Conduct of Research – Basic Course and the Human Research – Social/Behavioral Research Course through the CITI Program. All DMACC employees and students can self-register using their DMACC email address.

 

Once training is completed, researchers can begin their IRB application by contacting the Office of Planning, Assessment & Data at opad@dmacc.edu. An application link will be sent.