Institutional Review Board

Madison College encourages and supports the scholarly endeavors of students, faculty and staff.

We realize that the pursuit of scholarly work and research often involves the use of human subjects for data collection and analysis. Madison College's Institutional Review Board (IRB) evaluates research proposals involving human subjects to ensure that:

• The rights and welfare of human subjects used in research studies are protected
• Risks are minimized
• The potential for benefit is maximized
• All human subjects are provided with legally effective informed consent
• All private information is handled with confidentiality
• All research is conducted in an ethical manner and in compliance with established standards

Researchers working toward a degree must obtain IRB approval from the degree-granting institution prior to requesting approval from Madison College IRB. Madison College IRB must approve research projects prior to the participation of subjects or collection of data. 

Does Your Project Require IRB Approval?

The first step for researchers is to determine whether their proposed project requires IRB approval. 

Some research projects involving human subjects are exempt from IRB approval requirements. They typically include normal educational practices such as work undertaken as a part of a course, educational tests in which subjects are not identified and surveys or interviews in which subjects volunteer and are not personally identified.

See the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website for more information about IRB approval requirements. 

Fill out the guided questions in the IRB form

Please fill out the IRB Intake Form to assess which category your research study falls into. Madison College uses SurveyMonkey as the business tool to build this guided questionnaire.

Please note how long each of the following types may take:

• Exempt Review (approximately 1 week)
• Expedited Review (approximately 3 weeks)
• Full Review (approximately 5 weeks)

Proposals with missing information will be delayed by however long it takes for the researcher to provide the relevant information. Questions may be directed to irb@madisoncollege.edu.