The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a committee mandated by federal law to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects participating in research activities. The IRB achieves this primary function by educating researchers. The IRB assesses the risks and benefits associated with a particular study, so that they can decide if the study is ethically and legally sound.

Utah Valley State College encourages scholarly research and activities for faculty, students and relevant staff. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) furthers the college research mission by:

• Reviewing proposed research involving human participants, in order to protect citizens against potential risks of research participation while promoting high-quality studies that can provide rewards to participants and/or society;
• Educating the larger college community about ethical issues in human participants' research;
• Overseeing compliance with federal, state, and College regulatory requirements for human participant research.

All human subjects' research must be approved by an IRB. All colleges and universities that have research being conducted on their campuses have an IRB. This is mandated by federal regulations. UVSC has signed federal-wide assurances stating that all human subjects' research being conducted on campus will be approved by its Institutional Review Board (IRB). Research being conducted without approval is breaking federal regulation/law and puts all federal funding that UVSC receives (e.g. federal research grants, student federal aid) in jeopardy.

For all UVSC-affiliated studies involving human subjects requiring IRB approval, it is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator (PI) to submit required documentation to the UVSC IRB Administrator. UVSC does not endorse research that does not follow this protocol.

The UVSC IRB website will provide all the information you need to take the IRB training and submit protocols for approval. Let us know if you have questions.

• Dr. Susan R. Madsen, Chair/Administrator of the UVSC IRB, Associate Professor of Management
• Nancy L. Bartlett, IRB Coordinator, Director of Institutional Compliance and Policy Administration
  

IRB Contact Information: Email: irb@uvsc.edu; Office: BA 206; Phone: 863-8156; Utah Valley State College, Office of the IRB, 800 West University Parkway, Mailcode 272, Orem UT 84058