Students wishing to initiate a human subjects research project will first complete the Application for Student Human Subjects Research Project, and submit it to the designated faculty in the department with oversight over the research. Completed applications will include signed statements of assurance from the student and from a faculty advisor, who is responsible for the supervision of the project and assuring that the research protocols are followed, as described in the approved Application, and that ethical standards are upheld. 

Please contact the chair of your department for information about their department's review procedures.

Students carrying out research with human subjects will complete (no earlier than 24 months prior to the beginning of the project) a training module for the social/behavioral sciences from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). Instructions for completion of this training can be found on the CITI Training page of the IRB website. The completion report provided at the end of the training must be submitted for review as part of the Application. 

Any faculty member serving as a faculty advisor to students conducting human subjects research or reviewing applications for human subjects research must complete the CITI social/behavioral sciences training at least every 48 months. 

Departments will review Applications to assure that the proposed research complies with ethical and disciplinary appropriate standards for human subjects research. If not they will work with the student and faculty advisor to modify the project to assure compliance. A mandatory component in the departmental review is to assure that disciplinary and culturally appropriate informed consent procedures are in place. 

For the purposes of this policy, any student project that is carried out by the student as the principal investigator, and which is designed to draw conclusions about a group larger than the subjects involved in the study, constitutes research. Studies that simply document the behavior of individuals without drawing larger conclusions are not considered research. Specifically excluded are projects (even if the details are student-initiated) that are conducted as part of a regularly scheduled academic credit bearing class and that (1) are designed primarily to give students an understanding of research methods and (2) do not contribute to generalizable knowledge. 

The review process described below applies only to human subjects research projects in which a student is the principal investigator. Review by the IRB is always an option, and would supersede this process. Human subjects research that does not qualify for department review must be approved by the IRB before any interaction or intervention with any potential subjects, including informal recruitment. 

Projects that can be approved through departmental review:​

• Involve no more than minimal risk to subjects or researchers;

• Do not involve deception as part of the research protocol;

• Do not include children (those under 18 years of age) as subjects. (Exception: projects can include children/minors if they meet criteria for the educational research exemption (45 CFR §46.101(b)), have been approved by the relevant authorities or groups within the setting (e.g., principals, school board, etc., as required by the setting), do not involve collection of data that are protected under the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) or the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), and comply with federal, state, and local laws); 

• Do not involve other vulnerable populations (inmates, decisionally impaired individuals, pregnant women or fetuses) as subjects; 

• Do not involve individuals vulnerable to coercion as subjects; 

• Are carried out in the United States, or in a country in which the student researcher or the faculty advisor have specific knowledge of cultural sensitivities and the legalities involving human subjects research in the country in question; 

• Do not receive financial support from federal sources. 

Only departments that have established departmental review procedures approved by the IRB and the Provost may conduct departmental reviews. Students from departments that have not implemented departmental reviews MUST submit their project to the IRB for review and approval. 

The following departments are authorized to conduct departmental reviews for student research projects:

• Educational Studies
• History
• Sociology and Anthropology