The Human Subjects Research Office (HSRO) and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at RIT exist to protect the rights, safety, and welfare of the people who take part in research. The focus of an IRB is to make sure that the risks posed to research participants are justified by the potential benefits.
The IRB at RIT consists of two Branches: the NTID IRB which reviews research activities focused on deaf and heard of hearing subject populations, and the RIT IRB which reviews general research activities from the other colleges of RIT.
The IRB assembles to discuss research activities that do not fall into an Exempt or Expedited category, and activities that may meet the requirements to be considered Exempt or Expedited but focus on topics that benefit from review by a group.
Research that falls into an Exempt category is reviewed by the Associate Director of the Human Subjects Research Office (HSRO), and research that falls into an Expedited category is reviewed by both the HSRO and a Board Chair or designated Board Member as needed.
The majority of submissions at RIT are reviewed and approved by the HSRO or by the HSRO and the IRB Chairs outside of convened meetings. Review takes between two and four business weeks; this is an estimate as it depends on the complexity of the activity.
Meetings are scheduled as necessary by the HSRO after an initial review indicates that an activity needs review by the IRB. Investigators will be notified from the HSRO if their activity needs IRB review.