Institutional Review Board

The Norco College IRB is a committee, comprised of faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds, that reviews research protocols involving human subject participants to ensure that the rights of the participants are protected, that they are not subject to unreasonable harm (physical and emotional), and that information about them is kept confidential. Most of the submissions to the Norco College IRB are made by external investigators interested in research involving some level of interaction with Norco College students, faculty, and/or staff. The term “research” means a systematic investigation, including pilot research, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. This includes investigations carried out by faculty, students, staff, or outside investigators for publication and/or presentation and the collection of scholarly materials for theses and dissertations. If an investigator is unsure of whether their project constitutes “human subjects research”, they should contact the Norco College IRB Chair at the contact information below.

The following are examples of activities that are NOT human subjects research:

1. 1. Data collection for internal departmental, school, or other administrative purposes
   2. Service surveys administered by college personnel for the purpose of improving or developing new services or programs (as long as privacy/confidentiality is maintained and participation is voluntary)
   3. Information-gathering interviews where the focus is on things, products, or policies rather than people or their thoughts regarding themselves
   4. Course-related activities specifically for education or teaching purposes and not intended for use outside of the classroom
   5. Quality improvement projects
   6. Publicly available data

For an extensive list of activities that qualify as human subjects research, please see the IRB Guidelines document below. Again, if there is any question whether a project should be submitted to the IRB for approval please contact the IRB Chair as listed below.

• • • IRB Guidelines
    • IRB Internal Applicant Application
    • IRB External Applicant Application

For questions or clarification please contact: 

Dr. Greg Aycock 
Dean, Institutional Effectiveness 
Chair, IRB 
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