General Policies and Background Information

Montana State University Billings, in accordance with the agreements we have with the federal government, requires ALL projects that involve human subjects to undergo review by our Institutional Review Board (IRB).  This includes all students, staff and faculty projects without exception.  Before March 2007, the IRB asked the researcher to identify whether their project qualified as exempt, expedited, or required full IRB review.  We found this confused many people.  To clarify and simplify our IRB process, we have moved to a single IRB Application Form that will provide the appropriate information to the IRB.  All student projects must include the approval and signature of their faculty member supervising the work.  This will help ensure quality and enhance compliance to the human subjects protocols. 

Once the application is submitted to the Office of Research Compliance, the Principle Investigator will receive a “confirmation of receipt” email. Within ten working days of this email, the PI will have an answer from the IRB. If more information is needed the PI will be informed electronically and have five working days to respond electronically. The IRB will then have five working days to reply electronically to the PI. Failure to meet the time deadlines will result in the entire process starting again.

Those that require full committee review will be presented at the next meeting. The PI will be notified of the meeting date via email. The ten-day time period will start from the date of the meeting.