12.6 Institutional Review Board

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an administrative body established to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects recruited to participate in research activities conducted under the auspices of the college. The IRB is charged with the responsibility of reviewing, prior to its initiation, all research (whether funded or not) involving human participants. This includes research involving human participants proposed by faculty, by staff, by college committees, and by students. The IRB is charged with protecting the welfare, rights, and privacy of human subjects while facilitating the ethical conduct of research.

The IRB includes at least one staff member, and one community member with no other Macalester affiliations (e.g., who is not an employee or student and is not a member of the immediate household of an employee or student). At least six are members of the faculty. The committee must include at least one scientist and one non-scientist. Efforts should be made to have a balance of gender, ethnicity, and disciplinary specialties on the Board. The IRB reports to the Provost.