Institutional Review Board
Student Handbook on Human Subject Research
August 2006
Introduction
The University of Southern Maine (USM) supports a wide range of research activities by its
students, staff, and faculty. All USM students are encouraged to engage in research while they
are enrolled at USM. In order to ensure that all research activities conducted by USM students
meet both national and University standards for ethical and legal practices, all student activities
that may include research-like procedures must be reviewed by USM’s Office of Research Compliance
(ORC). USM’s ORC is the only USM entity approved by the United States Department of Health and
Human Services’ Office of Human Research
Protection (OHRP) to review research proposals. The ORC provides administrative oversight for
several Boards that review different types of research, including the Institutional Review Board (IRB),
the Institutional Animal Use and Care Committee (IACUC), the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC),
and the Radiation Safety Committee (RSC).
USM Student Research Involving Human Subjects
In order to help students engage in high quality research activities, all student initiated human
subject research must be sponsored by a USM faculty mentor. The faculty mentor is expected to take
an active role in the research activities and provide a signature approving the research plans and
appropriate ORC forms. All communication about student research is conducted simultaneously through
the faculty mentor and the student, who are responsible for sharing the review information with each
other. This handbook is designed to help all USM students understand the necessary steps for them to
engage in high quality research while attending USM. This handbook covers student human subject research
activities not already reviewed by the ORC as student classroom projects. Faculty who plan student
classroom projects for research activities should contact the ORC for the correct policy and procedures.
The handbook is organized into nine sections:
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