Application Process

To apply to the IRB for review and potential oversight, a faculty member must serve as the principle investigator (PI) on the application with students listed as coinvestigators. A faculty member or student may complete the IRB application; however, the PI must verify that all information is accurate and complete. Incomplete applications will result in necessary delays in the review process. Please be sure to complete the application fully, leaving no section blank. The IRB provides a fill-in PDF document that provides all of the required application elements.

In addition, the IRB provides a Microsoft Word template for the required Informed Consent Document. All research participants must read and provide a signature acknowledging they are fully informed of all procedures related to participants of this study. The Informed Consent document must speak directly to participants at a reading level appropriate for the potential participants.

You will be asked to submit a comprehensive Research IRB Application with sufficient details to assure any IRB member can determine exactly the nature of involvement of human participants. The IRB will seek information about recruitment procedures (recruiting subjects), compensations, benefits, and especially anticipated risks, all based on detailed methods regarding the procedures specific to each human subject. An informed consent document (please follow the WCU template) may also be required, which provides the document signed by potential subjects, written in a language and a reading level to match the participant. The Informed Consent is speaking to the participant. For any application submitted to the IRB (student research or faculty research), a faculty member must serve as the PI and contact person on that application for the IRB process.

IRB Application Instructions

To provide you with the most efficient review of your application for human subjects research oversight by the IRB, please follow these steps:

Step 1

You must complete the WCU-IRB Application, which is a “write-in” PDF document, in its entirety. Please download the document to your computer to fill it out. Answer all of the questions to the best of your knowledge. Leaving cells or questions blank will result in a delay because the IRB will need to reach out to you for clarifications. Cells should provide sufficient space; however, if you need more space, include a Word document as an addendum. Rather than attaching a research proposal, please use the IRB Application to type in all pertinent and required elements as specified on the application. The IRB prefers to keep all information in one document.

Step 2

All investigators who will have direct contact with the human subjects must be included in this application and must complete the required IRB Tutorial Training with a certificate of proof. This training is good for a three-year span. Investigators may use the program provided by CITI (approximately $90) or a version provided by WCU. Contact the WCU IRB for information on the provided version IRB@westcoastuniversity.edu

Step 3

Submit the original version of this application to the IRB. Do not send a scanned or photo image of this application. The IRB needs the ability to type into this application.

Step 4

Send the completed application to IRB@westcoastuniversity.edu

Step 5

You may include Word document or a PDF addenda as needed.

Step 6

For any questions or clarifications, do not hesitate to reach out to the IRB at IRB@westcoastuniversity.edu or by phone at 323-454-5049. When developing the Informed Consent document, use the template in the folder for informed consent. You must use this template, OR include all necessary elements from the template. Some elements may not apply to your study. Use your best judgement, OR reach out to the IRB for clarification. We are here to help. The final version of the Informed Consent MUST include a footer to allow us to include the “approval date” and “expiration date” (must be on WCU letterhead).

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