51 Institutional Review Board and Human Subjects Research

As USU’s Office of Research has clarified, we as teachers are responsible for supervising our students’ research with human subjects, including interviews, observations, and survey distribution. The Composition Program encourages primary research and expects that all classroom projects meet IRB’s (Institutional Review Board’s) exemption criteria. Any student project that is more than minimal risk, that engages in research with protected populations (including children and participants of 12-step recovery groups), that asks students about illegal activities (such as underage drinking), and/or that will be submitted for publication, must still be approved by IRB. For more information on how to discuss ethical human subjects research practices with your students, please refer to IRB’s handout on Best Practices for Classroom Research Involving Living People (https://research.usu.edu/irb/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2019/11/Class-Based-Activities-Guidance.pdf). For more information on IRB, including how to access the required CITI Training, visit https://research.usu.edu/irb/.