Upon completion of the IRB application (linked above), the IRB Human Subjects Administrator will review the application for completeness and present it to the IRB Chairperson. FSW only considers applications if the Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI is affiliated with FSW. The IRB Chairperson will review within 10 business days of receipt from the Human Subjects Administrator. If the application can be exempted or expedited, a determination will be made within that time. If the application requires IRB review it will be placed on the agenda for the next available IRB convening and the PI will be notified. The FSW IRB convenes twice annually, once in the fall term and again in spring term. Upcoming meeting dates are posted above. The IRB will consider applicant requests to convene earlier than scheduled if aspects of planned research are time sensitive. To request an early convening, contact the Human Subjects Administrator, Dr. Joseph van Gaalen.
The principal investigator may not engage in research activities until approval from the IRB is granted. If there are multiple co-principal investigators it is up to the principal investigator to communicate approval to their collaborator(s). Additionally, the Chairperson will conduct an annual review of any continuing projects lasting longer than one year. The Chairperson may make the determination upon initial approval that review may take place at varying intervals so long as the timespan between review is not in excess of one year.