Institutional Review Board (IRB)

IRB News

February 2020 - Employees-as-Students and Research

Hello! Each month the IRB brings you updates and answers to questions our researchers have. This month we want to address students conducting research when they are employed by the site at which research will be conducted. As always, please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions (contact info at the end of this email).

Here is a somewhat common scenario: An employee of a Minnesota State University, Sartell (not a real university!) works in the Department of Experiential Learning where they coordinate practicum placements. This employee is also a student in a graduate program at St. Cloud State University where they are conducting a culminating project on student learning in practicum settings using students at MSU, Sartell. Before starting their project, they need IRB approval, which raises a couple questions.

Which IRB?

In our example, there are two universities and, likely, two IRBs that this student/employee is affiliated with. So, does the individual use MSU Sartell, as that university is where the study takes place? Or, does the individual work with SCSU’s IRB as the research is being conducted for a degree through SCSU?

The answer is: SCSU’s IRB.

In this case, while the student is also employed at MSU Sartell, their work as a student is being conducted at SCSU and overseen by SCSU faculty. So SCSU is responsible for the research.

As a courtesy, the student can reach out to MSU Sartell’s IRB to keep them informed. But the only IRB that needs to be involved is SCSU’s.

This scenario also holds true for other dual roles, like when a teacher at a K-12 school wants to conduct research in their school. Often, school districts have their own research review board, or at least have research policies that need to be navigated. Ultimately, if the work is done in fulfillment of degree requirements, it’s going to be an SCSU IRB.

Who gives permission?

The student is now in an odd position; normally if an SCSU student wanted to conduct research on practicum students they would need permission, likely from the practicum coordinator or similar position, to contact the practicum students. In our example, however, the student IS the person who gives permission. To keep things unbiased, this student would need to go one step above, to a chair, dean, or other coordinator to ensure that they have permission to reach out to the students they oversee.

While it can sometimes seem odd, the point with all of this is that the student needs to divorce themselves from their other role as employee. So MSU Sartell is seen as simply the place I conduct my research and permissions as an unbiased person who has authority to grant access to the students. This would be the same for a teacher-as-student conducting research for a dissertation or other similar dual roles.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions over these or other IRB-related topics.

Happy researching!