Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Research at the College sometimes involves human subjects for data collection and analysis. To protect and promote the dignity and well-being of participants in research conducted at or by Piedmont Virginia Community College faculty, staff, and students, the College formed an Institutional Review Board (IRB) in order to:

  • Determine which research requests involving human subjects require review; 
  • Approve requests for research involving human subjects; 
  • Conduct initial and continuing reviews of human subjects research; 
  • Report findings and actions to the investigator and the institution; and 
  • Ensure reporting of changes and unanticipated problems involving risks or noncompliance.

PVCC's Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an independent committee made up of at least five (5) members from the academic disciplines for which it has oversight and at least one member who is not affiliated with the institution.  The membership: 

  • Comes primarily from faculty 
  • May also include students, staff, and members of the community 
  • Must have the expertise and experience to evaluate proposed research projects 
  • Must be diverse in terms of race, gender and cultural backgrounds

IRB Status:  
Piedmont Virginia Community College IRB #1 OHRP #IRB00014205. Effective February 2024.

Conducting Research at PVCC

If you would like to conduct research involving human subjects at PVCC, you must first receive approval from the College's Institutional Review Board, as appropriate, before you begin. To find out more about the IRB Review Process and if your project requires approval, please visit this link. 

Please Note: all external researchers (researchers outside of PVCC) will be required to submit a research proposal to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Research prior to submitting their project to the College's IRB. For more information, please review Research Policy # II - 70.4.

FAQs

Does my project involve human subjects?

Federal regulations define a human subject as a "living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research: (i) obtains information or biospecimens through intervention or interaction with an individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the information or biospecimens; or (ii) obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information or identifiable biospecimens." ~ 45 CFR 46.102

  • Data includes information or specimens collected from living subjects 
  • About whom indicates that the data must be personal information about an individual 
  • Intervention includes physical procedures, manipulations of the subject, or manipulations of a subject's environment for research purposes (e.g., taking saliva or blood samples, having a subject view a video) 
  • Interaction refers to communication (e.g., face-to-face, internet, mail, phone, etc.) between the investigator and the subject 
  • Identifiable means that the subject's identity is or may be readily ascertained by the investigator or others, or is associated with the information or biospecimen. 
  • Private information includes information about behavior that occurs in a context in which the subject can reasonably expect that no observation or recording is taking place; or, information provided for specific purposes by the subject in which the subject can reasonably expect will not be made public (e.g., medical records, academic records, personal journals).

NOT human subjects research:

  • Research using data from the 1880 Census because the data isn't from living individuals
  • Survey that collects data about an organization's activities because the data isn't about individuals
  • Research using de-identified data sets because the data are not individually identifiable
Does the IRB approve a project retroactively?

No, the IRB does not grant retroactive approval. Contact IRB@pvcc.edu if you have questions about this.

Questions?

Institutional Effectiveness & Research   
IRB@pvcc.edu