The Institutional Review Board

For information regarding non-human animal research, visit Wartburg’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).

Institutional Review Board Chair: Dr. Brian McQueen
IRB@wartburg.edu
brian.mcqueen@wartburg.edu
(319) 352-8755

Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 8 a.m.
Protocol Submission Deadline: 5 p.m. on Wednesdays (Submissions after 5 p.m. will be considered the following week.)

Instructions to Researchers

Research Checklist

NOTE: Research projects determined to be exempt from IRB review still need to be registered with Wartburg's IRB. Refer to information on this page regarding Exempt Status.

Are you trying to answer a hypothesis with your activity that will lead to conclusions that will be expanded to a wider population?
Are your findings generalizable? 

For example, a psychology study that surveys 20 students to draw conclusions about college students in general does fit this definition. For example, an oral history/biography that aims to record a person’s story but does not draw general conclusions does not fit into this definition.

Are you planning on disseminating your results to a wider audience? 
Some examples of dissemination to a wider audience include presentation of data/new knowledge at campus (RICE Day), local or national poster sessions or meetings, inclusion of data/new knowledge in grant applications, publication of data/new knowledge in professional journal either in print or online, and presentation of data/new knowledge to administration of community partnership or other off-campus organizations. 
 
If you have answered yes to all of the questions above, you need to seek approval for your research.   
If your project requires IRB approval, one of the committee members would be more than happy to work with you to meet the ethical guidelines for your protocol. If you are new to the IRB process, we encourage you to meet with a committee member prior to completing the protocol form.  If you have research or classroom activities that involve sensitive populations (i.e. children, elderly adults, people with intellectual disabilities) or involve significant stress to the participant, we recommend that you consult IRB prior to completing the protocol form.

If you are not affiliated with Wartburg College, but want to use Wartburg College resources to conduct your research and/or you want to collect data from Wartburg College students, faculty or staff members, please review the information for “Unaffiliated Researchers” at the bottom of this page. You must still seek approval from our committee prior to beginning your research at Wartburg.