Review Categories and MTU-IRB Meeting Schedule

Submitted projects undergo an HRPP administrative review to determine the level of risk to human participants. There are four categories of review depending on the level of risk: exempt, limited, expedited or full.

Exempt, Limited or Expedited Review

Projects determined minimal risk and meet one of the exempt categories do not require MTU-IRB review and oversight. Exempt projects are processed by an HRPP staff member. Projects with minimal risk but requiring a limited or expedited review will be sent to a single MTU-IRB member for review and approval.

Exempt, limited, and expedited reviews are completed on a rolling basis upon receipt. How long it takes to receive final determination or approval varies depending on current HRPP workload and thoroughness of the project submission. We recommend a minimum of three weeks for exempt determinations and six weeks for projects requiring limited or expedited review.

Full Board Review Projects

Any projects determined more than minimal risk will require a review by the full MTU-IRB and can only be approved at a convened full MTU-IRB meeting. 

Full Board reviews require much more time to gain approval to start a project. We recommend submitting at least two months before the target start date.

After projects are received and determined to require full board review, it will go through the following BEFORE being put on an MTU-IRB convened meeting agenda:

1. Administrative review for submission completeness, minor editing, and regulatory compliance.
2. Sent to a primary reviewer. This is typically performed by one voting member of the MTU-IRB with the most experience in the research under review. The primary reviewer will either present the HRPP staff with concerns to be addressed prior to bringing it to the convened full board or provide their approval to present it at the next convened full board meeting.

Convened Full IRB Meeting Dates

2023-24 Academic Year Meeting Date and Deadlines

Complete submissions received by the submission deadline will be added to the next IRB meeting agenda.

Full Board Project Tips

There following are tips that will help ensure the success of your full board project review:

• Dedicate the appropriate time to submit a well thought out and thoroughly documented project.
• Be sure to have the necessary project personnel and financial resources to safely conduct the work.
• Ensure all documentation submitted complement each other and provide consistent project details.
  • The consent is a summary of the project for participants. This should be easy to read and understand. (Ask a non-researcher to review it prior to submission.) 

• • The protocol should provide the Why, What, Who, When, Where, and How of the planned research. It should expand upon the project details and complement the information found in the consent. Of note, this document is typically only used by the research team and MTU-IRB.

• Include any screening, recruitment, and data collection tools being used (flyers, email scripts, social media posts, surveys, etc.)
• The MTU-IRB members are not all experts in your area of research. The research activities and any devices being used must be explained and supporting documents included as appendices. 
• Research team members must include experts in the area of study and with any devices, treatments, or interventions being performed by participants. The protocol must present evidence of this for all research team members (including non-MTU collaborators and MTU students) used to conduct all or part of the research activities. Include relevant experience, training (including HSR training), and describe each research team member's roles. 
  • Project lead experts in devices, treatments, or interventions described in the protocol must be identified and are expected to be present during research activities performed by participants. If lead experts will not be present during all research activities, it must be explained why they feel it is not necessary, provide any tools (script/guide) for less experienced research members to follow, and how any unexpected problems will be managed.

Please call 906-487-1799 or email irb@mtu.edu if you have any questions.