All research conducted by students and faculty for class projects, independent research, or extracurricular activities, whether on or off campus, must be reviewed. The following policies and procedures are designed to comply with the state law protections for human subjects involved in research. All systematic biomedical, behavioral, or social research directly involving human subjects which is associated with this college must comply with the policies and procedures set forth below and must be properly reviewed and approved by the Human Research Review Committee before the research begins. Physical harm may range from unnecessary discomfort or inconvenience to physical pain or disfigurement. Psychological harm includes emotional distress, loss of self-esteem, and impairment of the subject's ability to judge behaviors or make decisions.
Social harm includes damage to reputation and social or legal standing.
Protection against coercion and deceit Researchers must respect a subject's right to autonomy and guard against unnecessary deception. Ideally, prospective subjects should understand all features of the research that reasonably might be expected to influence willingness to participate. Furthermore, at the conclusion of the study researchers should freely provide to participants, upon request, information explaining the purposes of the study, the genuine nature of the design, and the results. This access to information should be clearly stated in writing on the consent form which participants sign. If a prospective subject is less than eighteen years of age, then the prior informed consent of a parent or legal guardian is required and the conditions prescribed herein pertain also to the parent or guardian.