Submission Procedures

Any member of the faculty, staff, or student body of University of Texas at El Paso who proposes to engage in any research activity involving the use of human subjects (see FAQ) must submit the following to the IRB (all forms may be downloaded from the IRB forms web page or the online forms library in the IRBNet).

Submit all the documentation with the application: The following items are required:

• Cover sheet for IRB applicaition
• A Completed IRB Proposal (proposal template) or go to forms for other templates.
• Faculty- Although your Department Chair’s electronic signature is not required, it is suggested that you share the study with your Chair for information purposes when you submit your new study for review.
• Students- It is required to share the submission with your Advisor and have them electronically sign the submission.
• Training Verification to meet the University requirements for training of researchers in the protection of human subjects in research (CITI or NIH);
• An informed consent document or justific­ation for Waiver of Informed Consent or Waiver of Documentation of Consent;
• Relevant study instruments (questionnaires, surveys, interview questions, etc);
• Site Approval Letters for extramural research (if applicable)
• Recruitment materials (flyers, posters, web-pages, e-mail messages, etc)

The following items must be included if applicable:

• One complete copy of the any grant application, and the identification number assigned to it by the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects.

Please note the following important items:

• All submissions to the IRB are via IRBNet.org
• Allow at least 14-30 days for your expedited review of new, renewal, or revision materials
• Submit at least 14 days before convened board meeting for any full board review

Exemption Request Application

Under federal requlations, certain types of minimal risk research are exempt from review, unless the instituion chooses to review it.

Under UTEP policy, ALL research involving human participants must be reviewed and approved prior to commencement of the research, including research that falls into one of six allowed federal exempt categories. To ease compliance and university burdens while providing adequate protection of research subjects, exemption request submissions will be reviewed through the Human Subjects Office. Please allow at least five working days for an exemption review. If it is determined that the submission does not meet any of the six allowable categories, the submission will be referred to the appropriate review level.

Effective March 2013, the updated Exemption Request Application should be used for all Exempt submissions. It is available for downloads from our FORMS.We hope this application will better elicit the information needed for staff to determine if a study is eligible for exemption.

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Investigators planning to conduct exempt research must submit the Exemption Request Application and all required documents through IRBNet to view by our office staff prior to beginning any research. The research cannot be conducted until exemption is granted and a letter of determination has been issued and received by the principal investigator.

Federal regulations do not require signed informed consent for exempt research projects. However, subjects should be given information regarding the research project whenever possible. This can be accomplished through the use of a written Study Information Sheet or other appropriate methods may be developed.

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**Continuing review is not required for exempt research, but investigators are required to notify the Human Subjects Office of any change to the project through an Amendment, and when the project is completed.

If you have any questions or concerns about these or any IRB-related processes, please contact the IRB Administrator at (915) 747-7693 or at irb.orsp@utep.edu.