|
Department of Psychology
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs,
NY 12866
|
|
Guidelines
for Participant Review Board (PRB) Committee Members
(Spring
2006)
PRB
Frequently Asked Questions
All proposals to the PRB
are submitted electronically, according to directions on submitting
proposals. The
online submission automatically assigns a project number in a Microsoft
Access database called //Cfsrv/prb/prb.mdb. The
online submission automatically places the attached proposal in a folder
called //Cfsrv/prb/Prb.prodocs,
which acts as a temporary waiting room. The Access database can
only be used from a PC, therefore a PC will have to be used by the
PRB Chair when a new proposal is used.
The permament PRB
record is on //Datastor/NetShare/PRB. All
PRB members will have access to and use this space. This
space can be accessed from PCs and Macs.
Department Chair Responsibilities
1.
Each fall, at the beginning of the semester, the Psychology Chair
or Secretary will request IT to give all new PRB members
plus the psychology department chair and secretary and the IRB contact
person full permissions on two folders on the server:
//Datastor/NetShare/PRB
//Cfsrv/prb
2. In addition, the Chair of Psychology Department will have the password
for the prb@skidmore.edu email
account in order to manage new submissions, in case the PRB chair is
temporarily out of commission.
IRB Contact Person Responsibilities
The IRB contact person (Pat
Choukier during 2005-2006) will perform a function for the PRB that
she/he already performs for the IRB. Specifically,
she/he will send Continuing Review Forms to PIs at the end of each
semester. The continuing reviews are required by federal guidelines.
PRB Chair Responsibilities
- Arrange to have email from the prb@skidmore.edu account
forwarded to the PRB Chair’s personal email account. This
can be done with help from the former PRB Chair or the Psych Dept
Chair. The prb account is set up on: https://owa.skidmore.edu/.
- When you receive email notification of a new proposal, open //Cfsrv/prb/prb.mdb,
and you will see several files.
- Click on the proposals_tbl file to see and edit the database.
- Click on //Cfsrv/prb/prodocs to
look at the proposal.
- Before continuing, check
the proposal to see whether it is appropriate for the PRB rather
than IRB (see website guidelines to PIs for the distinction). If
it should go to IRB, notify the PI, and do not continue.
- If the proposal is appropriate
for PRB, create a new folder for the protocol in the Datastor/Netshare/PRB folder for that semester (e.g., S06 Protocol Documents). Name the folder with the PI’s
last name and protocol#.
- PRB members appear in
columns in the far right of the //Cfsrv/prb/prb.mdb/proposals_tbl database. The
Chair will distribute proposals equitably among the committee members. One
reviewer will be designated as the contact person (i.e., Reviewer
#1), and this responsibility will be rotated among committee members. A
committee member will not be assigned to review a proposal if he/she
is affiliated with that project (e.g., if he/she is advisor to the
thesis student submitting the proposal). Record in the columns
on the right side of the database who will be assigned as Reviewers
#1 and #2.
- If the proposal is a
student, email the Faculty Advisor for an electronic signature
(you may use a memo template from //Datastor/NetShare/PRB/PRB Memo
Templates). Copy this and all email into the folder
on Datastor/Netshare/PRB. The review of a student proposal
begins only after Faculty Advisor approval is received. Copy
Faculty Advisor approval into the folder on Datastor.
- After you get faculty
advisor approval, email Reviewers #1 and #2, asking them to review
the proposal (you may use a memo template from //Datastor/NetShare/PRB/PRB Memo
Templates). Copy this and
all email into the folder on Datastor/Netshare/PRB.
- Copy the proposal from the temporary //Cfsrv/prb/prodocs space
to the new permanent folder on Datastor/Netshare/PRB/S06/. Copy all
supporting documents that are emailed to the PRB chair into the Datastor
space (e.g. questionnaires, letters, consent, debriefing).
- Email the PI to inform
her/him that the proposal was received. Give
the PI the project number for use in all future correspondence, and
the name of the contact person for the proposal (i.e., Reviewer #1). See
//Datastor/NetShare/PRB/PRB Memo Templates for a template [received_memo.doc].
- After Reviewer #1 notifies
the PRB Chair of final approval, the Chair adds the approved date
to the //Cfsrv/prb/prb.mdb/proposals_tbl database.
PRB Committee Member Responsibilities
- Reviewers #1 and #2 read
the proposal separately and write comments. There are two categories
of responses: (1) ethical concerns, which the PI must address,
and (2) methodological/design concerns which the PI is not required
to respond to, but are simply meant to be helpful to the PI. In
the communication to the PI, Reviewers should make very clear what
type of feedback they are giving (ethical or methodological) and
the steps the PI must take, if any, in order to obtain approval.
- Reviewer #2 sends his/her comments on the proposal to Reviewer
#1.
- Reviewer #1
compares her/his own comments to that of Reviewer #2. If
there are discrepancies, the two reviewers discuss the proposal further. If
the reviewers still disagree, another committee member is asked to
review the proposal. If there are no other committee members
who are eligible to evaluate the proposal, a Psychology department
faculty member who is not on the committee will be asked to serve
as an ad hoc reviewer.
- Once there is
consensus among the reviewers, Reviewer #1 consolidates the responses,
preserving the anonymity of the reviewers. Reviewer
#1 emails the PI, copies it to the faculty advisor if the PI is a
student, and also copies the email into the //Datastor/NetShare/PRB protocol folder. Emails should be saved as separate files, named
with the PI last name protocol number and email# (e.g., email1, email2,
email3).
- If the PI is
asked to revise the proposal and address ethical concerns, he/she
will make changes and resubmit the proposal via email to Reviewer
#1 with a cover letter explaining how the reviewers’ comments
were addressed.
- Reviewer #1 copies the response into the //Datastor/NetShare/PRB/ folder and forwards it to Reviewer #2.
- There may be
several rounds of correspondence between the Reviewers and the
PI. All
email is copied into the //Datastor/NetShare/PRB/ folder.
- Once the proposal is
approved, Reviewer #1 writes a final letter of approval and places
it in the //Datastor/NetShare/PRB/ folder. Reviewer
#1 emails the approval letter to the PI, and the faculty advisor
if PI is a student, and to the PRB Chair.
- If the proposal
is approved on ethical grounds but the reviewers have methodological
suggestions, and if the PI makes changes, the PI will submit the
revised proposal. Reviewer
#1 copies the final version into the //Datastor/NetShare/PRB/ folder.
|