Human Subjects Review Board

All research involving the use of human research subjects (participants) must be reviewed and approved by the Hope College Human Subjects Review Board (HSRB) before the research can be initiated. To initiate review, complete an application and submit it to the HSRB for review. Call the HSRB chair, Dr. Mary Inman, 395-7148, for answers to questions regarding the HSRB or the HSRB review process. Follow the guidelines under "HSRB Review Procedure." Additionally, proposals for funding to the National Science Foundation (NSF) or National Institutes of Health (NIH) should be sent to the HSRB. The HSRB will determine if exemption from human subjects is warranted. See Hope's Sponsored Research site for grant proposal information. To get a sense of whether your work is likely to be exempt, see the Frequently Asked Questions page. In addition to HSRB approval, it is necessary to take the "ethics in research" tutorial and certification through CITI (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative).

Some Hope staff have already taken their ethics training through the Cancer Institute (CI), which the HSRB deems as equivalent to CITI's training. Your training is good for 3 years. Submit proof of training (from CITI or the CI) along with your application to the HSRB. If we already have your certificate on file, note the date you completed your training on your HSRB application. When you take your refresher course in three years, please take the CITI course unless doing so violates other regulations that you are under.

Click here to read the rationalization for the CITI tutorials and tests and to read more about exemptions.

If we get approval from CITI, we will re-post some of their tutorials.