Institutional Review Board

Our Institutional Review Board (IRB) was established to protect the rights of human subjects who volunteer to participate in research. The IRB exists as a safeguard to promote the ethical and responsible treatment of participants in research.

MCLA requires that all research involving human participants must be reviewed and approved by the IRB before any research may be started. Guiding the review process is the application of federal and state laws and regulations outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 45 Part 46 (45 CFR 46), and the ethical principles of the Belmont Report as the criteria for the review of all research studies.

All student researchers, administrators, and faculty must complete the appropriate training module within the CITI Program.

Go to the CITI homepage at https://about.citiprogram.org/en/homepage/
Click on the 'Register' button
Type in 'Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' in the box under 'Select Your Organization Affiliation'
Select 'Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' from the drop-down menu
Click boxes: 'Agree' and 'Affirm'
Proceed to Register
Take the appropriate course training per your professor/adviser

IRB Review Dates

Full Review - 4 weeks
Exempt and Expedited Review - 2 weeks

URC 2025 Review Dates

Students who plan to do human research that will be presented at the URC this April, please note the below deadline:

Application Deadline - Friday, February 28, 2025

Applications should be emailed to Institutionalreview@mcla.edu no later than the above deadline.

IRB Members

Ann Billetz, Chair
Professor, Biology

Rita Nnodim
Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies

Mary King
Retired Physician - Community Member

Clio Stearns
Assistant Professor, Education

Thomas Whalen
Professor, Business Administration

Sharon Claffey
Professor, Psychology

Lisa Arrastia
Associate Professor, Education