Research Ethics Policy at RCC Institute of Technology

Scope of Policy: As defined in Article 2.1 of the TCPS (2010), this policy applies to all research involving living human participants conducted by faculty members or students as part of the educational mission of the Institute or supported materially by RCC Institute of Technology.2 The policy does not apply to:

a) Research that relies exclusively on publicly available information;

b) Research about a living individual involved in the public arena, or about an artist, based exclusively on publicly available information, documents, records, works, performances, archival materials or third-party interviews, is not required to undergo ethics review. Suchresearch only requires ethics review if the subject is approached directly for interviews or for access to private papers, and then only to ensure that such approaches are conducted according to professional protocols.

Research involving the observation of people in public places where:

i) it does not involve any intervention staged by the researcher, or direct interaction with the individuals or groups;
ii) individuals or groups targeted for observation have no reasonable expectation of privacy; and
iii) any dissemination of research results does not allow identification of specific individuals;

d) Research that relies exclusively on secondary use of anonymous information;
e) Quality assurance and quality improvement studies, program evaluation activities, and performance reviews, or testing within normal educational requirements when used exclusively for assessment, management, or improvement purposes.

RCC Institute of Technology shall establish a Research Ethics Board to discharge its duty to promote ethical research and to help researchers understand and meet their ethical responsibilities.

i) the Vice President, Academic;
ii) at least one senior member of an academic support unit;
iii) at least one faculty member from each Faculty of the Institute;

(1) at least one faculty member shall be drawn from the Faculty in which the applicant teaches or studies;

b) The Vice President, Academic, shall be Chair of the Research Ethics Board.
c) A quorum shall be 60% of the members, provided that at least two faculty members are in attendance.
d) Mandate: The Research Ethics Board shall

i) Develop guidelines, procedures, and forms needed to apply the TCPS (2010) to RCC Institute of Technology, including but not limited to:

Guidance for faculty members and instructional design experts who are developing new courses or reviewing existing courses that include assignments requiring students to conduct research involving living human participants;

Guidance for students conducting research involving living human participants;
Guidance for faculty members;
Procedures and forms for full review of proposed research;
Procedures for expedited review of proposed research.

Develop or recommend educational and support material for students and faculty members to help them understand and meet their ethical responsibilities;

Conduct full or expedited reviews of proposed research involving living human participants and issue certificates attesting that the research meets the requirements and expectations of the TCPS (2010);

Conduct full or expedited reviews of course syllabi and / or assignments within courses when the course requires students to conduct research involving living human participants and issue certificates attesting that the course and assignments meet the requirements and expectations of the TCPS (2010);

Maintain records of decisions and report annually to Academic Council on the activities of the Board;

Review this policy from time to time and recommend revisions as appropriate.

Conflicts of interest: If the REB is reviewing research in which a member of the REB has a personal interest, conflict of interest principles require that the member not be present when the REB is discussing or making its decision. The Chair shall ensure that quorum is maintained should one or more members be absent as a result of this conflict of interest guideline.

i) Principle of proportionate review: The REB will use a proportionate approach based on the general principle that the more invasive the research, the greater should be the care in assessing the research.

ii) Principle of continuing review: Ongoing research shall be subject to continuing ethics review.