An Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a committee that reviews proposed research with the aim to protect participants’ rights and welfare (Title 45 Code of Federal Regulations Part 46).
Normal assessment activities at LMU are not subject to review by its IRB because they are not considered research under IRB regulations (Title 45 CFR § 46.102). Assessment serves to help administrators and faculty make decisions about their own programs, not to contribute knowledge to a field of study.
Nevertheless, faculty and staff engaged in assessment at LMU value IRB aims to protect privacy. As part of our efforts to protect student privacy, assessment reports only include aggregated data that is free of personally identifying information.
It should be noted that assessment conducted for grant funded projects or to be published or presented outside of LMU may fall under the jurisdiction of the IRB; in such instances, faculty and staff are advised to contact Julie Paterson at (310) 258-5465.
Information about LMU’s IRB is available at the IRB website.