Carteret Community College encourages and supports the scholarly endeavors of its students, faculty, and staff, as well as other educational institutions and organizations. The College acknowledges pursuit of scholarly research will often involve the use of human subjects for data collection and analysis. In conducting such research, it is necessary to ensure that the rights and welfare of human subjects are protected, the risks have been considered and minimized, and the potential for benefit must be identified and maximized. For such research, all human subject participation is voluntary and only after provided with a legally effective process for informed consent. Lastly, all research must be conducted in an ethical manner and in compliance with established standards. The President will ensure a procedure for approval of research requests involving human subjects is established and followed.
Procedure
Exemptions from Research Requests
- Carteret Community College and its programs may use data contained within its enterprise resource planning systems and to survey students to support the College’s vision, mission, strategic planning, and to remain compliant with all accrediting agencies.
- In classroom settings, research under the supervision of faculty used solely for pedagogical purposes and not used to contribute to a body of knowledge may be conducted so long as the research does not include sensitive, personal, or incriminating topics.
- Interviews requested by external parties of College employees as subject matter experts may be conducted so long as Carteret Community College will not appear in any publications produced by the external parties.
Expectations and Requirements of Research
The following are expectations and requirements associated with research requests that propose using Carteret Community College students, faculty, and/ or staff as subjects:
- Subjects’ legal rights will be respected and their rights to privacy, dignity, and comfort will be considered in approving proposed research;
- Risks to subjects, if any, must be reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits and the importance of the knowledge that may result from the proposed research;
- Adequate provision(s) must be made for all facilities, procedures, and professional attention necessary for the protection of the individual as a research subject;
- Participation of Carteret Community College students, faculty, and/or staff in research using human subjects is strictly voluntary and only after legally effective informed consent is provided. Participants have the right to withdraw at any time;
- Allowing students, faculty, and/or staff to participate in research studies does not imply a review and/or endorsement of the study by any College employee;
- The College is not included in any contractual arrangement agreed to between the research sponsor and any Carteret Community College student and/or employee;
- The research sponsor is responsible for the welfare of research participants.
- The research sponsor is responsible for the security and protection of all retained data collected during their research and must securely dispose of any data within five years of collection; and
- No person under the age of 18 may participate in research.
Research Request Workflow
- Complete and submit the Research Request Form located on the Institutional Effectiveness webpage and submit all required documents to ire@carteret.edu no later than the 7th of the month to be presented at the next President’s Cabinet meeting.
- A representative from the Office of Institutional Effectiveness will contact the research requester within seven calendar days of reviewing all submitted documentation to confirm receipt of items and to follow-up with any clarifications that might be needed. The research requestor will have seven calendar days to respond.
- Research requests will be presented to the President’s Cabinet the last Friday of each month, September through April. Research requests will be presented to the President’s Cabinet on the last Thursday of each month, May through July.
- The President’s Cabinet will review the information and render a decision. The decisions are:
- Approved: A representative from the Office of Institutional Effectiveness will coordinate with the research requestor to proceed with the research
- Approved if modifications added
- Disapproved
- The research requestor will be informed within seven calendar days of the decision.
- A representative from the Office of Institutional Effectiveness will determine the means of notifying potential participants if the research request is approved.
- For researchers not affiliated with the college, only aggregate data will be made available if the aggregate sample size is at least 30.
- There is no appeals process to the President’s Cabinet’s decision.
Sources
Office for Human Research Protections, 45 CFR 46
The Belmont Report