Camosun believes in maintaining the highest of ethical standards in the research conducted at the college. We take this responsibility very seriously, and have established an ethics approval process based on nationally recognized standards. This process is managed by the Camosun Research Ethics Board (REB). As per Camosun's policy governing the Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Human Subjects, all Camosun research projects that deal with human subjects must obtain ethics approval. You can expect a full review if your project uses questionnaires, interviews, behaviour observation, use of non-public information about people or anything else that involves people in any capacity. The REB consists of college and community members and its mandate is to:
This guide includes resources, forms and other information to help you understand and work with the ethics approval process. For more information contact the REB chair: REBChair@camosun.ca, and check out the ethics approval website.
Applications for approval must be submitted at least one week prior to a scheduled meeting of the Research Ethics Board (REB). Application deadlines and REB meeting dates appear in the Camosun Calendar of Events and in CamNews. The REB may consider doing and expedited review when there is a rush.
Ethics approval is granted for a one year period. At the end of this time, principal investigators are required to complete and submit the Notification of Project Completion or Application for renewal of previously approved project should an extension of ethics approval be required.
Student research (including regular classroom projects) that in any way involve the gathering of information from human subjects is also subject to review. Department Chairs can approve the ethical conduct of student research if they feel that the research poses minimal risk. If the Department Chair feels the research may pose greater than minimal risk, they must forward the project to the REB for review.
Department Chairs are responsible for the ethical conduct of the courses taught within their department. The college has a responsibility to ensure that our students are aware of ethical issues, and must conduct class research in an ethical manner.
To learn more about minimal risk, please contact the REB.