These guidelines are for using Boise State students who are not enrolled in any classes the PI is teaching.
Recruitment
When recruiting students who are enrolled in a specific university course (e.g., English 101, Psych 101):
- Students must be of the age of majority in the state of Idaho (18 years old). Research involving minors (under 18 years of age) as subjects will require parental (or legal guardian) consent, as well as the assent of the student.
- Researchers may not access identifiable student academic records (performance evaluations, grades, or other information in a student’s record) without prior written permission from the student, regardless of the access an investigator may have in his/her academic role.
- When extra credit is given to students who participate in research, there must be alternative options for fulfilling the research component (e.g., short papers, special projects, book reports, and brief quizzes on additional readings, etc.). Â These projects must be comparable in terms of time, effort and educational benefit to participation as a research subject to ensure that students are not being coerced into becoming subjects. Alternatives offered to student subjects need prior IRB approval.
- Please note, even once the IRB has approved your protocol, the Boise State department and/or course instructor will have the final determination about whether a PI can use their students as research subjects. The PI should contact the course instructor before submitting an IRB protocol application.
Informed Consent
Researchers must clearly explain the following in the consent form (as well as the IRB application itself):
- How the risk of coercion (e.g., to participate in the study; to participate in voluntary additional activities; etc.) will be minimized;
- That participation will not affect grades or standing in the class;
- What from their student academic records may be disclosed, the purpose of the disclosure, and the identity of the parry or class of parties to whom the records may be disclosed.
- Like other research volunteers, students who become research participants must be allowed to withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. The informed consent statement should make it clear that withdrawal from the research study prior to completion will have no affect on their grade or standing in the class.
FERPA/Data Warehouse
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of personally identifiable information contained within a student’s education record. Researchers are required to apply FERPA regulations and human subjects protections when accessing education records.
Please refer to IRB Program Guide and search “FERPA” for more details.