The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Tampa is responsible for approving proposals by UTampa faculty, staff or students that involve human participants. The IRB is comprised of a minimum of five University faculty members from across all colleges and one external member.

The IRB was established to protect the rights, welfare and safety of human research participants. All faculty, staff and students conducting research involving human subjects must submit an IRB proposal and receive approval before initiating any research activities.

The full University policy concerning the IRB can be found in the Faculty Handbook (Chapter 6, Part VIII). The most recent update to the policy was approved by the Faculty Senate in October 2011.

Purpose and Scope

The IRB ensures that all research adheres to ethical principles outlined in the Belmont Report and complies with federal regulations following the Common Rule updated in 2018.

Key responsibilities include:

• Evaluating risk-to-benefit ratios to minimize potential harm to participants.
• Reviewing informed consent processes to ensure voluntary, fully informed participation.
• Reviewing privacy and confidentiality of research data and participant identities.

SpartanIRB Human Subjects Research Portal

SpartanIRB is a dedicated internal IRB resource portal created as a course in Canvas for UTampa faculty, staff, and students. This centralized portal includes review process guidance, editable templates, annotated examples of informed consents and debriefing statements, CITI requirements, and proposal FAQs that are updated regularly as federal guidelines evolve. From this portal, you can access the Submittable platform to submit proposals, update currently approved proposals, track status, and complete required compliance training through embedded links.