Instructions for using this document: This document was designed to be used by investigators conducting research in schools as a template to complete and send to the appropriate school administrators to ensure that the investigator has the necessary permission to conduct research in the school and to ensure that all the required regulatory issues are addressed. The red sections below mark sections of text where the investigator should fill-in-the-blank, and the blue sections below indicate sections of text that the investigator can add and remove as they apply to their research. Please contact COMIRB at 303-724-1055 with any questions regarding the applicability of certain sections and with any other questions.
Dear [School/District official],
I am a researcher from the University of Colorado Denver, and I would like your permission to conduct a research project [School/Districtname(s)]. The title of the research is [Fill in Research Title].
[Fill in description of research;involvement of students (including any use of educational records), teachers, administrators, school facilities; your role in the research; and any professional affiliation you have with the relevant schools and school districts. Please be detailed in your description.]
Ethical review of this research will be conducted by the Colorado Multiple Institutional Review Board (COMIRB) prior to the research commencing.
[Add for Exempt research:COMIRB has been asked to determine that the proposed research is exempt from the federal regulations that govern research with human subjects. Your institution should follow your institutional process for reviewing exempt research.]
[Add for Expedited research: COMIRB’s commitment to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to review all proposed research,regardless of the source of funding,requires that all institutions engaged in conducting this researchperform their ownindependent IRB review of the research or formally agree to rely on COMIRB’s review of the research. Each institution must make their own determination as to whether their involvement in the proposed research would engage the institution in conducting the research, which would require an independent IRB review or a formal agreement with COMIRB, or if the institution is merely providing support to investigators to help facilitate the research.
Guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding what activities could engage an institution in conducting research can be found at the following link. Please note that COMIRB’s commitment to DHHS requires that all institutions engaged in conducting this research conduct their own independent IRB or formally agree to rely on COMIRB review:
I would ask that the appropriate school official provide written permission and endorsement below for the research described in this document.
[PPRA section, add if applicable: Also,I wanted to make it clear that my research involves surveying students with questions which are covered by Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). As part of this project I will obtain the written parental permission required under PPRA to survey the children.]
I strongly encourage you to contact the appropriate authority at your institution before proceeding. Please feel free to contact me at [Investigator’s Phone Number] with any questions regarding the research and COMIRB at 303-724-1055 with any questions regarding the relevant regulations.
I look forward to working with you to complete this research.
Sincerely,
[Investigator’s name]
School Official’s Permission and Endorsement
As a representative of ______(Enter School/School District Name), I give the CU Denver researcher [Investigator’s Name] endorsement and permission to conduct the research described in this document. I know that I will be informed about any significant changes to the research or any problems that may arise.
Our __school/ __ school district Institutional Review Board __will/__ will not also need to review this project.
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[FERPA Section, add if applicable:
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Acknowledgement
My research involves reviewingidentifiablestudent educational records that are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). I would like to ask that the appropriate school official in charge of FERPA compliance review my proposal and sign the acknowledgement below indicating that this project would comply with the school's FERPA policies. FERPA lays out criteria for situations where written consent would need to be obtained for the disclosure of educational records. Please make sure to indicate whether written consent would need to be obtained specifically to disclose the educational records for the purposes of this research, in addition to consent that may be required to participate in the research.
FERPA Official's Acknowledgement
I, ______, the official responsible for FERPA compliance at ______, have reviewed the proposed research and agree that it is appropriate to be conducted using student records at our school or school district.
Please check next to one:
____Based upon the information that has been provided to me,written consent would need to be obtained under FERPA specifically to disclose the educational records for the purposes of this research, in addition to consent that may be required to participate in the research.
____ Based upon the information that has been provided to me,written consent would not need to be obtained under FERPA specifically to disclose the educational records for the purposes of this research.Consent may be required to participate in the research.
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CF-270 School research/FERPA letter template
Effective 7-9-14