Institutional Review Board (IRB)

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a peer-review committee charged with the responsibility of protecting the rights and welfare of humans involved in research. Ball State follows the ethical principles laid out by the Belmont Report (PDF). Ball State University's IRB subscribes to the "Common Rule" for the protection of human subjects found in 45 CFR 46.

The IRB reviews and approves all of Ball State's research protocols involving human subjects in order to ensure compliance with laws and national standards regarding the ethical treatment of human subjects. The researcher must attain IRB approval before conducting a study involving human subjects. Annual resubmission must be completed for projects of more than 12 months duration.

Questions about IRB? Contact Human Research Protection Program Manager, Michaela Hahn

IRB Resources  CITI Training   IRB Cayuse Human Ethics (HE)    FAQs

Preparing a Proposal

Before submitting your proposal to Ball State University's Institutional Review Board (IRB), please make sure you complete the following steps:

  1. Complete CITI Training. Need help? Check out the CITI Program User Manual
  2. If you are a student researcher, please complete the IRB Cayuse Human Ethics (HE) Access Request form. If you are a faculty member, you will not need to fill out a request form. All IRB submissions will be through Cayuse Human Ethics (HE).
  3. Complete the Cayuse Human Ethics (HE) submission and upload all relevant documents (i.e., informed consent, recruitment materials, etc.).
  4. If you are a student researcher, share your project with your advisor (PI of the project) and/or team members (if applicable).
  5. The Principal Investigator must electronically certify the project before it is submitted for review. At this time, students are unable to be principal investigators. If the application is for a student project, the faculty advisor must certify as the PI of record before it is submitted for review.

You can access all documents related to IRB research on the IRB Resources page.

The Office of Research Integrity recommends submitting research proposals at least one month prior to the date when a researcher would like to begin the project. This allows plenty of time for any possible revisions and board discussion.

The IRB will categorize it based on the amount of potential risk to research subjects. The three categories are:

If an initial review of your project results in an exempt decision, your study will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Expedited meetings are on a rolling basis, meaning as they come in, they are reviewed in the order they are received. Depending on the corrections/clarifications needed from the IRB and your response time determines the turnaround time for IRB approval.

Turnaround time will vary based on protocol volume at the time of submission. Therefore, we strongly encourage that protocols be submitted at least one month prior to the desired review date to allow plenty of time for board discussion and possible revisions.

Please note that this schedule is subject to revision. Additionally, submitting a protocol by the listed deadline does not guarantee that your protocol will be reviewed on the associated meeting date. Turnaround time will vary based on protocol volume at the time of submission. Therefore, we strongly encourage that protocols be submitted at least one month prior to the desired review date to allow plenty of time for board discussion and possible revisions. 

Full Board IRB meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month during the academic year starting September 17, 2025.

  • September 17th 2025
  • October 15th 2025
  • November 19th 2025
  • December 17th 2025
  • January 21st 2026
  • February 18th 2026
  • March 18th 2026
  • April 15th 2026
  • May 20th 2026
  • June 17th 2026
  • July 15th 2026


In support of Ball State University's dedication to the protection of human participants in research, BSU holds a current Federalwide Assurance with the Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) and has a duly registered Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Our assurance and registration numbers are:

  • FederalWide Assurance: FWA00000797
  • IRB Registration: IRB00001527