School Ethics Committee
The School of Business Ethics Committee has been established under the auspices of Charles Sturt University's Ethics in Human Research Committee (EHRC). Its purpose is to review all research applications for ethical approval that involve no more than minimal risk of harm to particpants. All aspects of the application relating to ethical approval will be examined by this committee. If your application is assessed as involving no more than minimal risk of harm to participants, it can be approved at the school level, and can proceed expeditiously.
'Minimal risk' is defined in the National Health and Medical Council's National Statement as that which involves no more than inconvenience to participants. There is no clear demarcation between 'minimal risk' and 'greater than minimal risk', though if you are wishing to administer a brief survey form, or undertake interviews of short duration, such designs would fall into this category.
Notification of approval by the school committee for all applications will be forwarded to the EHRC for formal approval at the university level. If your application is assessed as having more than minimal risk of harm, it will be forwarded to the university committee for full evaluation (similar to the procedures in place until now). You may wish to inidcate that your application needs to be forwarded directly to the full committee for evaluation if you understand that it involves more than minimal risk - this will facilitiate progress.
Remember that members of the ethics committees are keen to 'progress' your applications. You can assist by ensuring that yours meets the standards that apply to all 'good' research. Address all questions on the forms, have another person (colleague, supervisor, critical friend) give feedback on your answers and submit your application in a timely manner. We will do all we can to make sure that you can take your research to the next level.
Happy researching!
Committee Members
Dr Parikshit K. Basu (Presiding Officer) pbasu@csu.edu.au
Kerry Tilbrook ktilbrook@csu.edu.au
The first point of contact for administrative matters will be:
Tammie Turnbull tturnbull@csu.edu.au or Phone (02) 6338 4277
Questions relating to research ethical matters should be addressed in the first instance to a member of the school committee.
Forms
All forms are to be submitted to:
Tammie Turnbull
Secretary, School of Business Ethics Committee
Charles Sturt University
Panorama Avenue
Bathurst NSW 2795
Fax: (02) 6338 4228
- Ethics in Human Research Committee Application for Approval for Use of Human Participants or Materials in Research (Form 1)
- Minimal Risk Review Form (Form 2)