It is the policy of Grays Harbor College to act in an ethically responsible manner when conducting research involving human subjects. The College adheres to the requirements and basic principles regarding human subject research provided in the Belmont Report, written by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1979. These principles include: respect for persons, autonomy, beneficence, and justice.
Basic Principles
The basic principles adhered to by the College are drawn from the Belmont Report, written by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1979.
- Respect for Persons: Individuals should be treated as autonomous agents. That is, individuals should be treated as capable of deliberation about personal goals and of acting under the direction of such deliberation. To respect autonomy is to give weight to an individual person’s considered opinions and choices while refraining from obstructing their actions unless they are clearly detrimental to others. To show lack of respect for an autonomous agent is to repudiate that person’s considered judgments, to deny an individual the freedom to act on those considered judgments, or to withhold information necessary to make a considered judgment, when there are no compelling reasons to do so.
- Autonomy: The investigator has an obligation to each participant to treat them as a person fully capable of making an informed decision regarding his or her participation in the research. Each participant must be given a full disclosure of the nature of the study, including any risks or benefits. To ensure the autonomy of the participant, the College requires a signed informed consent form from each participant in the study unless the study meets the exception criteria outlined in the sections on “consent” (i.e., Specific Requirements, subsection (e) – “Consent”) or “exemptions”.
- Beneficence: The investigator has an obligation to each participant to attempt to maximize benefit for each participant and/or society, while minimizing the risk of harm to each participant.
- Justice: The investigator has an obligation to provide for equitable selection of participants, i.e., avoiding unfair coercion. The investigator is also obligated to provide for equitable distribution of benefits and burdens among the selected population. An injustice
OP 310 – Human Subjects Research occurs when some benefit to which a person is entitled is denied without good reason or when some burden is imposed unduly. As an example, the burdens of serving as research subjects should not fall largely upon the poor, infirm, or upon particular racial or ethnic minorities, while the research benefits likewise should not fall largely and exclusively upon, for example, the rich and/or healthy populations.
The Human Subjects Review Committee shall be appointed by the president and chaired by the vice president for instruction or an administrative designee. Its membership shall include at least one faculty member teaching in each of the disciplines of biology, nursing and psychology and at least two faculty members teaching in other fields. Instructors seeking approval for any human subject activity shall do so a reasonable time prior to the first term that the activity is planned for use.