Institutional Review Board

This website provides information about the Aurora University Institutional Review Board (IRB), including its current chair/membership, monthly application deadlines, IRB review meeting dates, IRB application materials, and resources/guidelines for research activities. If you are an AU student or faculty planning to conduct human subjects research, please consult the information and resources on this page to assist you with the IRB application and review process. Please contact the current IRB chair, Dr. Willie Jackson, at wjackson@aurora.edu or 630-947-8946 if you have any questions.

Current IRB Membership

Willie Jackson, Jr. (Chair) – George Williams School of Social Work at Aurora University
Marianne Benedek – George Williams School of Social Work at Aurora University
CJ Chen – School of Health Sciences
Gregory Goalwin – School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Kenneth King – School of Education
Zeb Koran – School of Nursing
Caleb Lewis – Dunham School of Business
John McCormack – School of Humanities
Veo Taylor – School of Natural Sciences, Technology, and Math
Faith Wilson – School of Education
Aubrey Southall – Faculty Representative at Large
Brenda Barnwell – Provost’s Designee
Amber Pareja – Community Liaison (IMSA)

Non-Voting Members

Candy Byars – Ex-Officio Member
Lisa Majerus (Secretary) – School of Nursing
Katie Tharp – Ex-Officio Member

Please contact your school representative, or the IRB Chair, with any questions regarding IRB.

Application Process

Please see the presentation, "How to Complete an IRB Application" for details on the application process.

IRB Manual

The following is the current version of the Aurora University IRB Manual. Please consult the manual prior to completing the IRB application as it contains pertinent information regarding levels of review, review processes, and guidelines regarding various human subjects research activities.

IRB Manual

Human Subjects Research Training

You are required to complete human subjects research training for the application of your human subjects research. Follow the steps below and attach your certificate of completion with your IRB application materials.

To complete the tutorial visit citiprogram.org and follow the instructions below to create an account and select the appropriate course.

Click the “Register Button.”
Select Aurora University as the institutional affiliation and follow the prompts to complete your registration. Use your AU email address to register.
On the select curriculum page, answer the questions as appropriate to add yourself to various courses.
a. For question four, select “Social and Behavioral Research Investigators” unless you are certain you are better suited for another option.
b. For question eight, select the course appropriate for your research type. Most will select “Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research.”
c. Select appropriately for any other training you are interested in. For example, you may want to learn about FERPA or Conflicts of Interest. These are not IRB-required training.
Complete the training and attach the confirmation of your completion to your application. Note that the certificate is valid for 3 years from the date of completion.

Level of Review

Human Subjects Determination Form – Use this document to help you determine if your study is considered research. The form is to be used as a guide, and if you have further questions or concerns, please contact your representative – see the above information. If you are a student, your instructor may still require you to submit a proposal to the IRB even if regulations don't require it.

IRB Proposal Application and Sample Consent Form

Application Cover Page – Include this cover page (as a separate document) when you email the IRB chair. This checklist is designed to speed up your application process.

IRB Application

Sample Consent Form

Elements of Informed Consent – Please use this form to assist you in including all of the important sections of your consent form.

Special Forms

Below are forms that may be needed as part of a current IRB application or after your application has been approved. They include forms for requesting a waiver of documenting informed consent, making modifications to previously approved research, renewing approved research annually, reporting any adverse events or injuries that occur during research, and closing out your research study. Please consult the IRB Manual for information about when these documents are applicable. Please email these forms to the current IRB chair.

Waiver of Documentation of Informed Consent

Project Renewal Form – Use of the project renewal form when your research project extends beyond the one-year IRB approval cycle.
Project Modification Form – use this form when you need to request modifications to already approved research prior to the one-year IRB approval cycle.
Reporting Adverse Events Form – submit this form to the IRB chair as soon as possible if any adverse events are experienced as a result of research. If participants are exposed to any immediate risks as a result of research, stop research immediately (unless halting research would exacerbate or create further risks) and contact the IRB chair.
Study Closure Form – submit this form when all data collection/involvement of human participants is completed and collected data has been de-identified in order to close out the study.

Research with Children

Children under the age of 18 are considered a protected class. In order to conduct research with them, researchers need to obtain the child's assent and a parent or guardian's permission.

Sample Parent/Guardian Permission Form

Sample Child Assent Form