Do you need it
If you're collecting data from people and any of it might end up in a thesis, a conference, or a publication, submit to the IRB before you recruit anyone — approval can't be granted after the fact. Purely internal course exercises often qualify for exempt status, but the determination is the IRB's to make from your application.
The process
Complete the online human-subjects training, then submit a protocol: your questions, recruitment, consent language, and data-security plan. Exempt and expedited reviews are handled by staff and a single reviewer; full-board review is monthly. Your faculty advisor must be listed and sign. The Office of Research & Sponsored Programs runs a clinic for first-time student applicants.
In and around Porter Falls
Research at Porter is applied and partner-driven: a Valley Health quality project, a DNR study on the Porter River, a manufacturing-process fix for a county employer. The Office of Research & Sponsored Programs handles the review and paperwork so the work can start on time.
The practical details
Needs review: Any systematic research with living people — surveys, interviews, experiments — intended to produce generalizable knowledge. Often exempt: Low-risk classroom-only projects and anonymous surveys; the IRB still makes that call, not you. Lead time: Two to six weeks depending on risk level — build it into your timeline. Anything time-sensitive — an accommodation, a booking, a deadline — is worth confirming directly before you rely on it, because the specifics here can change from term to term.
If you have a question
The office behind this is Office of Research & Sponsored Programs (Millwright Hall, Room 340). Call (715) 555–0230 or email research@uwporterfalls.edu during the fall and spring terms, or sign in to MyPorter to send a message or book a time. If it turns out another office owns the question, they will route it rather than send you back to the start.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every office, person, building, phone number and statistic on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real institution or a service you can actually contact.