About the Executive Committee

This body is composed of the chairs and vice chairs of the five primary panels, as well as other institutional officials concerned with oversight of research and the protection of human subjects.

The monthly agenda for each Executive Committee meeting is set by the RSPP Director and reflects the current concerns of the institution, the administration, and individual members. The Executive Committee is regularly briefed on ongoing local compliance concerns and national level human subjects protections issues.

The panel’s primary focus is to address policy and procedural issues and provide guidance to the other five panels. This guidance may take the form of regulatory interpretation and issuance of general position statements as concerns specific protections topics or that of a "by request" advisory body as concerns specific research proposals.

When another panel has requested the assistance of the Executive Committee, the Executive Committee informs the panel of origin of its opinion. That panel then makes a final recommendation in the matter at hand. The Executive Committee does not "second-guess" or overrule decisions of another panel.

The Committee is also a duly constituted IRB panel capable of making voting decisions when quorum is present.