23 - Implementation of Virtual IRB Office Hours for the Research Community

Background: Due to the global pandemic and all units shifting to processing IRB applications remotely, there was a need to make IRB staff more accessible to the research community. Principal Investigators and research staff needed guidance on designing research protocols and assistance with submission questions.

Program

Description: Prior to the pandemic, our office was looking to offer regularly scheduled office hours where an IRB staff member would be available to assist with IRB application questions. The pandemic halted all progress, but the need still existed. We decided Spring of 2021 to move forward with IRB Office Hours in a virtual format beginning in July. The program structure was a bi-weekly 2-hour opportunity for members of the research community to “drop in” to IRB Office Hours via Zoom for assistance from an IRB office staff member on their IRB submission. All participants began in a “Waiting Room”, then move to a “Triage” breakout room to discuss and provide needed background information regarding the study or issue. The participant would then be assigned to an IRB staff member for in-depth assistance.

Program

Assessment: As of November 2023, virtual office hours had been offered for over 2 years. While several other administrative units within our institution followed suit in offering these sessions, the IRB office hours sessions have been the most widely utilized. Initially, participation was low because of low campus awareness, but awareness increased after working with other offices on campus with well-established communication mediums to advertise the service. By the end of August 2021, sessions became so popular that it was often difficult for the original IRB staff members to keep up with number of participants and became quickly became fatigued. It was decided to open Office Hours to additional staff members who were willing to help. New staff were trained for various roles and shadow seasoned staff members in breakout rooms. A resource document was also created to document the purpose, structure, tools, and the process for running future sessions.

Limitations: Factors that limited the effectiveness of the program include determining the ROI and difficulty raising awareness of the service. Securing the appropriate number of experienced IRB staff members due to availability. Staff experienced burnout from working 2 hours straight in the fast-paced, mentally challenging environment. After establishing a larger team to reduce the time commitments to a 1-hour shift, staff felt the pressure of spending time in office hours v. addressing their normal IRB workload.

Discussion: After overcoming the initial challenges of raising awareness and staffing the sessions, this is a critical component of our service-offerings for our research community. Moreover, staffing these sessions has become popular among IRB staff. It has led to increased engagement, exposure to a variety of new questions and topics, and opportunities for cross-training. They have been so well received that our faculty senate requested an increase in frequency from every other week to weekly. Perhaps most importantly, this creates opportunities for real time assistance to our research community and humanizes IRB staff to the research community and vice versa.