6/9/2011: Last July we wrote:
While ORSA has been in complete disarray, the Human Subjects Protection office has been very well run. I hope they can find a worthy replacement for Juliana (Kyrk). Given what I’ve seen of other university’s IRB offices it won’t be easy. Rumor is that the general disarray at the top of ORSA led to her retirement. Don’t know how this is related to the Rich Linton resignation if at all.
Two months ago, Rich Linton wrote:
and now Christina Booth is suddenly gone. The website just says “Director – position vacant”. That explains why I never got a call back on that protocol question.
If you know the inside scoop on what happened here, and who is to blame, please don’t send an email to [email protected]. And please don’t leave an anonymous comment. I don’t want to know. Please – just fix this, Provost Bean. Get down on your knees and beg Juliana to come back, hire some consultants, or whatever it is you do over there in Johnson Hall.
This is bush-league stuff. Over and over again. We pay you $295,000 for this? And Rich, don’t you think you might want to email the PI’s and at least tell us to forget about getting approvals for the summer?
“23% of investigators who reported non-compliance with IRB policies indicated the reason was time: ‘I was in a hurry and could not afford the delay’ (Liddle & Brazelton, 1996; p. 5). Investigators’ failure to comply with institutional policies and/or federal regulations can lead, in extreme cases, to suspension of all human participant research at the institution (Oakes, 2002). IRB administrators interested in identifying and reducing the influence of factors associated with non-compliance may want to work with investigators and IRB members to make sure that protocols are processed in a timely manner.” (http://www.apa.org/research/responsible/irbs-psych-science.aspx)
Short version: this could get ugly.
Too many protocols + too few staff + inefficient procedures = unacceptable mistakes/delays. It doesn’t help that there is very little time for outreach and education of the human subjects research community. As a consequence, many of the protocols that are submitted tend to be poorly constructed, overly long, and a challenge for the staff and review boards to read. Ms. Booth tried to overcome these obstacles and failed, as I’m sure most would under these circumstances.
This was sent to uo matters via an anonymous email. Huron is getting yet another contract extension?
Dear Dr X –
Now that this gospel has been published, please remind PI’s that of course, Huron makes it clear that since the situation is hopeless and no one at Oregon is capable, they must imbed themselves for the long run. Can someone please find out contract details?
Also, rumor has it that the Post Award Associate/Assistant Director search has failed. Apparently God and Martha Stewart are busy.
Keep up the good work!