Institutional Review Board

Purpose and Functions

The Office of Institutional Planning, Research and Assessment informs the institution’s decision-making and planning processes by serving as its chief information clearinghouse. Our mission is to provide timely and accurate research to the MassBay community, including academic and administrative offices. We provide training and consultation on topics such as assessment, research and instrument design, evaluation, and data analysis. We partner with offices on campus to assess institutional effectiveness in multiple areas. Through our work, we promote a campus culture that ensures effective and responsible collection and use of institutional data for the purpose of advancing student success.

In addition to supporting the MassBay community, The Office of Institutional Planning, Research and Assessment responds to data requests from external audiences, including state and federal agencies, as well as other higher education institutions. Our office is responsible for submitting the HEIRS and IPEDS reports, among others.  We also administer institution-wide surveys to faculty, staff, and students, including the CCSSE and the CCSFE.

Staff

Yves Salomon-Fernandez, Ph.D.  Dean of Institutional Planning, Research and Assessment

Ming Ju, Ph.D.  Senior Research Analyst

Contact

Office of Institutional Planning, Research and Assessment

Massachusetts Bay Community College

50 Oakland Street

Room # 430

Wellesley Hills, MA 02481

Phone: 781-239-3160

E-mail: institutional.research@massbay.edu

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a federally-mandated independent committee that functions as a “human subjects advocate” whose role is to protect human subjects participating in research. The role of the Board is to evaluate research proposed by MassBay and its affiliates– domestic and international– with regard to:

• Risks to human subjects
• Adequacy of protection against these risks
• Potential benefits of the research to the subjects and others
• Importance of the knowledge gained or to be gained.

MassBay IRB members serve a one-year (calendar) renewable term. The IRB is required by the federal government to be “sufficiently qualified through the experience and expertise of its members, and the diversity of the members, (including race, gender, and cultural backgrounds and sensitivity to such issues as community attitudes), to promote respect for its advice and counsel in safeguarding the rights and welfare of human subjects.” The committee has the authority to approve, require changes to the study procedures, or disapprove research projects proposed by MassBay faculty, students, staff and affiliates in the U.S. and abroad.

Current IRB Board Members:

•  Tish Allen, Professor, Humanities Division 
•  Liz Blumberg, Associate Dean, Office of Enrollment Management & Student Affairs 
•  Maxine Elmont, Professor, Social Science & Professional Studies Division 
•  Linda Grisham, Dean, Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics Division 
•  Chitra Javdekar, Professor, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Division 
•  Dawn Levasseur, Professor, Social Science & Professional Studies Division 
•  JoAnn Mackey, Dean, Health Sciences Division 
•  Yves Salomon-Fernandez, Dean, Institutional Planning, Research & Assessment 
•  Timothy Rivard, Director of Learning Services  
•  David Coleman, Dean, Humanities Division  
•  Chandrakant Panse, Professor, Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics Division 
•  Donna Gladney, Health Sciences Division  
•  Sharron Hobbs, External Member 
•  Diana Stork, External Member
  

The Dean of the Office of Institutional Planning, Research and Assessment serves as the Administrator for the IRB. Submissions of research applications to the IRB can be sent electronically to research@massbay.edu.

To see our FAQs, please click here.