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Academic Programs

Independent Studies Not Involving Human Participants

Academic Programs Overview | Course Work | Supervised Fieldwork and Advisement | Integrative Master's Project 

The Commence Form for Independent Studies Not Involving Human Participants can be used in the following circumstances:

• Information is gathered from a public database where aggregated data cannot be associated with any particular individual or group of individuals;
• Information is gathered through observations of behavior within a public gathering that cannot be associated with any particular individual or group of individuals;
• Information is already in the public domain (e.g., autobiographies, diaries, other published materials); or
• Human participants are being asked solely to give feedback on or participate in trial uses of work created by the student. For example: teacher feedback on a curriculum project, reading to children a book written by the student to get the children¢â¡Ás responses, trying out curriculum activities in a classroom, etc.

Note:  No names of individuals should be included without permission of the individuals involved.

Students who plan to include either photographic or digital media with images of individuals will need to obtain signed permission from individuals over 18 years or from parents or guardians of those 18 or under. (See sample consent letters). A blank sample letter should be included in the appendix. Students can still use the Commence Form for Independent Studies Not Involving Human Participants if all of the above criteria apply.

This form provides assurance that no human participants will be involved in the Independent Study. If there are any changes to the Independent Study plan so that it does include the use of human participants, the student must submit a proposal to the IMP Committee as described below and receive approval before commencing work with human participants.

• Sample Consent Forms
• IMP Glossary