Ethical Consent for Human Research

Committee Members | UoW Regulations | Submission Procedure | Useful Documents

Any staff and students from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences who are planning to conduct a research project that involves human participants will need approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee of either the Faculty or the Department of Psychology, which are both devolved committees of the University's Human Research Ethics Committee.

Ethical Approval must be gained prior to the commencement of the research, and applicants (and supervisors) are encouraged to begin the process in good time.

This page contains information about the Faculty's process for Ethical Approval, including the University of Waikato 's regulations, links to the appropriate documents, and a description of the procedure to follow.
Applicants to the Psychology Committee should follow the procedures set out there. (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/wfass/subjects/psychology/research/ethics.shtml)

All Applications to the FASS Human Research Ethics Committee should be submitted to Breanne Gordon, Administrator for the Committee (see the procedure for submission below)

Current Ethics Committee Members

• Dr. John Campbell
• Dr. William Dart
• Dr. Robert Isler
• Dr. Diane Johnson
• Dr. Judith Macdonald
• Dr. Colin McLeay
• Dr. John Paterson (Chair: johnp@waikato.ac.nz)
• Dr. Rachel Simon-Kumar
• Dr. Ruth Walker (Deputy Chair)
• Dr. Bevin Yeatman

Deadlines for Applications

• Monday 1 March 2010
• Thursday 1 April 2010
• Monday 3 May 2010

University Regulations and Information

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences follows the University of Waikato's regulations and guidelines on Human Research Ethics Regulations.

Information on these regulations can be found at the following locations:

• Delegation of ethics approval for research coursework
• Ethical Conduct in Human Research and Related Activities
• 'Student Research Regulations' on pages 115-117 of the University of Waikato 2006 Calendar
• Staff code of conduct

Procedure for Submission of an Ethics Application

1. Download the FASS Ethics form (a Word document you should use as a template for your application)
          Form is available from iWaikato >Document Directory >Intranets >FASS >Research >Ethics
2. Complete the Ethics form
• All applications must be submitted using the appropriate forms and must be typed or word-processed
• Students must ensure that they have the approval of their (Chief) Supervisor
3. Completed forms should be submitted in electronic form to Breanne Gordon, the Administrator for the Committee, Dept. Philosophy & Religious Studies (room I4.14), ext. 4047, Email fass-ethics@waikato.ac.nz
   • Applications should ideally be submitted at least a week before the next Committee meeting, to ensure that they can be adequately reviewed
   • Please also send a signed hard copy to the Administrator, plus two additional copies for reviewers
   • Student applications should be submitted via their (Chief) Supervisor (submission by a supervisor will be deemed to indicate the Supervisor's support for the application)
4. Your application will be forwarded to members of the FASS Ethics Committee for consideration
5. If there are any requests for additional information about your application you will be contacted by either an Ethics Committee Member or by the Administrator
6. Applicants should normally expect to be contacted by the Committee Chair within 5 working days of the Committee meeting
   Applications may be:
   1. Approved (with or without comments)
   2. Approved subject to minor revisions (an amended copy of the application will need to be lodged with the Administrator before research begins)
   3. Declined, with comments indicating the course of action for the applicant (generally this will involve resubmission of the application)
7. A copy of your approved application will be held on file by the Administrator for the Human Research Ethics Committee

Useful Documents

• Exemplars of applications (to be advised)
• Research Ethics Guidelines (word, 250kb) - short list of what to do (from the Management School's ethics documents)
• Red Flags (word, 247kb) - issues to be aware of (from the Management School's ethics documents)
• Common Reasons (word, 57kb) - common reasons why applications are declined by the FASS Ethics Committee