[Plsfaculty] FW: Message to Faculty and Research Professionals

[Kenneth Feldmann]

If you have seen the note from the VPR about human subjects, please ignore.
 
 
From: UA Academic Dept & Unit Heads [mailto:HEADS at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On
Behalf Of Anne Marx
 
The following message has been sent to faculty on the Faculty Center's
listserv and to the deans.  To ensure that it is widely distributed to all,
please share it with your faculty members and research professionals even
though there may be duplication.   Thank you.
 
August 19, 2010
 
TO:         Research Community
                The University of Arizona
 
FROM:  Leslie Tolbert, PhD
                Vice President for Research
 
                 Elizabeth Boyd, PhD
                Assistant Vice President for Research Compliance and Policy
 
                Sheryl Wurl, PhD
                Director, Human Subjects Protection Program
 
RE:          Important Information for the Research Community
 
Dear Colleagues:
 
Last week, articles were published in Education Week and Inside Higher Ed
regarding the submission of research data by the University of Arizona to
the federal court in response to a subpoena.  Statements that researchers
have "received little or no support from the administration" are misleading.
Please be assured that the University of Arizona upholds the highest
standards for the protection of human subjects and research integrity and
for the confidentiality of faculty research.
 
The situation that was reported involved a federal court subpoena and a
unique set of circumstances.  The researcher had voluntarily agreed to
testify as an expert witness in pending litigation.  Whenever a testifying
expert is identified, the opposing party has the right to review the basis
for that expert's opinion under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Consequently, this individual's research, providing the basis for the
testimony to be provided, was subject to disclosure.  The research in
question involved anonymous answers to survey questions.  The
confidentiality promised to the participants in the research was "to the
extent permitted or required by law."  The request for records was reviewed
by the Office for General Counsel to ensure that applicable federal
regulations regarding confidentiality were applied.  As a Certificate of
Confidentiality is not in place for this research, there were no special
federal protections available.  The University worked in close contact with
the researcher in determining which materials could be released without
identifying individual participants.
 
More generally speaking, most research data related to published research
findings and conclusions are considered a public record and may be made
available under certain circumstances.  Federal and other regulations
provide protection of the identity of individual participants in studies
involving human subjects.
 
The safest way to protect subjects is to conduct research that is completely
anonymous or de-identified.  This means that all identifying information,
including names and contact information, is not collected.  If research
cannot be conducted anonymously, the identifying information should be
destroyed at the earliest opportunity.  Lists of names and contact
information that are associated with a research project, even if they are
not kept with the research data, are considered research data and may
prevent the data from being anonymous.
 
If you have human subjects research that you feel involves information of a
sensitive nature, consider applying to the National Institutes of Health for
a Certificate of Confidentiality.  Your study does not have to be NIH funded
to receive a Certificate of Confidentiality.  Information on Certificates of
Confidentiality can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/coc/. 
 
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