The meeting schedule and submission deadlines are posted on the web. Adjustments to the meeting schedule may be made due to holidays or other issues. Adjustments will either be noted in the published meeting schedule (when known in advance) or announced via e-mail. The submission deadline for full board reviews is 10 working days prior to the meeting date.

Material requiring full-board review must be submitted by the published submission deadlines to provide sufficient time for screening and review prior to the meeting date. The IRB staff will send the agenda and material to IRB members via hand delivery or express mail within 2 – 3 working days after the submission deadline to allow members to have at least 7 working days for review of the material prior to the meeting date.

Under unusual circumstances, the Chair may call an emergency meeting of the board. However, such a meeting will not be called due to the negligence of the investigator to submit material on time. An emergency meeting may be called, for example, when a quorum for the originally scheduled meeting was not met and review is required to prevent lapse of a study, or if an investigator is faced with a situation beyond his/her control. If not already distributed, material must be distributed to members as soon as possible to allow for sufficient review. The investigator may be asked to attend the meeting to address questions, or provide additional information or clarification.

Under unusual circumstances, the IRB staff, in consultation with the Chair, may also add an item to the agenda after the submission deadline. Such circumstances generally involve situations in which an investigator is faced with a situation beyond his/her control and an amendment must be made to the protocol. The material must be distributed (via hand delivery, e-mail or express mail) to members as soon as possible to allow for sufficient review.