Capstone Requirements

As part of their public health training, all students are required to engage with the SPH HRPP Office during their Capstone. Students must provide information about their proposed projects via the SPH Capstone Human Subjects Research (HSR) Decision Tool and receive an HSR determination before beginning any work. The purpose of this tool is to aid the HRPP Office in determining whether a student’s project constitutes HSR (and thus requires IRB review).

Completion of the Capstone HSR Decision Tool is required for all Capstone students, regardless of whether a student will be working on the same project as they did for their Fieldwork. Students must upload documentation of their Capstone HSR determination to their Capstone BlackBoard site to fulfill course requirements.

*If you change your Capstone project after completing the Capstone HSR Decision Tool, you must submit a new entry and receive a new determination from the HRPP office.

Please note: Completion of the Capstone HSR Decision Tool is not a substitute for development of an IRB application. Additionally, this tool is not intended to be used as the sole determination of exemption from IRB review.

If you have any uncertainty about whether your proposed project is HSR and requires IRB approval after completing the tool, please contact the SPH HRPP Office at hrpp@sph.cuny.edu  for assistance to ensure you are complying with Federal and Institutional HSR regulations.

What is Human Subjects Research?

For a project to be considered HSR and thus require HRPP/IRB review in IRB Manager, ALL the following criteria must be met:

1. The investigator is conducting research or clinical investigation;
2. The proposed research or clinical investigation involves human subjects; AND
3. CUNY is engaged in the research or clinical investigation involving human subjects.