Attachment 19 IRB Approval Letter

Attachment 19

IRB Approval Letter

Date:	October 13, 2014
To:	Jill Feldman, Project Director
From:	Kerry Levin, IRB Administrator, Westat IRB
Subject:	Exemption of SEPA TECH SUPPORT Project 6266 FWA 00005551

As Chair of the Westat Institutional Review Board (IRB), I reviewed the materials submitted for the following: SEPA TECH SUPPORT, Project 6266. The Westat IRB reviews all studies involving research on human subjects. This study is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

Westat will be conducting a 30-month process evaluation of 181 Science Education Partnership Awards Program grants awarded over the past 10 years. The evaluation will examine the structure, partnership formation and quality of grant evaluations.

Per [45 CFR 46.101(b)(5)] and a letter received (on October 7, 2014) from Patricia Newman, Contracting Officer Representative, National Institutes of Health; this research involves a program evaluation and therefore is exempt from IRB review.

The Project Director is required to notify the Board only if there are changes to the protocol or procedures regarding this project. In addition, notify the IRB Office as soon as possible if there are any injuries to the subjects or problems with the study that relate to human subjects.

cc: Institutional Review Board

Juanita Lucas-McLean