Setting Up Organizational Approvers in Human Ethics

Organizational Approvers review and approve research submissions at the department or organization level. Setup includes two steps:

1. Enable the feature in Application Settings
2. Assign approvers to each organization

Part 1: Enabling the Feature

1. Using a full IRB administrator account Navigate to More > Application Settings from the main Human Ethics Dashboard.
   
   
    
2. In the Workflow section:
   • Set Are organizational approvers required for the system? to Yes
   • Enter the number of approval levels required
     
     
      
3. Be sure to Save all changes once updates are made.

Part 2: Assigning Approvers to Organizations

Once the feature is enabled in Application Settings, users can be assigned as approvers for each organization. 

Searching for an Organization

1. Navigate to More > Organizational Approvers from the main Human Ethics Dashboard.
   
   
    
2. Search for the Organization name.
   
   
    
3. Click the organization name to select it.
   
   

Adding Approvers

1. Click the Add Approver button.
   
   
    
2. Search for the user by name or email, then select them to add as an approver. Click Save. The added approver will appear in the list on the right. This process can be repeated to add additional approvers.
   
   

Removing an Approver

Click the × icon next to the approver.

Please note: An org approver will not be able to be removed if assignments are still pending to  complete. All task assignments for this approver must be completed before removing from the list. 

Part 3: Enabling Org Approvers notifications

Once the feature is enabled in Application Settings, users are assigned as approvers for each organization, we must set up the content of the notifications these approvers will receive. 

To set up these notifications go to Human Ethics> More> Messages> 
Under this screen look for Org approvers emails and notifications, edit the content of the message to send and save. 

Tips and Best Practices

Organizational Approvers vs. IRB Reviewers
Organizational Approvers provide institutional approval before IRB review. These roles are separate.

Approval Levels
If multiple levels are configured, submissions move sequentially through each level.
Ensure approvers are assigned to the correct level.

Troubleshooting

Use the table below to resolve common issues when setting up Organizational Approvers.