THE OFFICE OF RESEARCH

RESEARCH INVESTIGATOR HANDBOOK

3. OBTAINING REGULATORY COMMITTEE APPROVALS

3.10 SERVING ON THE COMMITTEES

• Why should faculty consider serving on a committee?
• Which regulatory committees may faculty serve on?
• What are the committee responsibilities?
• Who typically serves on these regulatory committees?
• How long is a term of service on a committee?
• How are faculty appointed to serve on a committee?

Why should faculty consider serving on these committees?

With a faculty-based membership, the regulatory committees are the foundation of self-regulation of research activities at UCSF. As these committees are advisory to the Chancellor at UCSF, they frequently recommend policies in their respective areas of responsibility. These Committees have considerable latitude in the development of campus policies and procedures to implement the laws and regulations that govern their respective areas of responsibility.

Faculty are invited to take advantage of this opportunity to affect policies and procedures by participating in the process. In addition, the contribution of time and expertise to the work of the committees is recognized as university service. Finally, many members find the service on the committee to be both professionally interesting and personally rewarding.

Which regulatory committees may faculty serve on?

There are six regulatory committees that faculty may serve on. Four are technical committees that meet one time a month. Two are committees that look not only at scientific issues but also at ethical ones; they meet twice a month.

UCSF Technical Committees	Acronym	Meeting Frequency & Schedule	e-mail contact	Phone number
Institutional Biosafety Committee	IBC	One 2-hour meeting per month	techcomm@ehs.ucsf.edu	476-2198
Chemical and Environmental Safety Committee	CESC	One 2-hour meeting every two months	techcomm@ehs.ucsf.edu	476-2198
Radiation Safety Committee	RSC	One 2-hour meeting per month	techcomm@ehs.ucsf.edu	476-2198
Radioactive Drug Research Committee	RDRC	One 2-hour meeting per month	techcomm@ehs.ucsf.edu	476-2198

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UCSF Research Subjects Protection Committees	Acronym	Meeting Frequency & Schedule	e-mail contact	Phone number
Committee on Human Research	CHR	Two 2-hour meetings per month	chr@research.ucsf.edu	476-1814
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee	IACUC	Two 3-hour meetings per month and two sets of site visits/year	car@research.ucsf.edu	476-2197

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What are the committees’ responsibilities?

The charge of each committee is described on the web link indicated below. All committees provide expert advise to the Chancellor with respect to the various oversight that is required of the University; the members have significant input into institutional policies that help assure compliance with federal, state and local laws. With the exception of the CESC, the committees are also charged with review and approval of all research protocols in their respective areas.

•	IBC
•	CESC
•	CHR and	CHR Member Information
•	IACUC
•	RSC
•	RDRC

Who typically serves on these regulatory committees?

The committees typically include members from across all schools and many disciplines to assure that appropriate faculty expertise is available. In nearly all cases the faculty is at the Associate Level or above. One or more community members also serve on these committees.

How long is a term of service on a committee?

A term of service on a committee is nominally two years, although many members are reappointed and serve more than one term.

How are faculty appointed to serve on a committee?

Division Chiefs and Department Chairs nominate faculty to serve on the committees. If you are interested in serving on one of these committees, you should contact your Division Chief or Department Chair. The Department Chair will then advise the Executive Vice Chancellor for Research or the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and, provided the committee needs a member of the expertise of the person who is interested in serving, the Executive Vice Chancellor will send you a formal letter of appointment.

You may also contact the Committee Chair or the Director of either of the two ethical Committees to find out more details about service or the availability of a seat on the committee. Contact information for the various committees is available on the websites listed in the table above.