The University of South Carolina's Office of Research Compliance (ORC) seeks to improve its mission of managing and overseeing institutional research involving the use of human subjects by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative process. This proposal is designed to raise the ORC's overall productivity; streamline the system under which research protocols are reviewed and monitored for ethical and procedural compliance; provide easier access to pertinent data for all parties involved; and, ultimately, enhance faculty research efforts and the protection of those involved. To accomplish these objectives, the University of South Carolina will adopt a more automated and user-friendly method for collecting, tracking, distributing and generating materials associated with its human subject protection program. Specifically, the current database schema will be upgraded and reconfigured to allow"""""""" for more storage capacity; linkage to existing research administration data; creation of a web-accessible repository to gather and store electronic documents with access to all reviewers; provide an electronic proposal submission and approval module; and automate correspondence, notifications and requests/replies. These improvements will enhance existing efforts to maintain compliance with regulatory and ethical guidelines while benefiting administrators, researchers and most importantly project participants.
