SU Research Committees provides great opportunities

The Office of Research and Strategic Initiatives, headed by Mildred R. Smalley, Vice-Chancellor for Research, provides immeasurable research opportunities to those that are interested in undergraduate or post undergraduate research projects.
Four distinctive research committees compose the Office of Research and Strategic Initiatives: The Institutional Review Board for Protection of Human Subjects (IRB), led by Dewitt Jones, associate dean and program leader in agricultural economics; The Institutional Animal Care and Use, led by James I. McNitt, professor of animal science; Biohazards Safety, led by Stephen McGuire, professor and chair of the physics department; and Recombinant DNA, led by Ella Kelly, professor of chemistry.
The Institutional Research Oversight Committee oversees the individual research groups. The four groups serve the main goal of research and discovery, but still have different purposes.
“Each committee has its own applications, manuals, rules, regulations, etc.,” said Jimmy D. Lindsey, Institutional Research Oversight chairperson, J. K. Haynes/Casino Rouge Endowed Professor in Education, and professor of special education.
Research ideas are usually driven by course assignments.
“All proposals are reviewed and approved as is, approved with modifications, or disapproved,” Lindsey said.
When research proposals are being reviewed, the classification of the student is an aspect that is taken into consideration in addition to the research idea. Undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students can apply for the program. Undergraduate students may receive approval for topics that will present research outside of the classroom or when dealing with private information.
Equally, graduate students can be approved for their thesis, capstone or special projects. Likewise, doctoral students can receive approval for their dissertation topics.
Every student that is approved and participates will be paired with a professor in the particular course study who will assist the researcher with his or her studies.
For more information, contact Jimmy D. Lindsey, Ph.D. at (225) 771-3950 or the chairperson of the research-risk committee for your area of interest.
This is the first article in a series on Southern University Research Committees.