19 - Maintaining a Virtual Presence with a Fully Remote HRPO

Background:  Human Research Protection Office (HRPO) staff transitioned to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although remote work is now a fixture, IRBs and administrative staff must be available and “present” for the research community. HRPO successfully met the need to be more readily available principally by leveraging web-conferencing software.

Program

Description:  Prior to the pandemic, HRPO services included a helpline and in-person office hours. The pandemic mandated immediate remote work which eventually became permanent. Therefore, HRPO modified procedures to incorporate the use of web-conferencing software to help meet the skyrocketing demands of the research community. The helpline transitioned to a web-based phone system and office hours were re-imagined using the web-conferencing software.

Web-conferencing software was also ultimately incorporated into new programs designed to proactively provide guidance and facilitate self-directed learning. The immediacy of joining a virtual meeting without the need to travel on foot, along with the ability to share screens was considered beneficial and satisfactory to both HRPO staff and the research community.

Web-conferencing software available through the university included Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Web-conferencing features such as scheduling, screen share, closed captioning, chat, and recording have made the virtual experience more engaging and has required minimal or no training.

Program

Assessment:  Responding to helpline calls in a remote environment was taxing for staff. The research community was frustrated with delayed responses. In response, two virtual programs that depend on web-conferencing software were prioritized. Notably, helpline encounters consistently decreased from 2019-2022.

The IRB Consultation program launched in the last quarter of 2020. Consultations were designed to provide virtual in-depth guidance to researchers and fill the gap that the helpline could not address. In 2021 there were 113 IRB Consultations, which would otherwise have been calls to the helpline. Relatedly, the Study Initiation Program, which provides protocol-specific tailored education to new principal investigators, increased its reach by approximately three-fold. IRB Consultation and Study Initiation Program satisfaction rates in the research community are high at 99% and 94%, respectively.

HRPO continues to shift focus to proactive virtual education with the launch of the HRPO On-Demand program in the second half of 2023. These are topic-specific presentations, pre-recorded using web-conferencing software, that the research community can access at any time. Evaluation data are currently pending.

Limitations: HRPO staff encountered an initial learning curve with the broad implementation of web-conferencing software and subsequent software updates. Routinely, staff have reported that programs conducted with web-conferencing software encounter two main challenges with audience engagement: (1) screen fatigue and (2) no camera-on requirement. Another significant limitation is university technology changes outside of HRPO control. Finally, there have been delays with obtaining research community feedback for the HRPO On-Demand program.

Discussion:  As remote work in the HRPP field is enduring, sustainable virtual programs are critical to ensure that that HRPO remains responsive to the needs of the research community. The web-conferencing software that supports these programs has radically changed HRPO’s ability to be present and effective with the research community. Web-conferencing software is now ubiquitous with a manageable and diversified portfolio of virtual HRPO Help Services and education programs.

HRPO staff are pleased with the transition to virtual programming and are not being diverted away from their primary responsibilities. The research community’s response has been overwhelmingly positive, to date.