IAU | DBA PROGRAM

Letter of Cooperation – Sample

You must tailor a letter of cooperation for your study and obtain an ink or electronic signature from any organization that is willing to be involved in identifying potential participants or collecting data. Note that the letter of cooperation requirement is waived if the partner’s ONLY role is to distribute research invitations (in the form of flyers, packets, or emails) on the researcher’s behalf. This waiver does not apply to hospitals, universities, military organizations, or any other organization that has its own ethics/ research approval process; for these organizations, documentation of the site’s approval is always required.

If ink signatures are obtained, the signed letters can be e-mailed as attachments to or mailed to the university. Electronic signatures are also acceptable, however if used it is required that the signer of the form either e-mail it directly to or be cc’ed upon the submission so the e-signature can be verified.

The letter of cooperation doesn’t need to use the specific wording below but it must include the following:

  1. Detailed description of any recruitment, data collection, member checking, and results dissemination activities that will occur at the site.
  2. Detailed description of the involvement of any of the site’s personnel, rooms, or resources.
  3. Clarity regarding whether the site personnel are providing any supervision of the research activities (particularly if the local personnel will be relied upon to help resolve a crisis situation). If not, then it is assumed that only the remote faculty members are supervising the researcher.
  4. For program evaluations and intervention studies: The letter must include clear indication of the facility's role in sponsoring and assuming liability for the program/intervention under study. (IAU cannot sponsor, oversee, or assume liability for any type of program or intervention.) If the site is making any modifications to its standard intervention/program procedures in order to accommodate the research study, the letter needs to confirm that the site is willingly adopting these changes as part of their normal operations during the course of the study.


SAMPLE LETTER OF COOPERATION FROM A RESEARCH PARTNER

(Community Research Partner Name)

(Date)

Dear (Researcher Name)

Based on my review of your research proposal, I give permission for you to conduct the study entitled (Insert Study Title) within the (Insert Name of Community Partner). As part of this study, I authorize you to (Insert specific recruitment, data collection, memberchecking, and results dissemination activities). Individuals’ participation will be voluntary and at their own discretion.

We understand that our organization’s responsibilities include: (Insert a description of all personnel, rooms, resources, and supervision that the partner will provide.). We reserve the right to withdraw from the study at any time if our circumstances change.

(Include the following statement only if the Partner Site has its own IRB or other ethics/research approval process: The student will be responsible for complying with our site’s research policies and requirements, including Describe requirements).

I confirm that I am authorized to approve research in this setting and that this plan complies with the organization’s policies.

I understand that the data collected will remain entirely confidential and may not be provided to anyone outside of the student’s supervising faculty/staff without permission from the IAU IRB.

Sincerely,

(Authorization Official)

(Contact Information)

Policy on electronic signatures: An electronic signature is just as valid as a written signature as long as both parties have agreed to conduct the transaction electronically. Electronic signatures are regulated by the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. Electronic signatures are only valid when the signer is either (a) the sender of the email, or (b) copied on the email containing the signed document. Legally an "electronic signature" can be the person’s typed name, their email address, or any other identifying marker. IAU staff will verify any electronic signatures that do not originate from a password-protected source (i.e., an email address officially on file with IAU).

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