June 3, 2005

TO: All School of Medicine Faculty

All Department Administrators

RE: Bio 199 Undergraduate Student Research Program Update

In 1997, the Medical Center developed an orientation program to

protect students in the School of Biological Sciences 199

Undergraduate Research Program who were conducting research on

IRB-approved protocols under the supervision of SOM researchers.

Because of the potential for known and unknown risks to occur from

handling unfixed human tissue or fluids [e.g., blood and other body

fluids, etc.] 199 Program guidelines excluded students from handling

any unfixed human tissue or fluids during the course of their research

project. Recent 199 Program audits have shown that some students are

working with unfixed human tissue or fluids. This audit finding has

raised an important question regarding the risk of injury associated

with this practice: What happens if a 199 student is injured during

the course of the research project?

The University's responsibility to compensate for student injury

incurred in the 199 Research Program is the same as its responsibility

to any student who is injured on the UCI campus or at the Medical

Center. If the University is held responsible for the injury pursuant

to either University policy or California law, then the student may be

entitled to compensation for the injury under either the University's

General Liability or Hospital and Medical Liability Program, as set

forth in Business and Finance Bulletins BUS-75 and BUS-9,

respectively. If the University is not at fault for the injury, there

is no requirement or policy that the University must compensate the

student. In all situations, all medical expenses incurred by the

injured student should be directed by the student to her or his

medical insurer for compensation according to the policy terms and

conditions.

NOTE: All students are required to have health insurance coverage as

part of a UCI system wide policy. These coverage plans usually

provide for medical treatment due to accidental injury and illness,

but do not provide any long term disability or compensation.

Students covered by UCI USHIP are covered on an annual basis. Once

the fees are paid, coverage begins the first day of instruction and

continues on breaks during the academic year from the fall quarter

through the spring quarter. When the student pays spring enrollment

fees, the coverage includes summer enrollment.

To minimize financial risk to both the Department and the University,

the following practices and guidelines must be adhered to:

1. The student must conduct research under the direct supervision of

either the faculty sponsor or an appropriate research supervisor at

all times. Student research cannot be supervised by another 199

Program student designated by the faculty member.

NOTE: The Bio. 199 Program Standards will be updated to include the

responsibilities of the research supervisor.

2. Should the School of Biological Sciences Associate Dean approve a

research study that requires the student to complete a special safety

training course, the training must be documented and the research must

fall under Program guidelines.

3. Prior to participating in any 199 Program research study in either

the School of Medicine (SOM), the Medical Center or any other

program-designated site, the student must complete the required

documents to be enrolled in the Bio199 Research Program. Please refer

to the Hospital Research Policy for Bio199 students referenced below

for further information. Faculty members are responsible for ensuring

the student completes the appropriate safety training prior to

initiating the research project.

4. During the summer quarter, students must be enrolled in a

university research course to either conduct new research or to

continue with their research project from the spring quarter.

According to University Human Resources guidelines [Sec 300-13],

students cannot continue to conduct their research project during the

summer quarter under a volunteer program, i.e., SOM Student Research

Intern Program, because the service is in pursuit of an educational

objective .

If you have any questions, comments or specific concerns regarding

information in this memo, you may either contact Susana Canet-Sandoval

[949/824-4702 scanetts@uci.edu] or refer to the Bio199 Undergraduate

Research Program web site

http://www.bio.uci.edu/students/StudentAffairs/index.html. For the

SOM and Medical Center, you may refer to the 199 Student Orientation

Program Medical Center Policy & Procedure

https://intranet.hs.uci.edu/OCM/researchPolicies/pdfs/BioSci199ResearchStudents.pdf,

or contact Marilyn Coffelt [714/456-8778 mlcoffel@uci.edu] or Jim

Herron [714/456-3673 jherron@uci.edu] for further information.

Thomas C. Cesario, M.D.

Dean, School of Medicine