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Campus Alert
Update on Facilities Emergency as of Friday, Oct. 23

Following Tuesday morning's electrical incident originating in the mechanical room of Building 42, power disruptions impacted Buildings 32, 38, 39, 42, 43 and 47.

Power has since been restored to Buildings 38, 39, 43 and 47. Buildings 56 and 71 were not impacted by this incident. Additionally, Buildings 44, 46 east and 46 west were unaffected and remained fully operational throughout the event.

The university's electrical contractor continues to assess the damage and determine options for restoring and redistributing power to Buildings 32 and 42. As a result, Buildings 32 and 42 will remain closed through Monday, Nov. 2, while assessments are completed and necessary repairs or equipment replacements are identified and implemented.

Academic Operations

  • The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) will remain under Emergency Remote Instruction (ERI) while Buildings 32 and 42 are unavailable.
  • Classes for all non-SEAS students will resume normal operations.
  • Classes at the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law, Community College, Congress Heights campus and DCA Aviation Hangar will continue as scheduled.

Administrative Operations

  • Administrative and support functions at the Van Ness campus will resume normal business operations and maintain regular business hours.

Guidance for SEAS Faculty and Staff

  • SEAS staff should contact their immediate supervisors regarding remote work expectations.
  • SEAS faculty should consult their supervisors for ERI-related guidance.
  • The Center for the Advancement of Learning (CAL) remains available to support instructional continuity, including Blackboard, Zoom and other teaching and learning technologies.

CAL Faculty Support Resources

Guidance for SEAS Students

  • Due to this facilities emergency, SEAS in-person operations will remain suspended through Monday, Nov. 2. Instruction will continue remotely through both synchronous and asynchronous formats.
  • Courses requiring laboratory, clinical, studio or other hands-on instruction may require makeup sessions. However, every effort will be made to maintain academic continuity through virtual learning whenever possible. Faculty conducting synchronous instruction should continue to meet during published class times to minimize disruptions to student schedules.

The safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff and community remain our highest priority. We will continue to provide updates as additional information becomes available.

Please continue to monitor the university website and official social media channels for the latest information.

For safety concerns, contact OPSEM at 202-274-5050. For emergencies, call 911.

Thank you for your flexibility, cooperation and continued commitment to UDC and our students.

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Institutional Review Board

About Institutional Review Board

The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) Institutional Review Board’s (IRB’s) mission is to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects recruited to participate in research activities conducted under the auspices of UDC.  In the realm of human subject research, the UDC IRB promotes students, faculty, professionals, and staff and to observe good professional and ethical practices. This site explains the responsibilities of the researcher, the IRB and the IRB’s processes and procedures.

The purpose of the UDC IRB, and IRB in general, is to protect human research subjects. Human research subjects are individuals about whom an investigator (student, faculty, staff or professional) conducts research to obtain:

  1. Data through intervention or interaction with the individual, or
  2. Identifiable private information (45 CFR 46.102)

Such research can be found in, for example, education, psychology, sociology, economics, and biomedical engineering but may involve almost any discipline involving humans. In order to ensure human subjects’ protection, the UDC IRB conducts monthly reviews, on the 3rd Friday of each month throughout the academic year, of initial research protocol submissions to ensure that the researchers provide informed consent to the prospective human subjects (participants) and detail procedures that ensure that human participants are not exposed to unreasonable discomfort or risks. All study applications (i.e.: Exempt, Expedited, Limited, and Full) must be submitted to UDC’s IRB for review and approval. The IRB will also conduct the continuing review (yearly) of approved long-term projects to make sure that subject protections remain in place.

This site and documents herein provide the baseline for commonly accepted considerations involving human subject research, and a standard review process. However, these statements cannot substitute for the researcher’s own sound professional judgment and careful attention to the ethics of conducting research; individual cases and projects may require additional and specific safeguards. The UDC IRB and University have broad discretion in the management of these individual cases, and from time to time the UDC IRB and/or University may issue additional guidelines towards the protection of human subjects in these individual cases.

The UDC IRB has registered with DHHS Office of Human Research Protections (IRB #00003641) and has filed an assurance with DHHS called the Federalwide Assurance (FWA #00013788), that the University will comply with these regulations and ethical principles.

Contact the Institutional Review Board
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