About Monash University

Monash is one of the prestigious Group of Eight research-intensive universities in Australia, processing over 2,200 ethics applications each year through 10 ethics committees.

• Ranked 44th globally in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023
• Over 150 active fields of research, 10 faculties, and over 4,700 Higher Degrees by Research students
• More than 86,000 students and 17,000 staff at 9 campuses including 5 international locations

Powerful configuration tools and opportunities for collaboration

Monash selected Ethics RM, a digital solution, in 2015 to replace a manual, paper-based process. The old system resulted in long delays in processing ethics applications, consumed significant time and resources, and didn’t engage researchers or staff.

The ability for Monash to configure Ethics RM has been crucial for not only its initial success but also today to ensure the system meets the ongoing needs of all stakeholders. The powerful configuration tools mean the team ‘own’ the system and can adapt the forms and workflows as new internal requirements and legislation require.

“It’s so simple to use that we can make these changes ourselves without the need for our IT department. We, the research management experts, own the system.” - Dr Simon Barrett, Director for the Office of Research Ethics and Integrity

Collaboration at the review stage is another differentiating factor for Ethics RM. Reviewers can post their comments directly on a digital application and view the comments of others. This avoids repetition, has created great efficiencies and enhanced stakeholder engagement in the ethics process.

Over 30% reduction in time taken to review ethics applications

It previously took up to 90 days for an ethics submission to be approved. Now with Ethics RM, it takes 50-60days. Such is the efficiency of the digital solution, Monash has reduced the committee process by one full cycle.

With the time and resources saved, Monash has reduced the administrative burden so committee secretaries now spend more time:

• Providing feedback and advice to researchers on their applications
• Supporting wider initiatives such as improving and monitoring compliance at the university

Monash recruited Dr Jo Denyer as Senior Systems Analyst to further progress the use of Ethics RM. Using the rich data held in the system she acts on insights to support business operations and further improve the ethics process.

Paperless review delivers savings of $115,000 per year

Monash's previous paper-based process required committee secretaries to print applications for each committee member and send them via internal mail or express post to external reviewers, creating a significant administrative and financial burden.

“By moving from a paper-based system to Ethics RM, we've eliminated over $115,000 a year in printing, postage and administrative costs, while creating a far more efficient and sustainable process. It’s completely transformed how our committees work and collaborate.” - Dr Simon Barrett

Monash calculated the combined cost of printing, stationery, postage and staff time to be approximately $1,017 per meeting. With more than 115 committee meetings held each year, this equated to over $115,000 in annual costs.

Adapting the system independently to meet changing needs quickly

“The configurability is a hugely important function of the system. We change the forms when we need to and how we want to” - Dr Jo Denyer, Senior Systems Analyst

This flexibility enables Monash to update forms or create new ones in response to government requirements or internal business needs.

For example:

• Reconfiguring the system so it channels relevant applications to a new committee
• Adding new data fields into the system to capture information

Jo explains how she creates new fields to record what the committee secretaries write down during meetings, “I want whatever they were writing to be captured in the system for audit purposes”.

This level of flexibility and control was recently highlighted by the internal auditors who “were very impressed with how Ethics RM enables Monash to respond to and comply with changes in legislation quickly” - Dr Simon Barrett

Attracting and retaining experts for committee meetings

The legal requirement to have experts and lay people sitting on ethics committees is challenging in both recruiting and retaining them.

Through Ethics RM, Monash can “attract great talent to participate in the committee process without the need for them to physically travel and be on campus, this is a massive advantage” - Dr Simon Barrett

Monash has found Ethics RM to be very intuitive to the point where users don’t need formal training on the system. This supports the wider recruitment and retention drive.

Sharing best practice and ideas across Australia and New Zealand

"A big thing for us is the Ethics RM user group in Australia and New Zealand. We bounce ideas off other institutions who are using the system to address the same government criteria, regulations, and guidelines… there is lots of sharing and that experience amongst the group is really valuable” Dr Jo Denyer

What is next for Monash and Ethics RM?

Monash wants to ensure the human ethics policies continue to be world class and reflect it’s standing as one of the top universities in Australia, and the world. The plan is to review and update the digital forms by:

• Leveraging the latest features in Ethics RM
• Embedding over 7 years’ worth of experience using and configuring the system
• Consulting the Ethics RM user group to capture best practice