Planning on doing research? Submit IRB application early!
In terms of timeline for review, UT’s IRB has the following goals for responding to initial submissions:
Exempt within five days
Expedited within three to five weeks
Full Board following the IRB meeting for which it was received (see http://irb.utk.edu/irb-review-dates/)
Note that these goals for turn-around only pertain to initial responses, which does not equal approval. The entire approval process might take much longer depending on the number of necessary revisions. You should plan for at least two months between initial submission and final approval.
In order to meet the goals stated above, our IRB is currently adding staff.