All,

I need some ammunition to support using a petty cash procedure (or some other business method) that allows us to keep research participants’ identities confidential rather than collecting names, addresses, and social security numbers and cutting $5 and $10 checks.    

So… what process does your institution use to make incentive payments to human research participants?  Any comments you wish to share on maintaining participant confidentiality vs. concerns about reducing audit risk are welcome. 

Note that we are a non-research intensive institution looking at spending less than $2,000 per year in incentives for all research combined, and so the IRS 1099 threshold for individual participants is moot.  I also question materiality when our financial people worry about an audit trail that includes identities, as this represents less than .0001% of our total budget.

Thanks much.

Barbara

Barbara H. Gray, M.P.H.

Director of Sponsored Programs

     & Research Administration

IRB and IACUC Administrator

Valdosta State University

1500 North Patterson Street

Valdosta, GA  31698

xxxxxx@valdosta.edu

Telephone:  229.333.7837

Facsimile:  229.245.3853

www.valdosta.edu/ospra