The Site Admin role and permissions

Applies to: Reliance System

Two roles. Every Reliance System user is either a General User or a Site Admin.

• General Users can see the requests they submitted or are listed on as personnel and, if permitted, create reliance requests.
• Site Admins manage the institution: they verify new users, set permissions, edit institution details and the Institutional Profile, and — most importantly — make reliance decisions. A Site Admin performs the reliance pre-check for requests from the institution's own investigators, decides whether the institution will serve as Reviewing IRB or rely on another IRB, and records those decisions. Since the September 2026 update, Site Admins can also edit their own institution's site details on any request it has been added to (until the institution's reliance determination) and add, edit, or remove their site's investigator and research personnel at any time — so if something is wrong, correct it and save before confirming willingness to rely. Site Admins are usually the institution's SMART IRB Point of Contact and Alternate POC, but any IRB/HRPP staff member the institution designates can hold the role.

Three permission areas. Each Site Admin has, by default, all three; each can be granted or withheld per user:

General Users have view access plus, by default, the ability to create requests. Institutions that prefer the IRB office to submit all requests can remove that ability from some or all General Users.

How to designate another Site Admin. Invite the person to create an account, verify it, then change their role from General User to Site Admin in the User Dashboard. Use Clone Permission to copy one Site Admin's permission set to another. See the user guides on user roles and user permissions.

Where to find permissions. Site Admins: User Dashboard in the left-hand navigation → expand a user → view or edit their permissions. General Users cannot see the permissions page; ask a Site Admin.

See also

• Manage users
• Points of Contact, contact information, and group emails
• How a reliance request moves through the system