PHS Policy outlines the procedure for Designated Member review of IACUC protocols, stating that the IACUC Chair may select one or more members qualified to review the protocol. The Designated Members act on behalf of the entire IACUC to approve the protocol, request additional information from the PI, or to refer it for a Full-Committee review. There are, however, no specific guidelines for the emailing of Designated Member approval. Each IACUC must devise a comprehensive system to satisfy all possible contingencies and comply with federal regulations. I agree not with the IACUC's decision to have a PR email approval to the IACUC office, but rather with the IACUC Administrator's request that each DR email his or her approval to the IACUC office. I feel that the IACUC office must have some documentation from each reviewer that they do indeed approve the protocol. The IACUC Administrator has a valid fear that a case could arise in which an approval is recorded while one of the DRs did not truly believe they had approved it. We are all familiar with downed servers and the failure of some emails ever to arrive. What if the PR sends the approval email to the IACUC office with copies to each Designated Member, but the one member who did not truly feel he or she approved the protocol is not in the office that day, or does not receive the email right away? It is much easier to catch the dissent before approval is recorded, than to have to rescind a protocol approval. Is it that difficult and time consuming for each DR to email the IACUC office rather than the PR?