What steps must students take when they do an Independent Study (ANTH 490) or a Bachelor's Essay (ANTH 499) that involves research with living people? 

Planning ahead is very important. It may take 1-2 months for you to go through the research protocol review process. Find an anthropology professor who is willing to supervise your research. Fill out a special enrollment form sometime before the term begins. It's found in the main office of the Soc/Anthro Department. Determine the "Applicability of Protocol Review Procedures for Research Involving Human Participants". That means you need to go to this CofC WebSite, and work with the flow chart you find there. Work through the flow chart. It is very likely that you will need to consult with your faculty supervisor or someone from the Office of Research and Grants Administration to determine if your research: is exempt from review, requires an expedited review, or requires a full review.

Let's suppose you determine your research requires an expedited review. Click this link to view a ".pdf" file created by Adobe. It contains a number of items a former student completed or dealt with to get her research using living people approved by CofC's IRB (Institutional Review Board). They include:

"The Human Research Review Application" by the Student Investigator with Typed Answers to "Questions 11-20" of the application. Even though her application was clearly written, there was a "Query about the Application by an IRB Reviewer." The Student Investigator "Responded to the Query". And, in addition, she developed an "Informed Consent Agreement" that she asked Research Participants to read, ask questions about, and sign. Informed consent is a process.
The forms she completed are found at this link. Look for the forms near the top middle of the page.

She also participated in Required Training For Research Involving Human Participants.When she completed her research, she filled out a final report.