Investigators are ultimately responsible for complying with all applicable regulations and policies governing animal welfare. However, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and the institutional veterinarian are responsible for interpreting animal welfare requirements and establishing guidelines that help investigators meet these standards. Faculty, staff, and students must complete the required training before participating in activities involving animal subjects and prior to IACUC approval of a protocol.
Federal requirements overseen by the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) require all investigators and key personnel who are directly involved in animal research to be appropriately trained before working with animal subjects. This requirement is consistent with the institution's Animal Welfare Assurance on file with OLAW at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
All researchers, including students, staff, and faculty, must complete the training described below.
Educational Materials
The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) offers an online course on animal care and use in research. The course covers core animal welfare topics, including:
- Working with the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
- Federal regulations and oversight
- Alternatives to animal use
- Personnel training requirements
- Occupational health and safety
- Humane care and use of animals
- Additional animal welfare considerations
Completion of this training helps ensure compliance with federal requirements and promotes the humane and ethical care and use of animals in research and teaching activities.
Screenshots
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If you have a JMU e-ID, please follow these instructions.
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If you do NOT have a JMU e-ID, please follow these instructions.
Instructions
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Go to CITI Program and Log In Through My Organization or Register.
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Add a course under Learner Toools.
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Select ONLY "I need to take courses regarding research involving Lab Animals."
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Select "The 'Working with the IACUC Course' is required if you plan to use laboratory animals in your work or plan to supervise such work"
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Select species-specific courses as they pertain to your work.
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From the Main Menu, click on the course title to begin the training.
Please Note
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Training is valid for up to 3 years.
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You do not need a JMU e-id to register for training.
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Training is free.
Technical issues should be addressed to CITI Program.
Transfer Training
If training was completed at another institution within the past (3) years, you can affiliate with JMU and transfer your training over.
- After logging into your CITI Program account, click on the link Add Institutional Affiliation.
- Type James Madison University in the search box.
- Confirm you have selected the right institution and agree to the Terms and Conditions.
- Answer the member information questions and enroll in the course(s).
Please Note: To transfer course credit between institutions, you will need to be affiliated with both institutions (your previous institution and JMU). When you are affiliated with both institutions, enroll in the courses that need to be transferred You will need to enroll in the same stage of the course (Basic / Refresher) for a transfer to occur.
