Office of Research

IACUC CITI Requirements

Instructions on IACUC-required training on humane care and use of animals in research, including how to access a certificate of completion.

The CITI Program provides web-based animal care and use educational courses designed to meet U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) requirements for basic training in the humane care and use of animals. The UCSC IACUC requires completing certain courses depending on the protocol type. On a case-by-case basis other courses may be required by the IACUC.

CITI training requirements by protocol type

Full use biomedical protocol (with animal contact)

Requirements
  • Requires completing/passing all of the modules of the “Group B: Biomedical Course for Vivarium Users” training course. 
  • Personnel named as performing surgery must also complete/pass:
    • module “Aseptic Surgery” 
    • all modules of “Post-Procedure Care of Mice and Rats in Research: Minimizing Pain and Distress” 
    • if applicable, “Working with Mice in Research” and/or “Working with Rats in Research.”
Detailed instructions
  1. Log in to the CITI Program Online. More detailed instructions for logging in can be found on CITI Program Training.
  2. Next to “University of California, Santa Cruz,” select View Courses.
  3. At the bottom of the page in the Learner Tools box, select Add a Course.
  4. For “What type of training are you interested in?” check the box for “LabAnimal Welfare.”
  5. Select the Next button.
  6. Check the box for “B. Biomedical Course for Vivarium Users.”
  7. If performing surgery, check the box for “if you plan to conduct studies that have the potential to cause more than momentary pain or distress in Mice and Rats …,” and if applicable depending on your protocol, one or both “I work with Mice” and/or “I work with Rats.”
  8. Select the Next button.
  9. The course should now appear on your My Courses tab. Select the Start Now button next to “Group B: Biomedical Course for Vivarium Users.”
  10. Review the CITI Program Terms of Service. If you agree, check the box for “I AGREE…” and select the Submit button. You will be redirected back to the course modules—complete the required modules and associated quizzes with an aggregate score of 60% or higher. A running tally is compiled in a grade book. If you want to improve one or more quiz scores, you may repeat them.
  11. If performing surgery, also:
    • Complete the “Aseptic Surgery” module under the headline “Optional Modules.”
    • Navigate to the Main Menu to complete the course “Reducing Pain and Distress in Laboratory Mice and Rats.”
    • If applicable, depending on your protocol, complete one or both “Working with Mice in Research” and “Working with Rats in Research Settings.” 

Full use non-biomedical protocol (with animal contact)

Requirements
  • Requires completing/passing all of the modules of the “Group C: Non-Biomedical Research” training course
  • Personnel named as performing surgery must also complete/pass:
    • module “Aseptic Surgery” of “Group B: Biomedical Course for Vivarium Users” course
    • all modules of “Post-Procedure Care of Mice and Rats in Research: Minimizing Pain and Distress”
    • if applicable, “Working with Mice in Research” and/or “Working with Rats in Research.”
Detailed instructions
  1. Log in to the CITI Program Online. More detailed instructions for logging in can be found on CITI Program Training.
  2. Select View Courses next to “University of California, Santa Cruz”.
  3. At the bottom of the page in the Learner Tools box, select Add a Course.
  4. For “What type of training are you interested in?” check the box for “LabAnimal Welfare.”
  5. Select the Next button.
  6. Check the box for “C. Non Biomedical-Research.” The IACUC strongly suggests that personnel also complete “Wildlife Research” or the supplementary course (e.g., amphibians, birds, etc.) most aligned with their research subjects.
  7. If performing surgery, also check the boxes for:
    • “B. Biomedical Course for Vivarium Users”
    • “if you plan to conduct studies that have the potential to cause more than momentary pain or distress in Mice and Rats …”
    • if applicable, depending on your protocol, one or both “I work with Mice” and/or “I work with Rats”
  8. Select the Next button.
  9. The course should now appear on your My Courses tab. Select the Start Now button next to “C. Non Biomedical-Research.”
  10. Review the CITI Program Terms of Service. If you agree, check the box for “I AGREE…” and select the Submit button. You will be redirected back to the course modules—complete the required modules and associated quizzes with an aggregate score of 60% or higher. A running tally is compiled in a grade book. If you want to improve one or more quiz scores, you may repeat them.
  11. If performing surgery:
    • Within Course “B. Biomedical Course for Vivarium Users,” under the Supplemental Modules headline, complete the “Aseptic Surgery” module.
    • Under My Courses, complete the course “Reducing Pain and Distress in Laboratory Mice and Rats.”
    • Under My Courses, if applicable depending on your protocol, complete one or both “Working with Mice in Research” and/or “Working with Rats in Research Settings.” 

Observation and sample protocols (no animal contact)

Requirements
  • Requires completing/passing all of the modules of the “Group A: For Non-Contact Research Only” training course. 
Detailed instructions
  1. Log in to the CITI Program Online. More detailed instructions for logging in can be found on CITI Program Training.
  2. Select View Courses next to “University of California, Santa Cruz”.
  3. At the bottom of the page in the Learner Tools box, select Add a Course.
  4. For “What type of training are you interested in?” check the box for “LabAnimal Welfare.”
  5. Select the Next button.
  6. Check the box for “A. For Non-Contact Research Only.”
  7. Select the Next button.
  8. On the next page, select the Finalize my registration button at the bottom of the page.
  9. The course should now appear on your My Courses tab. Select the Start Now button next to “A. For Non-Contact Research Only.”
  10. Review the CITI Program Terms of Service. If you agree, check the box for “I AGREE…” and select the Submit button. You will be redirected back to the course modules.
  11. Complete the required modules and associated quizzes with an aggregate score of 60% or higher. A running tally is compiled in a grade book. If you want to improve one or more quiz scores, you may repeat them.

Access the certificate of completion

  1. Go to the My Courses page.
  2. In the “Completion Record” column select View-Print-Share.

IACUC

Last modified: Apr 30, 2024