Training
It is the responsibility of Texas A&M to assure that all personnel involved in the care, treatment, and use of animals in research and teaching are qualified to perform their duties and are aware of regulations and requirements applicable to their work with animals.
As part of the IACUC Animal Use Protocol (AUP) approval process, principal investigators must document the training and experience of their personnel. Additionally, the IACUC expects all animal program participants to complete the requirements outlined in TAMU-G-029 Guidelines for Animal Protocol Participation and Handling.
Training/Enrollment Requirements
All animal program participants must complete training and enrollment relevant to their job or participation on an animal use protocol. Please note: Not all training listed below is required for every participant. See TAMU-G-029 for more information or contact the Animal Welfare Office staff at (979) 845-1828 or animalcompliance@tamu.edu for assistance in determining training requirements and timeline for completion.
Basic required training/enrollment:
- Biosafety & Occupational Health Program (BOHP) enrollment
- CITI course: Working with the IACUC
Activity dependent training:
- CITI courses:
- Species specific course(s)
- Aseptic Surgery (may be replaced by IACUC authorized live training)
- BOHP Animal Allergen Training (TrainTraq)
- Waste Anesthetic Gas Scavenging Training (TrainTraq)
- Lab, facility, or PI specific training
- Other training as identified by the IACUC.
New PI Orientation:
New Principal Investigators or PIs new to TAMU are asked to participate in an orientation session designed to introduce researchers to animal compliance at TAMU. The New PI Orientation session must be completed before submissions can be submitted for IACUC review. Please contact the Animal Welfare Office staff at (979) 845-1828 or animalcompliance@tamu.edu to schedule a session.
Timing of Training/Enrollment Completion for AUP Participation:
Required raining/enrollment must be completed before the AUP can be approved or individual participant can be listed on the AUP. See Approval Process for Research/Teaching with Animals: Documentation Needed.
Registering for CITI Courses:
CITI is a web-based research, ethics, compliance and safety-training program utilized by Texas A&M for those individuals involved in the animal care and use program. More detailed instructions on how to register for CITI courses is available in PDF format.
Go to https://about.citiprogram.org/
New Users
Step 1
Select REGISTER
Step 2
- Click SELECT YOUR ORGANIZATION AFFILIATION and find “Texas A&M University (SSO)” as your participating institution.
- Indicate that you agree to the terms indicated and affirm your affiliation with the institution.
- Click LOG IN WITH TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY and enter your NetID and password to complete TAMU authentication
Step 3
Under The CITI Animal Welfare Course Participants section: Please select applicable courses as indicated in TAMU-G-029 and click SUBMIT:
- Working with the IACUC
- Activity dependent courses as applicable:
- Aseptic Surgery
- Species specific course(s)
Step 4
Once registration is complete, you will see the CITI main menu listing your enrolled courses. Enter each course to complete the required modules and exams.
Note: Users must pass each required module with at least an 80% score to pass the course.
Returning Users
Step 1
Select LOG IN
Step 2
Click LOG IN THROUGH MY ORGANIZATION and find “Texas A&M University” as your participating institution. Click CONTINUE TO SSO LOGIN/INSTRUCTIONS.
Pick your account and enter your NetID and password to complete TAMU authentication.
Step 3
To add additional courses to the CITI main menu:
- Go to LEARNER TOOLS FOR TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY and click ADD A COURSE
- Select the desired course(s) from the section titled THE CITI ANIMAL WELFARE COURSE PARTICIPANTS and click SUBMIT
- You will be returned to the CITI main menu, which will now list all enrolled courses. Enter each course to complete the required modules and exams.
- Note: Users must pass each required module with at least an 80% score to pass the course.
CMP Laboratory Animal Care and Use Training Program
The Comparative Medicine Program (CMP) Animal Care and Use Training Program at Texas A&M was established to help provide training, instruction, and information about laboratory animal care and use to teaching and research personnel. The program is available to Texas A&M and Texas A&M AgriLife faculty, instructors, scientists, technicians, graduate students, undergraduate students, and other personnel involved in animal care and use. Records of attendance and participation in training activities are maintained on an individual basis by the IACUC office and the attending veterinarian. Attendance at sessions offered by the Animal Care and Use Training Program should be listed on AUP forms when listing qualifications, training, and experience of personnel.
Training Opportunities
PI Training
The Animal Welfare Office (AWO) offers virtual workshops that meet the continuing education requirements for investigators as described in the “Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals” (“the Guide”).OBSERVE Guidelines
This training session will introduce the OBSERVE guidelines for refining rodent cancer models, highlighting how their implementation can significantly enhance animal welfare and how the Animal Welfare Office can support researchers in integrating these practices into their Animal Use Protocols.
Food and Water Restriction
We’ll explore the use of food and/or water restriction, review the regulatory guidelines that govern their application during experimental procedures, and learn how to accurately describe and document their use in animal use protocols and records.
Rodent Surgery
This session will cover essential topics in rodent surgery including aseptic technique, best practices, relevant federal regulations and guidelines, and required documentation in animal use protocols and animal records.
Enrichment & Single Housing (repeat presentation)
We will be learning about animal enrichment types and documentation requirements for group or single-housed animals in protocol and IACUC inspections.
Experimental Design Workshop
See Dates BelowIs your AUP a head-scratcher? Check the experimental design section! In this workshop we will first cover how to construct a successful experimental timeline for your AUP and then work through examples (including yours!) together. We will also have a demonstration of some AI resources for creating/editing AUP content.
TrainTraq
Did you know that the Animal Welfare Office is now introducing training opportunities with Traintraq? Training on animal welfare topics is available on-demand – more courses to come!