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West Virginia University Office of Animal Welfare
WVU Research Office

Training

Animal Care Training Starts Here

All personnel who work with or care for animals in research or teaching are federally mandated to demonstrate the skills and knowledge to properly care for and handle those animals to ensure animal well-being and personnel safety.

Regulatory Occupational Animal Other

WVU is required to provide and to keep records of all persons taking animal care training.

Regulatory Training

Regulatory training for animal care and use at WVU is provided via the CITI (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative) program and Kuali Build; this training is required for all personnel who work with or care for animals in research or teaching, and any student enrolled in a course that uses live animals.

This training must be updated every three to five years. Records of regulatory training are maintained by CITI & Kuali and are accessible by the Office of Animal Welfare.

CITI Login

Regulatory Training Instructions

  • If you do not have a WVU login, please contact our office for alternative instructions (IACUC@mail.wvu.edu)
  • Click on the blue "CITI login" button above.
  • Login in with your WVU credentials. (If you do not have a WVU email address, contact the Office of Animal Welfare for instructions.)
  • You will see "West Virginia University" and any courses you have enrolled in and/or already taken.
  • If the course(s) you need to take is/are not listed, scroll to the bottom of the page to the box labeled "Learner Tools for West Virginia University"; click ‘Add a Course’.
  • Answer questions on "Select Curriculum" page to enroll in courses, based on the work you will be performing.....
  • PERSONNEL LISTED ON A RESEARCH OR TEACHING PROTOCOL:
            1. Working with the IACUC
      • Question 3 - choose "Working with the IACUC"
      • If performing surgery (Biomedical protocols only)
        • Question 3 - also choose "Aseptic Surgery"
      • If working on a wildlife protocol
        • Question 3 - also choose "Wildlife Research"
            2. Species-specific training
      • Question 4 - choose the course(s) that represent ALL the animal species you will be working with, by adding a checkmark in the box associated with the course(s)
        • If you are enrolled in class(es) using live agricultural animals, you only need to complete "Agricultural zoonosis concerns" under Question 4
        • If you are working with PIGEONS, please complete KUALI BUILD COURSE: IACUC Training on Pigeon use in Research and Teaching
  • STUDENTS ENROLLED IN A COURSE
            1. Species-specific training
      • Question 4 - choose the course(s) that represent ALL the animal species you will be working with (if available), by adding a checkmark in the box associated with the course(s)
  • Scroll to the bottom and click the ‘Submit’ button.
  • You should now see the course(s) that you added under "Courses Ready to Begin".
  • Click "Start Now" for each course and complete the course(s).
*** If you have previously completed CITI courses at another institution, contact the OAW staff if you need assistance in linking them to your WVU profile, via "add an affiliation" ***

Occupational Health Questionnaire

All WVU personnel and students working with or in proximity to live animals used in research or teaching must complete an Occupational Health Questionnaire, which needs to be updated on an ANNUAL BASIS. Records of occupational health clearance are maintained by WVU Occupational Medicine.

Visiting personnel and students can request a waiver for submitting an Occupational Health Questionnaire by providing evidence that another program already covers them.

Occupational Health Questionnaire

Visit the Occupational Health Questionnaire page and complete the form. If you receive a notice that you are NOT cleared for animal contact, please call WVU Occupational Medicine at (304) 293-3693 OR call Well WVU (Student Health) (304) 285-7200 if you are a student. Occ Med can clear most people over the phone in just a few minutes.

Animal Facility Training

All animal users and caretakers who enter central animal facilities with the Office of Laboratory Animal Resources (OLAR) oversight must receive facility training by the Director or assigned staff of the facility.

Contact OLAR

This includes Health Sciences Center, Life Science Building, and Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. Records of facility training are maintained by OLAR.

Visit the OLAR website for their training schedule and instructions, under "Training & Education". If you have further questions, contact OLAR at (304) 293-3737 or OLARtraining@hsc.wvu.edu.


Hands-On Training

Species-specific and Procedure-specific

All animal users and caretakers are required to have appropriate training for the handling and husbandry of the species used, as relevant to the nature of the animal use and specific procedures that they will be performing on/with animals.

This training may be provided by veterinary staff, animal care staff, course instructor or Principal Investigator/laboratory staff, as appropriate. 

Training records for all personnel with regard to protocol/procedure-specific and species-specific training should be maintained by the PI/supervisor/lab and be easily accessible.

Our office has a template that can be used or modified for the purposes of maintaining protocol/procedure specific training (please note that you can choose another form or method that works for you):

Additional Training as Necessary

Additional training, such as biohazard training, radiation safety training or chemical safety training, may be required depending the nature of your animal work. Please contact the appropriate office for more information:

Biosafety Training Radiation Safety Training Environmental and Safety Training