Before initiating research projects that involve human participants or animals, all researchers (faculty, staff, students, or external investigators) must complete research compliance training. To facilitate this policy, Berry College subscribes to the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) at the University of Miami. CITI provides a uniform course of instruction regarding human subjects research, animal care and use, the responsible conduct of research, and biosafety concerns. CITI training is effective for a period of three years, after which training must be renewed prior to the conduct of additional research.
To register for the program, complete training, or confirm completion of modules; access the link below:
- At the Select your institution or organization page, scroll down to the category All Others and
- select Berry College, then click the SUBMIT button.
- At the Select Your Username and Password page, enter the requested information according to the instructions and click the Submit button.
- At the CITI Registration Page, complete the form as instructed and when finished, click the Submit Information button.
Note: If you are Berry College faculty/staff, please enter your employee I.D. number in the Employee Number space; if you are a student; enter your student I.D. number.
CERTIFICATES
When you complete the required training on the CITI site, please print your certificate and submit it with your request for a protocol’s approval.
For additional information contact Laura Taylor, by email or by phone at 706.378.2851
For animal use in teaching or research
One of the most important components of working with animals under any context is to recognize the importance of receiving training related to appropriate animal care and use. All principle investigators (PI) submitting a Request for Protocol Review form, must complete the CITI, Working with the IACUC, training module.
It should be noted that additional individual species modules are also available without cost to the PI. Completion of individual species modules may also be required by the IACUC and for grants awarded by some funding agencies.
The PI is responsible for ensuring all collaborators and individuals working on a given research project complete the CITI – IACUC training module Working with the IACUC course. Failure to complete training may result in suspension of the research project.
For research involving Human Participants
The CITI program was developed by national IRB experts. Through a series of modules, the program provides knowledge about History and Ethical Principles, Defining Research with Human Subjects, The Regulations, Assessing Risk, Informed Consent, Privacy and Confidentiality, and Conflicts of Interest in Research Involving Human Subjects.
Each module has educational material that can be read on screen or printed, and a brief online test. You can do each module separately – you do not have to complete the entire program in one sitting.
At the completion of each module, you are required to complete an online quiz. You must score at least an 80% on each of the quizzes (they have 5-10 questions each).
If this is your initial CITI training, you must take the CITI Basic Course, not the Refresher course! After registering, you must select a training group. At the Select Group page, Step One gives basic instructions; Step Two asks you to select a group appropriate to your research activities. The choices are the following primary groups:
Group 1 Social/Behavioral Investigators
Group 2 Education Investigators
Group 3 Biomedical Investigators
Group 4 IRB Members
Note: There are several optional modules, i.e., research involving minors, research in public elementary and secondary schools, and internet research. If your research involves these topics, you are required to complete the appropriate optional modules as well.