Federal law requires that the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) make recommendations to the Institutional Official (IO) for development and administration of animal care and use training programs for all personnel involved in the use of animals in teaching or research. Employees of Laboratory Animal Resources (LAR) require training in order to understand the safe application of principles of basic and advanced animal husbandry, veterinary medical treatment, research design, and regulatory requirements. It is the policy of the University of Montana IACUC to provide and document a comprehensive training program for all LAR employees.

A.  Administrative Responsibility

1.  It is the responsibility of the Facility Manager, Attending Veterinarian (AV) and
     IACUC Coordinator to design and implement the training program for LAR
     employees.

2.  It is the responsibility of the IACUC Coordinator to

a.  Maintain records of LAR training

b.  Provide instructions for use of the Collaborative Institutional Training
     Initiative (CITI) web training site

c.  Provide occupational health and safety (OH&S) materials, including a
     summary of hazards and instructions for OH&S program participation.

B.  Documentation of Training

1.  The IACUC Coordinator will maintain individual files for all LAR employees that will
     include

a.  Training received by LAR employees,

1)  Formally scheduled training sessions and meetings

2)  LAR employees will also maintain records of on-the-job training that
     will be photocopied twice yearly (January and July) and added to
     their individual training files

b.  Training provided by LAR employees to other employees or to animal
      users, including topic, trainee, and time required, and

c.  Service in organized laboratory animal medicine, such as participation on
     an IACUC subcommittee or regional [Northern Rocky Mountain Branch
     (NRMB)], district (District VIII), or national professional association
     [American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS)]. 

2.  All training documents will be made available by the IACUC Coordinator to the
     IACUC, federal regulatory personnel, or any other qualified inspector on demand.

C.  Training Program

1.  New LAR employees should receive within 1 week of employment

a.  Orientation notebook or web references to employee handbook, new
      employee orientation meetings, LAR employee policy, AALAS
      certification programs, parking information, and Griz card information

b.  Facility tour

c.  Information on occupational hazards in the workplace and access to
     medical surveillance forms, including specialized safety training as
     applicable

d.  Material safety data sheet training

e.  Review of IACUC web site home page tutorial with the Facility Manager
     or the IACUC Coordinator

f.  Daily supervision and training by LAR employees approved by the Facility
     Manager until competency demonstrated to these individuals, and

g.  On-going training by Facility Manager and approved LAR employees.

2.  All permanent LAR employees

a.  Complete the specified training modules on the CITI training website
      https://about.citiprogram.org/en/homepage/

1)  "Working with the IACUC"

2)  "Working with Mice"

3)  "Working with Rats"

4)  “Working with Hamsters"

5)  "Working with Rabbits"

6)  "Working with Guinea Pigs"

7)  "Working with Frogs, Toads or Amphibians"

8)  "Working with Fish"

9)  "Working with Procedures That Cause More Than Momentary Pain and
      Distress"

     10)  "Aseptic Surgery"  

b.  Annual attendance at the NRMB AALAS meeting is recommended

c.  May participate in progression through established career ladder that
     includes promotions and raises (~9% salary increase per level) based on,
     at a minimum, successfully passing national certification examinations
     sanctioned by AALAS

1)  Laboratory Animal Technician I (entry level)

2)  Laboratory Animal Technician II (ALAT certification)

3)  Laboratory Animal Technician III (LAT certification)

4)  Laboratory Animal Technician IV (LATG certification)

5)  Facility Manager (CMAR certification)

6)  CMAR certification can be pursued by employees at the Laboratory
     Animal Technician IV level for achieving a raise (~4.5%), but
     promotion to Facility Manager is only possible when a single position is
     funded, available, and advertised

d.  AALAS training materials and the cost of the first exam attempt for each
     certification level will be provided by the employer