USU IRB Training Requirements
The safety, comfort, and well-being of research volunteers is of the utmost importance to the Utah State University IRB. The use of human participants in research requires strict adherence to ethical standards and working knowledge of regulations that govern research involving human subjects. In an effort to provide comprehensive training on these ethical standards and regulations, Utah State University has made CITI training available to its research community.
All researchers who interact with participants or access their identifiable data must first complete the Human Research Curriculum Basic Course. Here are written step by step instructions, as well as a brief video tutorial, for how to register for the correct coursework. An 80% or better score is required for the modules to be marked as “completed.”
There are two learner groups that meet the requirements for the Human Research Curriculum Basic Course, and researchers may opt into either learner group. The options are:
- Group 1: Social and Behavioral Research Investigators & Key Personnel
- Group 2: Clinical Researchers
The learner groups have the same number of modules, and both groups meet the requirements for IRB submissions.
CITI notifies the USU IRB of all Human Research Curriculum completions every evening. The following business day, completion information will be entered in the IRB CITI Training Database by our office assistant. If you need the IRB to be notified of your CITI completion on the same day that you have taken it, please email your completion certificate to irb@usu.edu. Current CITI certification needs to be maintained for the duration of all human subjects research, and certification must be renewed via the Refresher Modules every three years. Principal Investigators with lapsed CITI Training will have their protocols suspended, with five business days to remedy the lapse before protocols will be administratively closed.
Refreshing CITI Training
Utah State University requires training to be refreshed every three years, consistent with several federal granting agencies' training requirements. As your training expiration date approaches, CITI will send at least two notices to the email address that you provided when you created your profile in CITI. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to refresh your CITI training for human subjects research.
Any researcher whose training expires and remains expired for more than one year (i.e. has not received relevant human subjects research training in four years) must re-initiate the entire training series by retaking the Basic Course. The USU IRB will not accept a Refresher Course after one year of expired training.
Returning Users & Transferring Previous Training
Returning users may simply log in to CITI and complete their training or refresher courses. If prior login information has been forgotten, click on the “forgot login information” link to recover login information. The USU IRB does not maintain CITI Account information; that is directly between the user and CITI.
If you have taken CITI training with another institution, you are able to easily transfer your completed modules to Utah State University. After logging in, the last button on your home screen will take you to your institutional affiliation page, where you will be able to select Utah State University as your affiliated institution. You may need to take additional modules in order to meet USU’s training requirements.
Contact
Any issues with the CITI training modules, website, or your CITI account should be directed to CITI at support@citiprogram.org or 888.529.5959. If you have questions about Utah State University’s records of your training, you may call our main office number at 435.797.1821.