Occupational Health & Training
All faculty, staff, and students conducting research with live, vertebrate animals must participate in the University’s occupational health and safety program. Personnel included on an Animal Use Protocol must complete the Animal Worker Screening Questionnaire which can be accessed through the Pat Walker Health Portal.
To access the form, go to myhealth.uark.edu and log in > Messages > New Message > Animal Worker Screening Questionnaire (at the bottom of the list). Once you click continue it will take you to a screening questionnaire that you fill out and submit directly to Pat Walker. There is a $40 fee associated with each screening. Traditionally the PI or department pays for this service and there is a section in the questionnaire for the Workday Worktag. If this isn’t filled out, it will be charged to your UAConnect account. Once a health professional has reviewed the questionnaire, they will contact you with any additional information needed. Once everything is squared away, they will send the certification to the IACUC Program Manager and Centralized Laboratory Animal Facility Manager.
Faculty or staff who have never used the Pat Walker Health Center may first need to contact the Pat Walker front desk at 479-575-4451 to be added to the system. Students are automatically added when they enroll. Students being added to protocols during the summer that are not enrolled in classes will need to contact Pat Walker to open the message portal for them. To request access to the message portal, please email A.J. Olsen at pwhc@uark.edu.
All individuals working with animals should take the Working with the IACUC course for researchers from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative website. Additionally individuals working at CLAF or ENRC must complete the Post-Procedure Care of Mice and Rats in Research: Minimizing Pain and Distress from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative website.
Everyone conducting research in the Central Laboratory Animal Facility or the South Campus Animal Facility must also complete training with the Animal Facility Manager.
Additional training and/or occupational health requirements may be required depending on the nature of the work and is up to the discretion of the PI, facility manager, attending veterinarian, and/or IACUC. Additional training might be available through the AALAS Learning Library.
IACUC Meetings
Upcoming IACUC meetings are listed below. Presently, meetings are held via Microsoft Teams.
Here is a complete list of Research Integrity and Compliance events.
Reporting Animal Welfare Concerns
Any individual who has specific concerns that animals are not being used or treated in a humane and responsible manner by University faculty, staff, or students is encouraged to report such concerns to any member of the IACUC Program Staff (see below). The IACUC Chair, or other members of the IACUC appointed by the Chair, will investigate. If deficiencies are found, the IACUC will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the safety and welfare of animals, and compliance with federal and state regulations and university policy on the care and use of animals in research, training and teaching activities.
Submit Anonymous Animal Welfare Report
Every effort will be made to protect the confidentiality, to the extent possible, of those reporting animal welfare concerns. Institutional members may not retaliate in any way against those reporting animal welfare concerns.
Contact IACUC Program Staff
Dr. Bob Beitle Jr.
Director, Research Integrity and Compliance
106 MLKG
