Preparations for the AAALAC 2023 Site Visit Now Underway

The University of Michigan’s next mandatory re-accreditation visit by AAALAC, International (AAALAC) will take place this Summer (e.g., June – July 2023). AAALAC accreditation is critical to the success of our Animal Care & Use (ACU) Program as well as the larger U-M research enterprise.

Full continued accreditation demonstrates to our peers, collaborators, and funding agencies that U-M values and upholds the highest national and professional standards of compassionate laboratory animal care and use in the conduct of responsible research.

As we work toward the collective goal of optimizing and refining our processes to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare, it is incumbent upon all of us – as individuals and members of the U-M research community – to actively participate in preparations leading up to the AAALAC 2023 Site Visit.

There are multiple ways you can get involved:

Attend the AAALAC 2023 Kickoff Meeting hosted by U-M Vice President for Research and Institutional Official Rebecca Cunningham, M.D., and members of the Animal Care & Use Program Leadership Team to learn more about the upcoming site visit and gain a better understanding of current programmatic trends and insights to help inform your preparation efforts.

Share and discuss preparation resources, including the recently updated Self-Guided Evaluation of Animal Activities & Protocol Content Form, which will help you assess your laboratory staff’s knowledge of the animal activities described in your animal use protocol(s) and ensure that all procedures being performed are consistent with your Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee approved protocol(s) and all programmatic policies, guidelines, and procedures.

Bookmark the AAALAC webpage  (or paste animalcare.umich.edu/aaalac into your web browser) to stay apprised of important Site Visit news and updates, including additional preparation tools, resources, and events. Please note: this page is on a protected portion of the ACU website which required Level-1 U-M login credentials to access.

Finally, please continue to remain vigilant to email and newsletter announcements in the coming weeks and months as additional details about the 2023 Site Visit are shared. We understand that you already receive a high volume of emails at an institution of our size, and thank you in advance for prioritizing these communications.

You may also want to add acu-communications@umich.edu to your Address Book or list of approved senders to ensure that you continue to receive important email messages from our Program.

Thank you for your partnership and support, and for your continued commitment to providing compassionate and humane care to all animals we have the great privilege of working with.

 Links marked with a lock icon can only be accessed using valid Level-1 U-M login credentials.