Site visitors from AAALAC, International (AAALAC) will be on campus for the University of Michigan’s next re-accreditation visit beginning Monday, June 8 – Thursday, June 11, 2026.
During this time, you should anticipate a visit to all animal housing locations as well as many laboratories.
For more information on the specific days/times that individual buildings and floors will be visited, please refer to the tentative Site Visit Schedule** 
or paste animalcare.umich.edu/aaalac-schedule into your web browser. Note that for security purposes, valid U-M login credentials are required to access the schedule and file downloads have been disabled.
**Although we will make every effort to adhere to this schedule, unforeseen circumstances may result in schedule deviations. Site visitors may also identify different laboratories to review based on information gleaned from animal housing rooms, Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee protocols, semi-annual facility inspections, etc. Therefore, we ask that all laboratories and their staff, regardless of whether or not their area is listed on the schedule, prepare as if the Site Visit Team may visit them.
How to Prepare
Our Program has a variety of tools, resources, and events available to help ensure that you feel confidently prepared for the upcoming site visit:
- Attend an AAALAC Preparation Town Hall – Beginning Wednesday, May 6, and running throughout the month, town halls will focus on final Site Visit preparations, including what to expect during the visit, how to approach Site Visitor questions, and a last minute Q&A with representatives from our leadership team. For convenience, meetings will be hosted at multiple (e.g., medical, north, and central) campus locations.
- Five AAALAC Essentials – Every laboratory should complete – at a minimum – five essential actions prior to the AAALAC 2026 Site Visit. Get started at animalcare.umich.edu/aaalac-essentials (PDF download).
- Build Your AAALAC Blueprint – Select specific topics of interest (e.g., drug management, rodent euthanasia, equipment sanitization) based on your laboratory’s research and receive a curated list of recommended resources to focus your preparation efforts.
- Community of Care Fair Resources – Learn best practices in laboratory animal care and use from your U-M colleagues with archived resources from the first-ever Community of Care Fair, held earlier this year. Topics include laboratory management and communication; training and onboarding new staff; and drug management, labeling, and recordkeeping.
Finally, please continue to remain vigilant to email and newsletter announcements from our program as we share additional details about the site visit in the coming weeks.
Amid the many competing priorities you are most certainly managing, we thank you for your diligence in helping us prepare for this most important re-accreditation visit. When our esteemed peers arrive in just one short month, we are confident that they will be greeted by a research community committed to care and united by a shared purpose of research to serve the world.
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