Animal Subjects Research

At Goshen College all research involving vertebrate animal subjects should be approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee or IACUC. At the links below, you will find relevant documents for proposals to the IACUC.

Note: The Goshen College IACUC is not registered with the USDA nor does it hold an OLAW Assurance and thus cannot provide approval for projects with federal funding (e.g., NIH, CDC, FDA, NSF, etc.). If you plan to use federal funds, please contact an external IACUC to secure approval for your project.

IACUC Timeline

The IACUC committee may determine that a proposal requires full or designated approval. Designated approval will be given on a rolling basis, usually within one month. If the IACUC has received proposals that require full approval, we will meet within two months to consider the proposal.

IACUC Procedures

Faculty, staff and student researchers at Goshen College should use the steps below to determine what kinds of procedures they will need to follow if they plan to do any research involving vertebrate animal subjects.

The Basics

In order to determine whether your work is “research” that involves “animal subjects” according to federal policies, use the questions below. If you can answer “yes” to ALL of these questions, IACUC approval is required:

– Does it involve any live, vertebrate non-human animal?

– Will the animal be used for the purposes of research or study, including classroom exercises or student research projects?

– Will it result in any change to the routine care or husbandry of the animal? (For example, observation of animals in the wild or an internship at an animal shelter would not require approval.)

Steps for applying for approval to do research:

Step 1)

Complete the online training module provided by the American Association of Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) at: https://aalaslearninglibrary.org. You will need to create a free account. Search for the course “Working with the IACUC.” Once you have passed the final exam, save a copy of the screen showing your exam results for submission in Step 3 below. (The entire course takes approximately one hour.)

Step 2)

Review the template document below to create your proposal. Fill out all sections of the document. Use “N/A” to indicate sections that do not apply to your research.

GC IACUC Application

Step 3)

Send all materials via email to Justin Heinzekehr, IACUC chair, at justinbh@goshen.edu, including:

a screenshot showing your completion of the AALAS “Working with the IACUC” training module
the signed cover page of your proposal (can scan or use electronic signature)
your completed proposal, making sure to include:
- rationale for the use of animals in your research
- detailed description of experiment design and procedures for working with animals
- plans for animals after research has concluded
any other necessary documents for your proposal such as:
- research site approval for off-campus projects
- other permissions from organizations you are working with
- descriptions of your project submitted to granting agencies

Step 4)

Wait for approval before beginning any research with animal subjects.

If you have any questions about this process or about approvals at Goshen College, please contact: