CPIA Recertification

CPIAs must complete 50 documented hours of continuing education (CE) that adhere to the recertification guidelines listed below. 
All CE credits must be earned after the date the examination was passed, but before the date the certification expires.  For those recertifying by CE for a consecutive time, CE credits for the most recently recertification cycle must be earned after the renewal date of the preceding certification term. 
Credit hours for Categories 1 and 2  are awarded on an hour to hour (1:1) basis, meaning that every hour of classroom learning is equivalent to one continue education credit. Credits are quartered in .25 increments, meaning every 15 minutes is equal to .25 credit hour.
At least 40 of the 50 hours of continuing education credit required for recertification must cover IACUC-administration related topics listed in the CPIA Body of Knowledge/Content Outline. Up to 10 hours can be on professional development topics not directly related to IACUC administration (examples include leadership/management training and general laboratory animal science topics).
Credit hours must be earned in at least two of the categories described below.
No more than 30 continuing education hours may be earned in a single category with the exception of the additional restrictions noted under categories 9 (exam items) and 12 (local or regional IACUC administration-related networking group meetings).

Acceptable continuing education credits for the 50 hours may include:

• Category 1: Attendance at IACUC administration-related educational programs
  • 1 per hour attended 
• Category 2: Participation in IACUC administration-related online training, conferences, and webinars
  • 1 per hour attended
• Category 3: Participation as faculty in an IACUC administration-related educational program      
  • 1 per half hour presented
• Category 4: Service as a site visitor (e.g., AAALAC, OLAW).  
  • 5 per day per site visit 
• Category 5: Authorship of relevant articles relevant to IACUC administration in peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Publish an article in Comparative Medicine, ILAR Journal, JAALAS, or Lab Animal)  
  • 10 per published article
• Category 6: First authorship or presenter of relevant posters relevant to IACUC administration presented at a meeting         
  • 5 per poster
• Category 7: Authorship of opinion articles or articles which are not peer-reviewed in journals and are related to IACUC administration (e.g., Contribute an article  to ALN or publish a response in Lab Animal magazine's "Protocol Review" column)        
  • 2 per published article
• Category 8: Authorship of published book chapters relevant to IACUC administration
  • 15 per chapter
• Category 9: Item writing for the CPIA exam
  • 2 per 5 questions accepted (maximum of 10 credits)            
• Category 10: Attendance at a CPIA exam item review session         
  • 10 per entire session
• Category 11: Retired  
• Category 12: Participation in an IACUC administration-related local or regional networking group
  • 1 per 2 hours attended 
• Category 13: Participation in a self-study program, such as PRIM&R's Research Ethics Digest animal care and use quiz

   

• Accreditation preparation activities
• Hours spent attending IACUC meetings
• Training conducted as part of IACUC meetings

• Individuals are responsible for obtaining source documentation (certificates, letters of attendance, etc.) for recertification credit and for retaining copies of such documentation for at least three years following recertification.
• Documentation for all continuing education credits must be included with the recertification application.
  • Documentation should include the title of the program, the course sponsor, the date attended, and the number of credit hours earned. For those events that run concurrent sessions, CPIAs should indicate the sessions they attended.
  • Suitable documentation for online learning opportunities that don’t issue certificates of attendance include: copies of sign-in attendance sheets; logs detailing the program title, date of participation, and length of the program that are signed by a supervisor; emails confirming attendance after the conclusion of the program.
  • For PRIM&R webinars, candidates can document their participation by printing a copy of their certificates log, which is located here. Instructions can be found here.
  • For PRIM&R conferences, candidates can access their certificates here by clicking on the My Activity tab, and then selecting the Content tab. Instructions can be found here.
    • If you are having issues obtaining your certificates of attendance, you may need to authenticate your account. Follow the instructions here. 
• A CE Tracker is available to keep a record of continuing education credits.
  • Recertification candidates should complete the CEU Tracker tab on the spreadsheet; credit hours will automatically populate in the credit hours tab. The continuing education tracker document should be sent as an Excel file.
• Continuing education credits must be earned within the current five-year certification period.