CITI Training

CITI Program is a platform available through the University of South Carolina that provides access to trainings required for researchers and those who support university research.

Researchers working on federally funded research or projects involving human subjects, defense research, clinical trials, or export-controlled technologies are required to complete specific training courses to help them uphold high ethical standards and mitigate risk.

To provide this required training, the University of South Carolina works with the CITI Program platform to offer online modules that are designed to fit into a busy schedule. Here, we have collected details on the specific CITI training courses available for USC researchers, as well as instructions for registering, logging in and adding courses through the CITI platform.

CITI Courses

Human Subjects Research

All USC investigators and key personnel involved in conducting human subjects research, including exempt research, are required to complete a CITI web-based course on protection of human research subjects (biomedical or social and behavioral). The course takes 5-6 hours to complete, and you will be required to take the refresher course every 3 years.

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)

Individuals funded by NSF, NIH or other covered sponsors may be required to complete training on responsible conduct of research (RCR). The following courses satisfy federal agency grant requirements for the training of study personnel: Biomedical RCR; Social and Behavioral RCR; Physical Science RCR; Humanities RCR; RCR for Engineers; and RCR for Administrators. Visit the Office of Research Compliance site to determine whether this training is required for you.

Conflict of Interest

There is a mini-course available covering conflict of interest. This optional course covers U.S. Public Health Service agencies’ regulations (such as the National Institutes of Health) and institutional policies related to financial conflict of interest. It consists of 9 sections and a final quiz and takes about 20 minutes to complete.

Conflict of Interest and Commitment (Other Federal Sponsors)

This course covers Conflicts of Interest and Commitment related to the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Small Business Innovation Research, and Small Business Technology Transfer. It consists of 10 sections with quizzes and takes 5-6 hours to complete.

Good Clinical Practice (GCP)

Good Clinical Practice training is required for all individuals involved in the design, conduct, oversight or management of NIH-funded clinical trials. The following courses are available based on your area: GCP US FDA focus; GCP for Clinical Trials Involving Medical Devices (international focus); GCP Course for Clinical Trials Involving Investigational Drugs (ICH/international focus); GCP -- Social and Behavioral Research Best Practices for Clinical Research. There is also a GCP course that focuses on the U.S. FDA.

Research Security

Those required to take research security training can take a condensed course or an advanced refresher that provides foundational information on research security and explores advanced research security topics. The CITI research security course combines four federal modules and can be taken within an hour. The refresher course consists of eight modules, takes 1-2 hours to complete, and should be taken annually for review.

Export Control Compliance

This four-module training raises awareness about export compliance laws and regulations, including the potential risks of non-compliance. All USC personnel involved in export-controlled research are required to complete this training annually per NSPM-33. Most USC research is not subject to export control regulations, which apply to research on specific technologies that could be used for military purposes and items listed on the United States munitions list. There are eight supplemental modules available, as well as a refresher course that CITI recommends taking every three years.

Webinars

CITI Program offers a set of 140+ expert-presented current webinar topics designed to interest research faculty and staff. These are optional and do not replace training requirements put in place by USC. Sample webinar courses include AI in higher education, open access publishing, youth in research, and qualitative data analysis.

Get started

Go to https://about.citiprogram.org/.
Click the white “Register” button in the upper right-hand corner of the landing page.
When you reach the “CITI – Learner Registration” page, click the blue button on the left that reads “Select Your Organization Affiliation” to launch a search box.
In the search box, enter/select “University of South Carolina (SSO),” then click the check boxes to agree to the terms of service and privacy policy, and to affirm that you are an affiliate of the University of South Carolina. Please be sure to select the entry for the University of South Carolina with the term (SSO) included at the end—this will enable you to access USC’s single sign on screen.
Choose the blue button labeled “Log In with University of South Carolina” to access the USC single sign on screen and log in using your university credentials.
Once you are registered/logged in, you will land on a welcome page with your name at the top. Below your name, you will see a “University of South Carolina” heading, followed by several other headings—you will see “Active Courses,” “Courses Ready to Begin,” and “Completed Courses” headings. You may see some courses listed under those headings or not.

Go to https://about.citiprogram.org/.
Select the blue “Log In” button in the upper right-hand corner of the landing page.
When you reach the login screen, you will see three tabs along the top—select the “Log In Through My Organization” tab to launch a search box.
In the search box, enter/select “University of South Carolina,” then click the blue “Continue To SSO Login / Instructions” button to access the USC single sign on screen and log in using your university credentials.
Once you are logged in, you will land on a welcome page with your name at the top. Below your name, you will see a “University of South Carolina” heading, followed by several other headings—you will see “Active Courses,” “Courses Ready to Begin,” and “Completed Courses” headings. You may see some courses listed under those headings or not.

To add courses to your "Courses Ready to Begin" list, scroll to the bottom of the welcome page, to the grey box labeled “Learner Tools for University of South Carolina,” and select the “Add a Course” link from the bulleted list. This will take you to a page headed “Select Curriculum University of South Carolina.”
The “Select Curriculum” screen is set up as a series of questions to help assess user training needs. You must address each question on the page before you can proceed.
Once you have submitted your selections through the “Select Curriculum” screen, you will be returned to the Welcome page with your name at the top. You should see the courses you have chosen listed underneath the heading “Courses Ready to Begin.”
Select the blue “Start Now” button to begin a training module.

Research Training and Education Services