Dear Investigators,

I am writing to inform you of my impressions of the results of the recent AAALAC accreditation site visit. At
the exit briefing, the evaluation team indicated that many aspects of our animal care and use program
are excellent but there are several programmatic deficiencies relative to oversight of the program. The site
visitors identified sufficient programmatic problems that they will recommend that the full AAALAC
council impose a probationary status on us. During a probationary status, we maintain accreditation for a
limited period of time.

During that time, we will be required to show that we have resolved the identified problems. Because many
of the problems that were identified were also identified three years ago when AAALAC visited, it is likely
that we will have a re-inspection at the end of the specified probationary time. The site visit team suggested
that we start resolving certain kinds of problems now rather than waiting until we get the official AAALAC
report sometime in the late winter or early spring.

The site visitors commended several aspects of our program. Commendable Aspects include institutional
support of the program as related to financial support of new facilities and renovations of existing
physical plant; emergency preparedness and the disaster plan; the animal health monitoring plan and overall
veterinary care program; and maintenance, sanitation, and enrichment programs in dedicated animal facilities.

The site visitors identified several problems and concerns. They indicated that they expect to find some
things that are not up to standards in a large institution like ours; however, they found sufficient items along
a recurring nature that they feel we have some systematic problems. They were very concerned that a
number of the major issues identified as problems by the site visit team three years ago have not been
corrected. They were concerned that several of the non-ULAR housing, surgery, and study areas are not up
to standards.

They indicated that they felt that the ILACUC does not exert sufficient rigor in information gathering during
review of protocols and amendments and that ILACUC doesn't have adequate oversight of all of the
program areas for which it is responsible relative to the animal care and use program. The site team felt that
semiannual review was not adequate. They indicated that we allow activities that are not up to standard to
continue and that we do not identify a timetable for corrections and then follow up on the timetable. The site
review team was concerned about occupational health. They're concerned about our inability to identify
whether any particular animal handler is up to date with participation in occupational health. They were also
concerned that people can actually get into laboratories and start work before being trained in animal
handling and/or in safety procedures for working with chemical or infectious disease hazards.

From my perspective, I think that we will have to implement a number of changes that will affect policies
regarding use of animals in research. I am providing a few examples of changes I anticipate. We will require
that new personnel attend training and enroll in Occupational Health before being granted access to animal
facilities. We will require that animals housed in laboratory areas receive the same quality of care as those in
ULAR areas. Basically, we need to make all animal housing areas ULAR areas.

We will have more inspections of laboratory areas where procedures using animals are done. We will likely
have some modifications to our protocols, but full compliance with training, occupational health, etc. will need to be achieved before a protocol can be designated as approved.

The ILACUC, ULAR, and Office of Responsible Research Practices will be working diligently over the next few
months on a comprehensive plan to correct all problems identified by the AAALAC site visit team. We welcome your ideas as to program improvement. We will do our best to developprocedures that are efficient in the time and effort required
from each of us. I am confident that we can meetall regulatory standards and continue to do excellent research. Your support
and cooperation will be essential to successful re-initiation of AAALAC accreditation.

Lane Wallace
Chair, ILACUC