July 25, 2001

DEANS, DIRECTORS AND DEPARTMENT CHAIRS

Re Animal House Space: Committee on Animal Research Space Assignment (CARSA)

As many of you know, in 1994, after many years of preparation, the Berkeley Campus attained national accreditation upon initial application for its program of animal care and use, which included newly constructed centralized space for animal housing and procedures. This was a remarkable achievement for which credit should be shared by many across the campus. It offered many advantages to our investigators and also placed a responsibility on the administration to establish a campus-wide process for monitoring and managing the utilization of these core resources. Equitable assignment and efficient utilization of centralized animal space remains critical to the continued success of the teaching and research programs at Berkeley. With the cooperation and consultation of the campus community, Berkeley continues to maintain its accreditation.

Since 1994, the assignment of campus animal housing and procedure space has fallen under the purview of the office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Committee on Animal Research Space Assignment (CARSA), an advisory committee charged with recommending plans for accommodating requests for animal housing or procedure space. CARSA is composed of faculty from academic units whose faculty members have animal use protocols; the Director of the Office of Laboratory Animal Care, the Chair of the Animal Care and Use Committee and the Research Compliance Director.

Management of campus animal housing and procedure space, consistent with CARSA policies, continues to be the responsibility of the Office of Laboratory Animal Care. Initial requests for animal housing or procedure space should be made to the Director of OLAC, who will assign space if it is available. If appropriate and adequate space is not available, then requests for space assignment will be forwarded to CARSA. Please remember that this also applies to faculty searches. No commitment of centralized animal housing or procedure space may be made without prior consultation with the Director of OLAC and CARSA. It is preferable that this consultation occur as soon as needs are anticipated, and certainly before making any offer that implies a commitment of animal space. We have found that an interview with Dr. Diggs, Director of OLAC, is a useful part of recruitment visits for faculty who will be conducting animal research.

I hope that we can count on your cooperation in ensuring the continued success of our teaching and research efforts.

Beth Burnside

Vice Chancellor for Research

cc: The Vice Chancellor Gray