Trends among Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees and Animal Resource Programs for Providing Oversight and Animal Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on facility oversight and animal care at 2 y after declaration of the pandemic, we distributed a comprehensive survey to targeted groups within the broader animal research community in early 2022. A total of 265 surveys were returned (161 responses to IACUC questions, 193 responses to animal resource program [ARP] questions, and 89 responses to both). IACUC questions focused on the use of virtual interactions for IACUC activities and on remote work for IACUC support staff during and after the pandemic. ARP questions focused on remote work arrangements, altered work schedules, personnel shortages, and operational changes made during and after the pandemic. Results indicate that IACUCs readily adopted remote work options for staff and virtual meetings, changes that are now largely viewed as permanent, and are using modified methods for postapproval monitoring (PAM), while largely rejecting virtual semiannual facility inspections. This pattern reflects available guidance for virtual IACUC meetings, whereas new guidance for virtual semiannual facility inspections might have caused confusion and regulatory compliance concerns. Remote work options were available for some ARP staff, depending on job responsibilities, but were mostly eliminated by 2 y after the start of the pandemic. ARP staff expressed a strong desire for continued in-person presence of supervisors; this preference was not expressed by IACUC staff. Based on the timing of the survey (April 2022), substantial disruptions in the labor market had resulted in a considerable number of job openings and lack of entry level staff. Long-term assessment of effects on compliance and IACUC engagement would be useful given the widespread use of virtual IACUC meetings and other changes related to institutional and programmatic adoption of remote work options in ARPs.