All You Need is ALL

By Stacy LeBlanc Marco, Online Learning Committee

Get your thinking caps ready! In April, the new AALAS Learning Library (ALL) debuts. Most busy professionals don't get to attend as many educational programs as they'd like, but still want to learn and grow professionally.

Many people in this field are busy preparing for AALAS certification exams or earning continuing education credits. How would you like an easy-to-use, affordable way to meet these needs? Well, look no further. ALL you need for online learning is here!

ALL is built on software developed for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under the direction of Dr. Michael Fallon. The web site that distributes the online content for this endeavor is ResearchTraining.Org.

AALAS' agreement with the VA to share technology will have a direct impact on keeping ALL course development costs down, which in turn will keep registration fees low. In fact, ALL registration fees for large groups could be as low as $10 per person.

Courses will be organized in libraries. Libraries may be defined by topic groupings or the source of the course material. At the grand opening, three libraries will be available: Animal Care & Use, Management & Safety, and Free & Preview.

The Animal Care & Use Library includes AALAS certification training materials, as well as IACUC, bioethics, and "unofficial guide" courses. The Management & Safety Library includes courses on general management and safety topics. The Free & Preview Library includes courses that you may take at no charge.

As ALL grows and develops, existing libraries will be expanded and new libraries will be added. Also, people who would like to become involved in developing a course may have the opportunity to do so.

The AALAS Online Learning Committee will be looking for volunteers to work with them in building new course material for ALL. As an added bonus, you will be able to download free brochures and various other no-cost materials.

One of the best features of ALL is that learning and authoring courses can earn you continuing education credits!

Attention Branches

Consider using ALL to provide technician certification training to your branch members online. ALL will be launched with courses on the ALAT and LAT manual, with LATG manual courses soon to follow. Enrolling your branch members in ALL as a group instead of registering them as individuals will give your members the benefit of a lower registration price.

Group registrations are available for seven or more people. In a group registration, one member serves as the group coordinator and contact person in managing the enrollments of other branch members. Contact AALAS for more information.

Interested in Being an ALL Group Coordinator?

When an institution or Branch purchases seven or more registrations on ALL, a group coordinator is needed to administer all accounts and serve as the contact person for the organization with AALAS.

ALL group coordinators enjoy special benefits, such as:

Free registration
Reduced registration fees for group members (as low as $10 per person for large groups)
Ability to view and print individual transcripts of staff
Opportunity to integrate online courses into facility training
programs

Watch for upcoming AALAS publications for more information as we get closer to the grand opening of the AALAS Learning Library.

President’s Message

AALAS Meetings Offer Networking, Fellowship

By Cynthia Pekow, DVM

One of the great perks of being in AALAS leadership is attending many branch and district meetings. Officially, I tell my work superiors that the meetings are beneficial because of the continuing education opportunities and the chance to participate in leadership of lab animal science organizations.

But the reason I keep to myself is perhaps my strongest motivation to attend these meetings-networking. I enjoy the feeling of camaraderie and the meeting of kindred spirits. There is wonderful reassurance in hearing other people describe their temperamental HVAC units, or commiserating about the investigators who don’t understand why the IACUC doesn’t have a same-day submission and approval process.

Our members can also appreciate the fine team effort and preparation that lead to an AAALAC site visit report with no mandatory correction items cited, or the significance of an individual passing a certification exam. These aren’t the sorts of things that one casually describes to other friends.

So make the effort to attend an AALAS meeting. Beyond the valuable educational aspects, you’re likely to find the warmth and reaffirmation that can only come from interacting with fellow member of the lab animal science community.

Say, does anyone else out there have rooms where the floor slopes away from the drains…?

Executive Director’s Message

Who Comprises AALAS Membership?

By Ann Tourigny Turner, PhD, CAE

AALAS is a diverse, dynamic association with a membership roster that stands at approximately 11,000 individuals. Individual members comprise 46 percent of the total membership, while the majority (54 percent) hold membership via organizations. Of the 738 organization members, 24 percent are commercial and 76 percent are institutional. In addition, we have 26 associations that hold affiliate memberships and 48 branches. Two percent of the members are from Canada or Mexico and 2 percent are from other international countries.

Universities account for 22 percent of member employers as indicated by 2,370 members with the word “university” in their company title. Over 500 members, or 5 percent, have the word “pharmaceutical” in their company titles. Eight percent of AALAS members have the designation “director,” and 9 percent have “manager” in their titles. Thirteen percent of the members have the title DVM. Nearly half of the total membership are AALAS certified-either as ALAT, LAT, LATG, or CMAR.

It has often been said there is strength in numbers. The 11,000 members signify that power; moreover, the diversity of the membership enhances the opportunities for cross-learning and broad-based understanding. AALAS is most fortunate to be the umbrella organization for the laboratory animal science community.

Nominate and Honor a Deserving Colleague

How better to recognize a coworker than to nominate him or her for an AALAS national award? There is still timenominations are due May 1, 2003.

All AALAS national award recipients will receive an award during the AALAS National Meeting. Seven of the eight AALAS national awards require the following nomination information:

Curriculum vitae or resume
One nominating letter from an AALAS national member (members of the Award Selection Committee can't be nominated, nominate, or write letters of support during their term on the committee)
Letters of support (at least four and no more than 10)

Nominees should be AALAS national members. Please do not submit audiovisual materials or include lengthy lists of abstracts, seminars attended, grants, or contract awards. Awards cannot be given posthumously. For additional information on the nominating procedure and a description of the awards, check out the AALAS web site, www.aalas.org.

Nominate Your Hardworking TBR

Technician Branch Representatives (TBRs) are an integral part of the Committee on Technician Awareness & Development (CTAD). TBRs share technicians' activities, ideas, and suggestions; help them promote biomedical research on a local basis; provide them with professional opportunities and strategies; encourage them to participate in AALAS at a local and national level; and request technicians' articles for AALAS publications. In short, they are a valuable connection between national AALAS and technicians in the field.

Each year the CTAD budgets to reward up to three TBRs who demonstrate outstanding job performance. The TBR Recognition Award consists of a free AALAS National Meeting registration plus an additional $150 in travel funds for each selected TBR. To qualify, TBRs must meet the following eligibility criteria:

Be actively involved in the local AALAS branch
Encourage branch members to participate in local and national AALAS activities
Participate in the TBR Network
Be involved with the CTAD and its activities
Demonstrate a financial need

Nominations are accepted from any AALAS branch member, a member of the AALAS branch's board of directors, or the district's CTAD representative.

If you have a TBR in your branch that you feel has shown exemplary job performance, please nominate him/her by using the TBR Recognition Award nomination form located in the "Downloads" section on the AALAS web site (www.aalas.org).

The deadline for the TBR Recognition Award nomination submission is July 1, 2003. The final vote will be determined by an award subcommittee of the CTAD comprised of the CTAD chair and vice-chair and the AALAS Board of Trustees liaison.

LAT Companion CD on the Way!

The Educational Resources Committee (ERC) remains hard at work on the LAT Companion CD. It is addressing some important technological issues in order to provide our members with the most useful and novel educational product possible. We ask you to bear with us for a few more months—the LAT Companion CD will be well worth the wait! The ERC will keep you abreast of any new developments.

Regulatory Workbook Sale

For the next three months, the price of the Laboratory Animal Regulatory Workbook has been reduced.

The student version is now $10, and the teacher version is $35. The Regulatory Guide's price has been reduced to bring this important resource to the attention of technicians seeking certification.

Order at www.aalas.org/Bookstore/member-non-member_choice.htm or call the AALAS national office.

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