Georgetown Research Services
Georgetown Research Services

Community Partner Training

What is a “Community Partner”?
Community partners are non-academic personnel (e.g. business associates, local government representatives, school system representatives) who may or may not be engaged in research requiring IRB approval.

Will the IRB accept community partner trainings in place of CITI?
Yes, for anyone who is a community partner. These trainings do not replace human subjects research training required for Georgetown University personnel engaged in research requiring IRB approval. 

Who is responsible to ensure community partners receive this training? 
The Principal Investigator listed in the IRB application must ensure that their community partners receive this training. IRB applications will not be approved by the IRB if the application lists community partners who have not taken this training.

The PI or the staff member assisting the PI with IRB application can forward this page to their community partners and direct them to the online training instructions below.

CIRTification Online

CIRTification is a training program in human research protections created by the University of Illinois Chicago CCTS that is tailored to the unique roles of community research partners. It is interactive and relevant to the roles and responsibilities that community partners have in research projects. The program considers community partners’ limited experience with research, discusses key concepts in research ethics and responsible conduct of research in plain language, and focuses on applying knowledge to real-life scenarios. Ideally, CIRTification Online will not only teach community partners about the importance of protecting research participants, it will also empower them to be active contributors to their respective research teams.

The online version of CIRTification introduces learners to the basics of the research – the terminology, people, and methods. It also reviews the history of research abuses that has informed current ethical principles, rules, and regulations.

The training program also:

Learners complete a knowledge quiz at the end of the program and receive a date- stamped certificate of completion. The program takes about 4 hours and can be completed in multiple sessions.

CIRTification Online is also available in Spanish. Simply access the training portal, enroll in CIRTification or login, and select the option to launch the course in Spanish (empezar in Español).

Online Training Instructions

To enroll in CIRTification, please follow the instructions below. Please select Georgetown University only from the list. If you do not select Georgetown, you will not be able to access the user information/progress reports.

  1. Go to CCTS Training
  2. Click “Register” (top right hand corner. Select “I am not from UIC”.
  3. Complete the registration form. When asked to select a site, select “Georgetown University“.
  4. Click “Register” to finish.
  5. Visit the Course Catalog. Scroll until you find information about CIRTification. Click “Learn More” and “Enroll” to enroll in CIRTification.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I access my completion certificate after completing the course?

After completing a knowledge quiz at the end of the training, the option to print and save a date-stamped certificate of completion is available.

How long is this training and the certificates valid?

This training is valid for three (3) years, the same as the CITI training.

CIRTification is funded through the University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Clinical and Translational Science and supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant UL1TR002003. We encourage mention and citation of CIRTification Online in grant proposals, conference presentations, published manuscripts, and other reporting.

Suggested citation: CIRTification Online: Community Involvement in Research Training. University of Illinois at Chicago, Center for Clinical and Translational Science.