Hankenson, F. C., Pritt, S. 2022. To stay virtual or not to stay virtual? That is the question. Laboratory Animal Science Professional 10(3) (May/June), 34-36.

Both the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released guidance about how to conduct inspections during the pandemic; some of their suggestions may be of value to retain as hybrid approaches (virtual and in-person) to inspections that alleviate excess labor, time invested, and burden on employees engaged in these committees and activities, while still ensuring that animal areas are assessed and aligned as needed to meet local, state and national standards. We informally polled several institutional representatives with expertise in IACUC administration to solicit feedback for the AALAS and IACUC communities regarding acclimation to the virtual world of inspections and IACUC business. Responses are anonymized, collated, and summarized below.