Federal regulations and sponsor agency requirements have resulted in mandatory research security and related training for covered individuals, defined as those who contribute in a substantive and meaningful way to the scientific development or execution of federally funded research projects.
Covered Individuals: Who is required take research security training?
At USC, we consider the personnel who meet one or more of the following criteria to be "covered individuals" who are required to complete research security training:
- University personnel, meaning faculty, staff, students, postdoctoral scholars or university affiliate researchers serving as principal investigator, co-principal investigator or key personnel on a federally funded research project (including subawards).
- University personnel designated as covered individuals by a federal research agency.
- University personnel supporting federal contracts/awards with access to regulated data (controlled unclassified information, HIPAA, genomic, etc.).
- University personnel involved in export-controlled projects. Most USC research is not subject to export control regulations, which apply to research on specific technologies that could be used for military purposes and items listed on the United States munitions list.
- University personnel working on a federal agency contract/award requiring Operations Security (OPSEC) training.
All required research security training should be completed within 30 days of being appointed as a covered individual on a research project.
Trainings
Who: All covered individuals, as defined above.
What: Web-based training made up of 4 modules on research security risks and tools
When: After taking the initial training, this training must be renewed on an annual basis.
Complete the training on the CITI platform.
- Go to https://about.citiprogram.org/.
- Click the white “Register” button in the upper right-hand corner of the landing page.
- When you reach the “CITI – Learner Registration” page, click the blue button on the left that reads “Select Your Organization Affiliation” to launch a search box.
- In the search box, enter/select “University of South Carolina (SSO),” then click the
check boxes to agree to the terms of service and privacy policy, and to affirm that
you are an affiliate of the University of South Carolina.
- Please be sure to select the entry for the University of South Carolina with the term (SSO) included at the end—this will enable you to access USC’s single sign on screen.
- Choose the blue button labeled “Log In with University of South Carolina” to access the USC single sign on screen and log in using your university credentials.
- Once you are registered/logged in, you will land on a welcome page with your name at the top. Below your name, you will see a “University of South Carolina” heading, followed by several other headings—you will see “Active Courses,” “Courses Ready to Begin,” and “Completed Courses” headings. You may see some courses listed under those headings or not.
- Go to https://about.citiprogram.org/.
- Select the blue “Log In” button in the upper right-hand corner of the landing page.
- When you reach the login screen, you will see three tabs along the top—select the “Log In Through My Organization” tab to launch a search box.
- In the search box, enter/select “University of South Carolina,” then click the blue “Continue To SSO Login / Instructions” button to access the USC single sign on screen and log in using your university credentials.
- Once you are logged in, you will land on a welcome page with your name at the top. Below your name, you will see a “University of South Carolina” heading, followed by several other headings—you will see “Active Courses,” “Courses Ready to Begin,” and “Completed Courses” headings. You may see some courses listed under those headings or not.
- To access the Research Security Training and add it to your courses, scroll to the bottom of the welcome page, to the grey box labeled “Learner Tools for University of South Carolina,” and select the “Add a Course” link from the bulleted list. This will take you to a page headed “Select Curriculum University of South Carolina.”
- The “Select Curriculum” screen is set up as a series of questions, to help assess
user training needs. You must address each question on the page before you can proceed—select
the no/not at this time options for all questions except Question 6 “Research Security.”
When you reach Question 6 “Research Security,” you will see two options with check
boxes.
- If this is your first time taking research security training, select the first option, “Research Security Training (Combined Course),” and then scroll to the bottom of the page to click the blue “Submit” button.
- If you have completed research security training before and need to take refresher training, select “Research Security Advanced Refresher.”
- Once you have submitted your selections through the “Select Curriculum” screen, you will be returned to the Welcome page with your name at the top. You should see the appropriate research security training listed under the heading “Courses Ready to Begin.”
- Select the blue “Start Now” button to begin the training module.
Don't forget: Download your certificate(s) of completion and submit to Research Training and Education Services.
Who: All USC personnel involved in export-controlled research; required by NSPM-33. Note that most USC research is not subject to export control regulations, which apply to research on specific technologies that could be used for military purposes and items listed on the United States munitions list.
What: Training to raise awareness about export control laws and regulations, including the potential risks of non-compliance.
When: After taking the initial training, this training must be renewed on an annual basis.
Complete the training on the CITI platform.
- Go to https://about.citiprogram.org/.
- Click the white “Register” button in the upper right-hand corner of the landing page.
- When you reach the “CITI – Learner Registration” page, click the blue button on the left that reads “Select Your Organization Affiliation” to launch a search box.
- In the search box, enter/select “University of South Carolina (SSO),” then click the
check boxes to agree to the terms of service and privacy policy, and to affirm that
you are an affiliate of the University of South Carolina.
- Please be sure to select the entry for the University of South Carolina with the term (SSO) included at the end—this will enable you to access USC’s single sign on screen.
- Choose the blue button labeled “Log In with University of South Carolina” to access the USC single sign on screen and log in using your university credentials.
- Once you are registered/logged in, you will land on a welcome page with your name at the top. Below your name, you will see a “University of South Carolina” heading, followed by several other headings—you will see “Active Courses,” “Courses Ready to Begin,” and “Completed Courses” headings. You may see some courses listed under those headings or not.
- Go to https://about.citiprogram.org/.
- Select the blue “Log In” button in the upper right-hand corner of the landing page.
- When you reach the login screen, you will see three tabs along the top—select the “Log In Through My Organization” tab to launch a search box.
- In the search box, enter/select “University of South Carolina,” then click the blue “Continue To SSO Login / Instructions” button to access the USC single sign on screen and log in using your university credentials.
- Once you are logged in, you will land on a welcome page with your name at the top. Below your name, you will see a “University of South Carolina” heading, followed by several other headings—you will see “Active Courses,” “Courses Ready to Begin,” and “Completed Courses” headings. You may see some courses listed under those headings or not.
- To access the Export Control Compliance Training and add it to your courses, scroll to the bottom of the welcome page, to the grey box labeled “Learner Tools for University of South Carolina,” and select the “Add a Course” link from the bulleted list. This will take you to a page headed “Select Curriculum University of South Carolina.”
- The “Select Curriculum” screen is set up as a series of questions, to help assess user training needs. You must address each question on the page before you can proceed—select the no/not at this time options for all questions except Question 7 “Export Compliance.” When you reach Question 7 “Export Compliance,” select the first option, “CITI Export Controls Course,” and then scroll to the bottom of the page to click the blue “Submit” button.
- Once you have submitted your selections through the “Select Curriculum” screen, you will be returned to the Welcome page with your name at the top. You should see the appropriate research security training listed under the heading “Courses Ready to Begin.”
- Select the blue “Start Now” button to begin the training module.
Don't forget: Download your certificate(s) of completion and submit to Research Training and Education Services.
Who: This training is only required for select DoD contracts/awards. If you are not sure if you are required to take this training, please check with your PI.
What: Web-based training designed to help deter, detect and mitigate actions by insiders who represent a threat to national security; housed within research training security
When: After taking the initial training, this training must be renewed on an annual basis.
Don't forget: Download your certificate(s) of completion and submit to Research Training and Education Services.
Who: All USC personnel with access to controlled unclassified information (defined as sensitive information that does not meet the criteria for classification but must still be protected); required by the DoD.
What: Web-based training on the eleven training requirements for accessing, marking, safeguarding, decontrolling and destroying CUI along with the procedures for identifying and reporting security incidents
When: After taking the initial training, this training must be renewed on an annual basis.
Don't forget: Download your certificate(s) of completion and submit to Research Training and Education Services.
Who: USC personnel working on DoD contracts/projects that list OPSEC as a training requirement; required by the DoD
What: Web-based training made up of 6 modules on protecting unclassified information about operations and personal information to ensure safe and successful operations and personal safety
When: After taking the initial training, this training must be renewed on an annual basis.
Don't forget: Download your certificate(s) of completion and submit to Research Training and Education Services.
Confirm completion of training modules
To receive credit for completing required research security training, users must download their certificates of completion and submit them to Research Training and Education Services.