Responsible Academic Conduct Training FAQ

1. Who needs to complete the Responsible Academic Conduct training? Graduate degree-seeking students must complete training within their first semester.
2. What is the purpose of this training? An essential part of the graduate experience is to raise the awareness to professional standards of research ethics, integrity, and safety, and of challenges that student may face throughout their careers. To supplement the effort provided by our exceptional Texas Tech faculty, the Graduate School in collaboration with the Office of Research and Innovation has developed a responsible scholarship training that addresses academic practices such as data management, intellectual property, management of conflict of interest, ethical use of humans and animals in research, social responsibility of research, effective collaboration, and research misconduct.
3. What happens if I do not take the training by the deadline? Graduate students who do not complete the training by the deadline will have registration and transcript hold (TR) placed on their enrollment records. The hold will not be removed until the training is completed.
4. Am I exempt from the mandatory training? The only graduate students who are exempt from training are those who are not degree-seeking students.
5. I'm an online/distance student; do I have to take the training? Yes, all graduate degree-seeking students, whether they are on campus or online/distance students, must complete the training.
6. In addition to being a graduate student, I am also a staff member; do I still have to complete the training? Yes, even though you are a staff member, you are still required to take the training.
7. I took CITI training at a previous institution; do I have to take the training? Yes, the Graduate School has created customized modules for students at our institution. You must retake the training.
8. I already completed Human Subjects training to meet course requirements. Do I have to complete the training? You have only completed the Human Subjects training course, not the course that the Graduate School has mandated. Thus, you must take one of the courses listed under the Responsible Scholarship heading.
9. The registration asks for my "Role in Research"; how should I respond? Please ensure you are using the correct link ( go.grad.ttu.edu/rcr ) to access the training and login in with your TTU email address. If you are an HSC student, please use your @ttu.edu instead of @ttuhsc.edu.
10. I logged in and I have no courses so does that mean I don't have to complete the training? Graduate degree-seeking students must complete the training. Since we allow our students to self-select the training topic, you must manually add the course. Please see question number 11 for course recommendations.  
11. Which course should I select and which modules do I need to complete? The Graduate School has left course selection up to students and their advisors. All courses address key topics of Responsible Conduct. Examples, videos, and vignettes are generally applicable to distinct disciplines. The Graduate School will not accept the course for "Administrators" nor will we accept the “Plagiarism Education” Course. Moreover, “Plagiarism Training for Non-PhD Business Administration Students ONLY” will only fulfill the requirement for masters' students in Business programs. Please refer to page 3 of this training guide ( https://www.depts.ttu.edu/gradschool/training/rcr_instructions/Training_Guide_RAC11-30.pdf); which lists the recommend courses for your college. You must complete one of the appropriate courses AND you must also complete all the required modules. 
12. How long does it take to complete the training? Most people complete the training in 2-3 hours.
13. How do I verify that I have completed the training? Administrators will verify completion of the training using your identifier information and TTU email address. Please review DegreeWorks to confirm your training is marked as completed. Results usually take 24-48 hours to upload. You will not need to provide the Graduate School with a completion certificate or any additional documentation.
14. Is Responsible Academic Conduct Training the same as Responsible Scholarship Training? Starting May 31st, 2023, the Graduate School will no longer accept any of the Responsible Scholarship Courses under the Texas Tech University Citi Page and we will only accept the Responsible Conduct of Research Courses under the Texas Tech University Graduate School Citi Page for fulfilling the Graduate School training requirement. 

Further questions may be addressed to responsible.academic.conduct.gradschool@ttu.edu