Mandatory Training FAQs

Hand in a nitrile glove checks off a box in front of a line of vials

Completing your required compliance trainings is an important responsibility for all UCSF employees and upholds our PRIDE Values.

Help protect UCSF and its mission, and ensure our compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations by completing the mandatory and relevant training courses for your role.


Why are certain trainings required/mandatory?

Required trainings address priority issues across the entire UC enterprise. UCSF seeks to comply with all laws, rules and regulations that mandate relevant trainings. Additionally, being in compliance of all mandatory trainings is a UC Office of the President priority, with UCSF-specific compliance data being reviewed regularly by the UC Regents. To this end, the UC Regents have directed all campuses to focus on specific mandatory trainings that help educate all UC employees on important issues including cyber security, preventing harassment, supporting a diverse and equitable community, and addressing ethical issues like financial disclosures. Other required trainings not part of this project include those noted on the Learning & Development Compliance webpage and others that you may be notified separately about based on your position and/or job duties.

Completing these trainings is a responsibility that we all share as UC employees to maintain UCSF’s ethics-based environment and our community’s trust in UCSF as a public institution. The trainings are reviewed and updated periodically to remain relevant to current and ongoing issues and help with handling issues that can arise in day-to-day work and directly relate to our PRIDE Values of Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity and Excellence.

What topics do the mandatory trainings project cover?

The mandatory trainings that are part of this compliance effort include:

  • Preventing Harassment & Discrimination
  • Ethics & Compliance Briefing
  • Cybersecurity
  • UCSF Foundations of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

More information on each of the mandatory trainings:

UC Preventing Harassment & Discrimination
(required every two years, mandated 2 hours for faculty and supervisors, approx. 1 hour for non-supervisors)

This course provides information about preventing and responding to sexual violence and sexual harassment and other forms of harassment and discrimination covered under UC policy, and what each of us can to do to make the UCSF campus culture safer for all. This course satisfies a California legal requirement. Learners who are survivors can request an alternative session with the UCSF CARE Advocate to satisfy this training requirement. There are no test out options for all other employees as they must complete one to two hours of training and review relevant materials. For additional information, please contact Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD).

Ethics & Compliance Briefing
(required every two years, approx. 30 - 60 min.)

Conveys important information about the UC disclosure requirements that apply to all employees and the specific disclosure requirements for researchers who accept extramural research funds. The requirement for all UC employees to complete one version of ethics training every two years is mandated by the UC Office of the President (UCOP) to satisfy federal agency requirements. UCOP generates the training content and there are no test out options as employees must review relevant materials and related policies to meet requirements. See additional information

Cyber Security
(required yearly, approx. 1 hour)

The UC Cybersecurity Awareness Fundamentals course fulfills UCSF’s learning requirements mandated by regulations, the UC System, and our Federal Funding Agency Agreements. It covers the most common cyber threats facing the University, workforce members, and students. The course is updated periodically to address a changing threat landscape and highlights minimizing risks to ourselves and the University from cyber threats. Test-out options are not available as employees must review current materials and related policies to meet requirements. See additional information.

UCSF Foundations of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
(required once, updated as relevant, approx. 1 hour)

This course introduces the UCSF community to foundational concepts of diversity, equity and inclusion and the common language to better understand why diversity is core to our work at UCSF. It serves an important first step in our collective effort to live our PRIDE Values and ensure that our Campus and Health system are free of bias, discrimination, and hate. UCSF Leadership requires all UCSF employees and learners to complete the Foundations of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training one time. There are no test out options as employees and learners must review relevant materials. See additional information.

When do I need to complete my mandatory trainings?

The UC Learning Center automatically sends reminders to employees when their training is due. The first notification is sent 30 days before a training is due. Trainings are overdue and expired when the due date has passed. If you are out of compliance, you will need to take your training(s) as soon as possible.

How do I complete my trainings?

You can access the course via the UC Learning Center:

  • Login to the UC Learning Center at: https://learning.ucsf.edu with your MyAccess credentials.
  • Click on "Assigned Activities" in the "My Required Training" box.
  • Click the "Start" button next to the course title to launch the training.

Relevant trainings are also linked directly on the Learning & Organization Development Compliance webpage. Clicking on the relevant training will take you to the UC Learning Center page to log in with your MyAccess credentials, then you will be taken directly to the training.

If you are taking a training on a mobile device, you will need to download the SumTotal Mobile application.

Once you take a training, it is tracked on your training transcript. You can view your training transcript in the UC Learning Center, or log into the UC Learning Center and locate the training transcript by:

  • Once logged in, click on Self -> Reporting -> Training Transcript to see what you have completed, OR
  • Once logged in, click on Development -> Training Analysis to see what is assigned to you.

Do I need to take my training(s) in one sitting?

It is recommended that you complete a training(s) in one sitting. However, if you need to exit and return to it, the program will remember where you left off. Completing the training within a few days or a week will help ensure no system access or log-in issues. You can reference the training’s Table of Contents for topics and number of sections being covered.

How do I get help with logging into trainings or updating my training records if they are incorrect

If you are experiencing issues logging into or viewing training record updates in the UC Learning Center, you can try our troubleshooting steps.

Please submit a support form ticket to the Learning & Organization Development's Learning Management System (LMS) team to correct any issues.

The UC Learning Center Knowledge Base has information around common solutions for problems.

If you are unable to access the UC Learning Center, please contact UCSF IT at 415-514-4100.

Why am I getting notifications about being out of compliance when I took my training(s)?

If you took your training(s) as required and are getting an out-of-compliance email/notification, please do not retake the training. Instead, submit a support form ticket to the Learning & Organization Development's Learning Management System team so that your training transcript may be reviewed.

I have a joint appointment with another UC campus or a UCSF affiliated institution (ZSFG, VA, etc.) and I took equivalent required training with the other institution. May I receive credit at UCSF?

If you took an equivalent training at another UC location, this can be counted toward your training requirements at UCSF. Please submit a support form ticket to the Learning & Organization Development's Learning Management System team, along with your certification of completion for the equivalent training. 

For other institutions, receiving training credit for a comparable training is under review. We are working to assess the scale of how many employees with multiple appointments are required to take similar or duplicate trainings. Please submit a support form ticket to the Learning & Organization Development's Learning Management System team with the institution name and training title that you believe is duplicative to help determine next steps.

I am a supervisor. How may I support my teammates to complete these trainings?

Please review the Supervisor Guide for tips on how to best support your teams with their compliance efforts.

Employees: you may contact your supervisor if you need help with options or have issues taking trainings.


We welcome any feedback, including any additional questions that you would like answered, and are available to help with any other issues you may be having. Please contact the Office of Ethics and Compliance.