When USU's Office of Field Experience finds your placement
USU expects you to find your own preceptors, but its Office of Field Experience is a real backstop: if your preferred placements fall through, OFE will help you get one. That help comes with rules. Students whose documents were in on time get priority, an offer must be accepted within 24 business hours, and accepting means finishing every hour.
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What OFE does for you
USU's 2026-27 catalog puts the first job on you: "Students are responsible for identifying clinical placements and preceptors." It pairs that with a commitment. If your preferred placements don't work out, "OFE will assist students in obtaining a placement," and the catalog says every reasonable attempt will be made to place you in your geographic area.
That help is real. You get a dedicated Clinical Placement Coordinator, listed in your Student Portal and bookable through Calendly. OFE's staff list includes Site Developers, a Placement Operations Lead and a Lead Affiliate Coordinator. USU says its network holds thousands of affiliation agreements and more than 7,000 potential preceptors, from map data current as of April 2024. The database itself isn't published, so your CPC is the way in.
Who gets priority
When placements are scarce, OFE doesn't treat every request the same. Both of USU's governing documents tie priority to timeliness:
- The 2026-27 catalog gives priority to students who submitted all required documents on time.
- The FNP handbook gives priority for placement help to students whose Complio requirements and documents are in by the deadline.
- The main deadlines are the catalog's 6-month mark for naming at least three qualified preceptors, with valid contact details, on the Interest Form or Preceptor Form, and the handbooks' 16-week mark for approvals and health and safety items.
Late requests don't get a shortcut. The handbook says same-day or urgent requests for sites and preceptors can't be accommodated. Post-Master's students and FNP students with transfer credit are told to arrive with a firm idea of their site and preceptor. If your leads have already dried up, can't find a preceptor sets out a plan for this week.
When OFE offers a placement: the 24-hour rule
An OFE offer has a short fuse. The catalog gives you 24 business hours to accept, and anything other than a yes hands the rotation back to you.
| Your response | What happens |
|---|---|
| Accept within 24 business hours | The placement is yours, and you must complete all of its hours |
| Decline | You find your own placement for that rotation by the deadline |
| No answer within 24 business hours | Treated like a decline: you self-place |
| Accept, then don't meet the site's interview or other requirement | You must self-place |
USU doesn't define business hours further, so assume the clock is short and answer the same day. Once you've asked OFE for help, check your USU email every day until the offer comes.
Silence counts as a decline. No acceptance within 24 business hours means you place yourself for that rotation.
Accepting means finishing
Say yes only to a placement you can complete. The catalog says a student who accepts an OFE placement must complete all of its hours, and walking away can lead to a Code of Conduct referral.
Distance is not an accepted reason to say no. OFE tries to place you near where you live or work, but the catalog says you must be willing to travel anywhere in your state at your own expense, and "Travel time is not an appropriate reason to deny a clinical placement." Sort out childcare, work shifts and fuel costs before the offer arrives, not after.
If the site asks for an interview, prepare for it as you would for a job. Falling short of a site's requirement sends the rotation back to you.
When OFE help is taken away
Some situations end OFE's placement help and leave the whole search with you:
- A Code of Conduct violation, clinical probation or a jeopardized placement: the Program Director or OFE Director can require you to find your own placements.
- Refusing the required health and safety documents, or asking for a medical waiver: you must find and secure your own placement.
- Leaving a preceptor for "other various reasons" under the FNP handbook's Preceptor Fit rule: the new preceptor and site are yours to find.
- Moving after a term starts, or within two terms before clinicals for an out-of-state placement: USU says it is not responsible for making sure you have a placement.
A move to a state where your program isn't offered means you can't complete the program at all, per the catalog. See changing preceptors for how voluntary swaps work.
If a preceptor drops out mid-course
When a preceptor can't continue for reasons outside your control, the catalog says OFE makes "every reasonable attempt" to find an alternative. If that fails, you may have to withdraw and retake the course at your own cost. The catalog adds that incomplete clinical hours are lost and "need to be repeated the following term."
That is a fair commitment, but not a promise. Keep one or two backup contacts in the same setting even after you're approved, and tell your CPC the day you learn a preceptor is leaving. The preceptor dropped out page covers the next steps.
OFE, self-placement and outside help
You can combine routes: your own leads first, OFE as the backstop, and a placement service like ours whenever you want a wider search built around USU's rules.
That's where we're strongest: adding leads that fit USU's rules for your course and state, so you reach the priority deadlines with a stronger list. OFE still reviews everything and the Program Director still approves. The comparison of placement routes sets the options side by side.
Questions USU students ask
Will USU place me if I can't find a preceptor?
USU's catalog makes finding placements your responsibility and says OFE will help if your preferred placements fall through. It doesn't promise a placement, and priority goes to students whose documents and Complio items were in on time. Submit your three leads early, keep Complio current, and ask your CPC for help as soon as your leads stall.
Can I choose which site OFE offers me?
Only up to a point. The catalog asks you to partner with OFE on placements that fit your preferences and the program's requirements, so tell your CPC what you need before the search starts. Once an offer arrives, though, you have 24 business hours to accept it, travel time isn't a valid reason to refuse, and declining sends you back to self-placement.
Does USU charge for OFE placement help?
USU's catalog fee tables don't list a placement charge. Students do pay for Complio, their own malpractice policy and travel. Some preceptors and sites set their own fees, which USU says it doesn't set or regulate.
How quickly does OFE answer emails?
USU's OFE page says your Clinical Placement Coordinator replies to email within 24 business hours. Write from your USU Google email, since the handbook requires college communication to come from your university address, and book a Calendly slot through the Student Portal for anything that needs a conversation. The general OFE inbox is ofe@usuniversity.edu.
Can OFE place me in another state?
USU encourages clinical hours in your approved state of residence, and its travel rule is framed around travel within your state. You can ask to train in another state where USU is approved, but USU says it can't promise that state's board will accept those hours for licensure, and you would need an RN license there too.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against USU's own catalog, handbooks and disclosures. USU's current handbook and your Clinical Placement Coordinator have the final word.
Six months out is USU's rule. We start now.
Tell us your USU program, your state and when your next practicum opens. We look for preceptors who meet USU's rules and help you build the packet the Office of Field Experience and Program Director review.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice, pediatrics, women's health, urgent care within USU's caps
- Appendix H, license, CV and board certification gathered the way OFE asks
- In person near you; telehealth only inside USU's 40-hour limit
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