Incompletes, leave of absence and time limits at ETSU

Incompletes: the university rule

An I is for a student who has finished 75% of a course's work and is stopped by circumstances beyond their control. It cannot be used to redo work or to raise a grade. The remaining work must be done within one calendar year, or by an earlier date if the instructor sets one, or the I turns into an F.

Faculty or the program may ask the Graduate Dean in writing for an extension. Two more limits matter near the end of a program. You cannot graduate with an I on your record, and once an I is posted you cannot drop or withdraw from that course except in extraordinary cases the dean approves. An I in your final semester therefore holds your graduation until the work is finished and the grade posts.

Finishing an Incomplete in a practicum

For a practicum, what remains is usually clinical hours, and hours need a preceptor. Before you accept an I, agree with your course faculty on how many hours remain, at which site, with which preceptor and by what date, and keep the plan in writing.

1. Count the gapCompare your approved ProjectConcert hour logs with the course total, for example 120 hours for each NP practicum after NRSE 5010 on the MSN FNP plan.
2. Confirm the preceptorIf your original preceptor can finish with you, set dates now. If not, a new preceptor goes through the full approval process again, with a contract if the site is new.
3. Schedule the final evaluationThe preceptor's final evaluation still has to go out through ProjectConcert once the hours are logged.
4. Watch the second clockMore than one open I stops progression, so finishing this one quickly keeps your next practicum on schedule.

If the hours stalled because a preceptor left, our guide on a preceptor who quits mid-semester walks through the next moves.

Switching between part-time and full-time

A change of pace needs a written request to the College's Office of Student Services. The catalog says the decision weighs your academic performance and whether clinical slots are available, so a switch is not automatic even when your reasons are sound.

Clinical slots drive that answer because ETSU's plans place each practicum in a set term. On the MSN FNP fall-start plans, for example, NRSE 5022 Women's Health Practicum sits in the first summer of the full-time plan and in the sixth semester, a later summer, of the part-time plan. Moving between plans moves your practicums, and every moved practicum needs a preceptor for its new term. Ask for the revised plan of study before you begin a new search.

Stepping away from coursework has a rule too. The revised enrollment policy (June 18, 2026) asks students who use faculty guidance or support services while not in coursework to register for at least one credit each term, summer included, though the strict every-term rule mainly binds thesis-track students.

Where a placement service fits

Many of the delays on this page start with a practicum that could not begin or could not finish. That is the problem we solve: finding a preceptor who matches the course's patient population, in your own community, with the Intent Form details and credentials ready, and staying on call to replace a preceptor who leaves mid-term.

Course faculty keep the approval decision and the College keeps the credential check; what we deliver is a complete packet for both, so an Incomplete gets finished and a revised plan keeps moving. See how it works or message us through the contact form. If your finish date is already at risk, read our guide to delayed graduation.