ETSU preceptor approval: every sign-off before your first clinical day
East Tennessee State University (ETSU) lets you start a precepted rotation only after four things are true: your clinical faculty member has accepted the preceptor, the Office of Student Services has confirmed the preceptor's credentials, a signed agreement covers the site, and your own clinical requirements are all current. This page takes each sign-off in turn, explains what the reviewer is looking at, and shows how to handle a rejected ProjectConcert entry.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your ETSU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your ETSU course.
Four sign-offs, one start date
Each clearance has a different owner and looks at a different question. Knowing which is which tells you what to prepare and who to ask when your ProjectConcert entry sits still.
| Sign-off | Who gives it | What is being checked | What you can prepare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preceptor approval | Clinical faculty | Whether the preceptor and site can meet the course's population focus and outcomes | A complete Intent Form with a realistic patient mix and planned hours |
| Credential verification | Office of Student Services | The preceptor's licenses, certifications and degrees, with expiration dates | Exact numbers and dates, plus the preceptor's CV |
| Contract | The College and the site | An agreement covering the placement | Early notice to the site that an agreement is needed |
| Your clinical requirements | ETSU, with the site deciding on background results | Immunizations, liability insurance and the rest of your compliance file | Current uploads in ProjectConcert's Clinical Requirements tab |
ETSU tracks placement progress in ProjectConcert, so that is where to look first before emailing anyone.
Faculty approval: does this site teach this course?
Clinical faculty approve the preceptor for a specific course. The Intent Form tells them who the preceptor is, how many hours are planned, whether you work at the agency, and the daily count of patients in each of the form's five groups, from children to older adults. Their question is whether that mix and that clinician can deliver the course's population focus and outcomes.
Tennessee's board rule keeps nursing faculty in charge of every clinical experience, preceptors included, and ETSU's form matches that by placing this approval with faculty rather than with the coordinator or the site.
The strongest requests match the course plainly: a women's health site for NRSE 5022, a pediatric practice for NRSE 5024, a nurse administrator for the leadership practicums. What ETSU's documents point to for each course is laid out on our preceptor requirements page.
Credential verification by the Office of Student Services
The Office of Student Services, based in Nicks Hall, verifies each preceptor's credentials. The Intent Form gives it the material: license numbers with state and expiration, certification numbers with expiration, degrees and credentials.
Verification goes fastest when nothing has to be chased. Copy numbers exactly as issued, include every license the preceptor holds that bears on your placement, and flag any credential that expires during your term with proof of renewal if the preceptor has it. Tennessee's board rule looks at licensure in the state where the precepting takes place, so make sure the license for your site's state is on the form.
The same office handles written requests to switch between full-time and part-time study, which depend on clinical slots, so it is worth knowing if an approval delay starts to affect your course load.
The contract and your own compliance file
The third sign-off is an agreement between the College and the site. Timing is the risk here, since ETSU publishes no lead time; our page on clinical contracts covers how to plan around that. Mention it to the site the same day the preceptor agrees.
The fourth is you. The DNP catalog's pre-clinical list runs from licensure and NP-student malpractice coverage through CPR, the College's clinical requirements and a background check, down to having your own transportation to the site.
Each item sits in ProjectConcert with a status and due date, and every one is itemized under clinical health requirements.
A preceptor can be fully approved while your own file still shows an overdue item, and that alone keeps you out of clinicals.
When your entry comes back rejected
A rejection is a request for a fix, not a verdict on the placement. ETSU's 2024 guide describes the path back:
- Watch for the emailProjectConcert sends a notice when a submitted entry is rejected.
- Find the reasonOpen Experience, then Existing, and choose the status Rejected. The reason sits in the Comment column.
- Edit the same entryCorrect the detail or replace the document the comment names.
- Submit againResubmit and confirm the status has changed from Rejected.
- Close the loopIf the comment is unclear, ask the coordinator you selected before guessing at a second fix.
The click-by-click version of the entry itself is on our ProjectConcert submission page.
Keep the original comment and your fix in a short note. If a later reviewer raises the same point, you can answer it in one line.
A self-check before you press Submit
ETSU does not publish a list of rejection reasons, but the form's own fields show what a reviewer needs. Run through them once before you submit.
- You used the current Intent Form from the coordinator
- The course number matches the 2026-27 catalog, not a retired one such as
NRSE 5500orNRSE 6800 - Every license shows its number, state and expiration date
- Certification numbers and expiration dates are filled in
- The patient mix fits the course's population
- Planned hours, across all preceptors, add up to the course total
- The preceptor's CV is attached and the right coordinator is selected
Five minutes on this list is the cheapest way to avoid a second round of review, and it doubles as a record of what you sent.
The site's own clearance
ETSU's sign-offs are not the only ones. According to the graduate catalog, the clinical agencies, rather than the College, read background check results and choose whether to accept you; the College holds on to nothing more than proof of completion.
Health systems add their own steps on their own pages. Ballad Health requires its student orientation to be finished before an approved placement begins. Covenant Health's student portal page, which is not specific to NP students, routes schools through its Total Clinical Placement System or Student Portal, with students finishing at least seven business days before the rotation. Build those steps into your timeline alongside ETSU's.
Ask the practice manager or the site's education office early whether any system-level onboarding applies to students from your program.
Why ETSU students choose us to clear the path
Approval moves on the quality and completeness of what you submit. Your placement advisor brings you a preceptor matched to the course, then collects every license, certification and patient-mix detail the reviewers need, and raises the contract question with the site on day one.
Every decision on this page belongs to ETSU or the site. What we control is the quality of the file: nothing left blank, nothing expired, nothing mismatched to the course, and a quick, precise answer if a rejection comment comes back. When a site has its own orientation or portal steps, we tell you up front so they fit your timeline. Read how it works or start with the form below.
Questions ETSU students ask
Who approves my preceptor at ETSU?
A clinical faculty member decides, reading the Preceptor Intent Form to see whether the site fits the course's population focus and outcomes. Separately, the credential check is done by the Office of Student Services. The graduate clinical coordinator helps with the search and sends the approved preceptor a ProjectConcert welcome email.
Why was my ProjectConcert preceptor entry rejected?
The specific reason is written in the Comment column. Find it under Experience, then Existing, with the status set to Rejected. ETSU does not publish a list of common reasons, so read the comment literally, fix exactly what it names, and resubmit the same entry. If the comment is unclear, ask the coordinator you selected on the entry.
How will I know my preceptor has been approved?
ETSU's guides describe an email when an entry is rejected; for approval, check the entry's status in ProjectConcert. Another sign is the Preceptor Welcome Email, which the Graduate Clinical Placement Coordinator sends to an approved preceptor with login details, so ask your preceptor whether it has arrived.
Can a clinical site turn me away after ETSU approves my preceptor?
Yes, it can happen. ETSU's graduate catalog says the clinical agencies look at background check results themselves and can decline a student, and unfavorable results can end clinical progress. Health systems may also require their own orientation or portal steps before you start, so check the site's requirements early.
Does an approved preceptor carry over to my next course?
Faculty approve a preceptor for a particular course, and each course has its own population focus. If you plan to stay with the same preceptor, ask the coordinator whether a new ProjectConcert entry and an updated Intent Form are needed, and expect faculty to look again at the patient mix for the new course.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against ETSU's own catalog, College of Nursing pages, plans of study and ProjectConcert guides. Your plan of study, your syllabus, your course faculty and the graduate clinical coordinator have the final word.
ETSU asks you to lead the preceptor search. We make it the fastest part of your program.
Tell us your ETSU concentration, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who fit the course's patient population and prepare everything your Preceptor Intent Form and ProjectConcert entry need.
- Preceptors matched to the course: young and middle adults for
NRSE 5012, older adults forNRSE 5014, women forNRSE 5022, children forNRSE 5024, psychiatric care forNRSE 5405 - Credentials, license numbers, certification dates and the site's patient mix ready for faculty approval
- In your own community, in Northeast Tennessee or wherever ETSU approves your clinicals
Start your placement plan
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