When your preceptor drops out mid-plan

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the UCCS Preceptor placement team

A preceptor who backs out before the semester, or leaves partway through, does not erase hours you earned under a signed agreement. What matters now is protecting those hours, using the option UCCS gives students in exactly this spot, and getting a replacement through UCCS's agreement process before the term runs out. The replacement search is ours to run.

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Tell us your UCCS program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UCCS course.

24precepted hours, past which UCCS asks the preceptor for a Medatrax evaluation

Numbered steps. Rebuilding the placement, step by step: 1 Find a preceptor for the same course; 2 Submit a new Clinical Site Sheet; 3 Let UCCS finish the paperwork; 4 Wait for the go-ahead. — Rebuilding the placement, step by step: 1 Find a preceptor for the same course; 2 Submit a new Clinical Site Sheet; 3 Let UCCS finish the paperwork; 4 Wait for the go-ahead.

First, pin down what kind of dropout it is

The right next move depends on when and why the placement ended. A preceptor who withdraws before the semester leaves you with a site sheet, and perhaps an agreement in progress, but no hours at risk. One who leaves mid-rotation leaves counted hours behind and a gap to fill before the term ends. And sometimes the preceptor is willing but the site is not: UCCS notes that an agreement's legal issues sometimes prove unresolvable, which takes the site off the table.

Write down the date, the hours logged so far, the hours the course still needs and whether the site's agreement was ever completed. Those four facts are what the college and a replacement search both need from you.

Protect the hours you already have

Hours done at a site with a signed agreement, a signed preceptor letter and a processed site sheet stay yours. Make sure the record shows it:

Bring your Medatrax patient logs fully up to date, with the codes your track requires. UCCS links incorrect Medatrax entry to an incomplete grade.
If the departing preceptor spent more than 24 hours with you, ask them to finish their evaluation in Medatrax before they go. It counts toward your grade.
Stop working at the site informally once the arrangement ends. Hours outside a valid placement will not count.
Keep a short written timeline of what happened and when, for the explanation UCCS asks for.

The Medatrax logs and site visits and evaluations guides cover these records in more detail.

What UCCS allows when a preceptor cannot finish

UCCS limits students to three new Affiliation Agreements per semester outside Synthesis, which could leave you short of slots mid-term. The handbooks carve out this exact case: when a preceptor is unable to fulfill the clinical hours, you may explain the situation in writing to the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator, your Option Coordinator and the Academic Services Professional for Graduate Nursing, asking to go past that limit. The when a preceptor falls through guide covers the request.

If too little of the semester is left to finish, an incomplete may carry the remaining hours into the next term, as long as your didactic grade is passing and both lead faculty and the coordinator hear from you. Incompletes come with firm limits, including a one-year clock, so read semester rules and incompletes before choosing that route.

Rebuilding the placement, step by step

Find a preceptor for the same courseThe replacement must meet UCCS's rules for your track and suit the course's setting, such as pediatric primary care for NURS 6900 or a psychiatric prescriber for NURS 6801.
Submit a new Clinical Site SheetUCCS requires one sheet per site and per preceptor, so a new preceptor needs a new sheet even at the same clinic, with an exact number of hours.
Let UCCS finish the paperworkEvery preceptor needs a signed preceptor letter, and a site UCCS has never contracted with needs an Affiliation Agreement too. When a first-time site's contract raises legal questions, UCCS's review can run six to eight weeks or beyond.
Wait for the go-aheadResume hours only after UCCS's "good to go" email, and keep them inside the semester's dates.

Speed on the first step is what keeps the other three inside the term, which is why the search should start the day the preceptor leaves.

When a colleague at the same clinic offers to step in

Often the easiest replacement is a partner in the same practice. That can work well, since the site may already have its agreement with UCCS, but the new preceptor still needs their own site sheet processed. UCCS will not count more than 16 hours with a preceptor who is not on a processed sheet, so submit the new sheet before the covering colleague becomes your main preceptor.

Check the partner against the same rules as anyone else: credentials, two years of experience, national certification and full prescriptive authority for NPs, and no family or close-friend connection. FNP and AGNP students should also keep an eye on the 330-hour ceiling for time with one preceptor or site, which major health systems are exempt from.

How we replace a preceptor

A replacement is a search on a deadline, and that is where our process helps most. We look for preceptors who fit the course you are in, in the area you can reach, and screen them against UCCS's rules before you hear a name. When one agrees, you get the details the new Clinical Site Sheet needs, so the paperwork can start the same week.

Students who start with us have that backup built in: if a preceptor we placed leaves, we find the next one. The college signs off on each new preceptor; what you hand it is already complete, so its review can move quickly. Send us your course and dates and your placement advisor takes it from there, or read behind on clinical hours if the loss has left you short.

A new preceptor, even at the same clinic, needs a new site sheet before the hours count.

Questions UCCS students ask

Do I lose the hours I did with a preceptor who quit?

Hours completed under a signed agreement, a signed preceptor letter and a processed site sheet still count toward the course. Keep your Medatrax logs complete, and if the preceptor spent more than 24 hours with you, ask them to submit their evaluation, since UCCS uses it in your grade.

Who should I tell at UCCS when my preceptor drops out?

The handbooks name the Option Coordinator, the Academic Services Professional for Graduate Nursing and the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator for a request to exceed the three-agreement limit. Lead faculty should also know if the loss puts your course hours at risk. Put it in writing, with dates and hours.

Can my preceptor's colleague sign off on my remaining hours?

Only once that colleague is on a processed Clinical Site Sheet with a signed preceptor letter. The 16-hour allowance for a preceptor missing from a processed sheet runs out fast, so send in the new sheet quickly rather than letting informal coverage stretch on for weeks.

What if my preceptor drops out before the semester starts?

No hours are at risk, but the clock is. You still need a new site sheet, possibly a new agreement, and UCCS's go-ahead before the term's hours can begin. Start the replacement search the same day, and read need a preceptor fast for the short-timeline plan.

Will a dropped preceptor delay my graduation?

Not necessarily. An extra-agreement request and a quick replacement can keep you on schedule. If the hours slip into an incomplete, though, UCCS's rule against entering Synthesis with an unfinished primary care course can push later courses back. Delayed graduation explains how that happens.

ReplacementWhen a preceptor falls throughWhat UCCS allows when a preceptor cannot finish your hours: the written request for extra agreements, a new site sheet, incompletes and next-semester hours.Placement helpNeed a preceptor fastYour UCCS clinical course starts soon and nothing is signed. How agreement timing, the three-agreement limit and semester dates shape a fast search.Placement helpBehind on clinical hoursShort on hours or patient encounters in a UCCS clinical course? What counts, what UCCS allows to close the gap, and when an incomplete comes into play.Site sheetClinical Site SheetThe UCCS Clinical Site Sheet: one per site and preceptor, exact hours only, a new Word copy every semester, and who at UCCS receives it and when.Placement helpHow it worksStep by step: how we find a preceptor for your UCCS course where you live, screen them against the handbook, and ready every Clinical Site Sheet detail.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against UCCS's catalog, practicum handbooks and college pages. Your degree plan, the handbook for your cohort and the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.

UCCS asks you to find your clinical hours where you live. Let us run that search.

Tell us your UCCS track, your next clinical course and where you live. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the details your Clinical Site Sheet needs, early enough for the agreement to be signed before the semester.

Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for NURS 6900, acute and chronic care for NURS 6915 and NURS 6925, psychiatric prescribers for NURS 6801 to NURS 6803
Credentials, license, certification and the site's signer ready for the Clinical Site Sheet
In Colorado Springs, along the Front Range, or in any of UCCS's approved states

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