UCCS semester rules for clinical hours, and how incompletes work
At UCCS, a graduate clinical hour counts only when it falls inside a fall, spring or summer term for which you hold a course registration, and never in the weeks between terms. When a rotation cannot finish on time, an incomplete lets you complete the hours the next semester, but it comes with conditions, a one-year clock and a limit on how many you can carry.
Start the semester ready to log hours
We line up your preceptor and site sheet details before the term, so your hours can begin as early as UCCS's process allows.
Hours belong inside a registered semester
The practicum handbooks put the rule in one line: "Students cannot do clinical hours prior to the start of the semester nor during time between semesters." A second line narrows it again: without an active course registration in the current fall, spring or summer term, there are no clinical hours.
UCCS ties the rule to "professional liability and Workers' Compensation requirements." While you are in an approved rotation, the University insurance program, Workers' Compensation, covers injury or exposure during clinical practicum. Because the rule rests on that coverage, time in a clinic during a break stays off your record however willing the preceptor is to host you.
If you are hurt or exposed at a site, report it promptly. Option Coordinators receive injury reports, and workers' compensation claims run through the CU system's University Risk Management, which sets a 10-day window.
The 2026-27 gaps to plan around
Two long terms of 16 weeks and one short summer of 8 make up the UCCS year. The weeks between them are dead time for clinical hours, so a rotation that runs late cannot spill into the break.
| Semester | Dates | Between main semesters |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 (16 weeks) | Aug 24 to Dec 19 | Dec 20 to Jan 18 |
| Spring 2027 (16 weeks) | Jan 19 to May 15 | May 16 to Jun 13 |
| Summer 2027 (8 weeks) | Jun 14 to Aug 7 | From Aug 8 until fall classes begin |
The registrar also runs pre-term sessions inside some of those windows. The handbooks tie clinical hours to registration in a fall, spring or summer semester, so get the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator's answer first if a clinic offers you a day outside the main dates. Fall break (Nov 23 to 29) and spring break (Mar 22 to 28) fall inside their semesters; ask lead faculty before booking clinic days in them.
Which graduate clinical courses meet in summer is not something UCCS posts publicly, so lean on your degree plan. Session dates and deadlines are on the academic calendar.
Other hours that don't count
Being inside the semester is necessary but not sufficient. Four more conditions have to hold before an hour lands on your record.
- The agreement is complete. The Affiliation Agreement must be signed and your preceptor must have signed and returned the preceptor agreement letter; hours before that "will NOT be counted."
- Nothing is pending. While UCCS is still working through your paperwork, the clinic has to wait.
- The "good to go" email has arrived. It comes from the Academic Services Professional for Graduate Nursing and marks the moment hours may start.
- Your preceptor is on the processed site sheet. Once time with an unlisted preceptor passes 16 hours, it stops counting.
A new Clinical Site Sheet is required every semester, even for the same site, so this sequence restarts each term. Sending it early is the single best protection against a late start; the Clinical Site Sheet guide and the affiliation agreements page explain the lead times.
When an incomplete is possible
An incomplete is UCCS's route for finishing clinical hours after a semester ends. It is not automatic, and it is only available if three things line up.
- You are passing the didactic course. The incomplete covers unfinished clinical hours, so your classroom work has to be at a passing level.
- You tell two people. Your course's lead faculty and the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator both hear about the unfinished hours; the coordinator is the one who handles incompletes.
- You finish the hours the next semester. The remaining hours are completed in the following term, under the usual site sheet, agreement and "good to go" rules.
A preceptor who cannot finish the rotation is one typical trigger. In that case UCCS also lets you ask in writing for more than three new agreements that semester; when a preceptor falls through covers that request. An incorrect Medatrax entry is another route to an incomplete, and it is fully avoidable.
The limits on incompletes
Incompletes buy time, but UCCS caps how much. Four limits apply across the graduate NP tracks.
- Two at once stop progression. Carrying two incompletes halts your move to the next clinical course, and UCCS routes you into a 1-credit independent study instead.
- One calendar year. An incomplete that is not cleared within a year becomes an F, which then counts as a grade below B.
- No Synthesis with one open (FNP and AGNP).
NURS 6980stays closed while any primary care course is incomplete (NURS 6915,NURS 6925,NURS 6960, andNURS 6900orNURS 6950), and the same goes forNURS 6982. - No Synthesis with one open (PMHNP).
NURS 6985stays closed whileNURS 6801orNURS 6802is incomplete.
An incomplete also reshapes the next semester. Finishing old hours while starting a new rotation can mean two sets of hours, and two preceptors, in one term. Already in that spot? Read behind on clinical hours for ways to catch up.
An incomplete becomes an F after one calendar year. Put the finishing semester on your calendar the day the incomplete is recorded.
Start each semester with hours ready to begin
Why UCCS students choose us: these rules reward preparation, and preparation is what we do. We line up a preceptor before the term, put together the site sheet information including one fixed hour count, and send it early, so the agreement and preceptor letter can be signed and your "good to go" email arrives as early in the semester as UCCS's process allows.
Lose a preceptor mid-rotation and we move straight to finding the next one, with the details for the extra-agreement request prepared alongside. UCCS makes the approval decision, and we make sure the details it reviews are complete and on time. Short on time? See need a preceptor fast or use the form below.
Questions UCCS students ask
Can I do clinical hours over winter break at UCCS?
No. The winter gap sits between semesters, which the practicum handbooks close to clinical work, and it falls outside any registered term. For 2026-27 that rules out December 20 to January 18. Use the break to finish spring paperwork instead, so your hours can start once the semester opens and your agreement is complete.
Can I start before the semester if my agreement is already signed?
No. Even with a signed Affiliation Agreement and preceptor letter, hours before the semester's first day do not count, because UCCS ties clinical time to professional liability and Workers' Compensation requirements. Aim for a first clinic day in the opening week, once the "good to go" email is in your inbox.
What if my incomplete hours need a new preceptor?
The replacement goes through the normal process: a Clinical Site Sheet naming the new preceptor, the Affiliation Agreement and preceptor letter UCCS requires for the rotation, and the "good to go" email before any hours count. Legal review of a new agreement runs 6 to 8 weeks, sometimes longer, so start the search as soon as you know the original preceptor cannot finish.
Can I take an incomplete if I am failing the course?
No. UCCS allows an incomplete for unfinished clinical hours only when you are passing the didactic part of the course. If the grade is already below B, the grade and repeat rules apply instead, and repeating a clinical course includes its clinical hours. See grades and progression for how those rules work.
Do summer clinical courses carry fewer hours?
No. UCCS sets each course's hours by cohort, not by term, so a course taken in the 8-week summer carries the same hours as in a 16-week semester. As arithmetic rather than UCCS guidance, a 110-hour course over eight weeks is about 14 hours a week, which a preceptor has to be able to host.
Related pages
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 forNURS 6915andNURS 6925, psychiatric prescribers forNURS 6801toNURS 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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