Who does what in a Sacred Heart University placement

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

A Sacred Heart University placement passes through several desks, each with one job: approving, contracting, clearing or supervising. Knowing which role owns which step tells you whom to ask and what to send. This page lists every role by the name Sacred Heart uses, with the program mailboxes where Sacred Heart publishes them.

Get matched Chat now

One contact for your whole search

Your placement advisor prepares what each Sacred Heart desk needs from you.

2program mailboxes Sacred Heart publishes for placement paperwork

Table. Sacred Heart roles in a clinical placement: Academic advisor, Approves the proposed site and preceptor; approves registration; reviews the preceptor's CV and RN license on non-NP tracks; MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator, Gives final approval of NP preceptors and completes preceptor — Sacred Heart roles in a clinical placement: Academic advisor, Approves the proposed site and preceptor; approves registration; reviews the preceptor's CV and RN license on non-NP tracks; MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator, Gives final approval of NP preceptors and completes preceptor and si

The roles at a glance

Sacred Heart roles in a clinical placement
Role	What it does in your placement	Programs
Academic advisor	Approves the proposed site and preceptor; approves registration; reviews the preceptor's CV and RN license on non-NP tracks	All online programs
MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator	Gives final approval of NP preceptors and completes preceptor and site documentation (NPapprovalrequest@sacredheart.edu)	MSN FNP, MSN PMHNP, NP certificates
Clinical Contract & Compliance Coordinator	Receives every Contract Request Form; confirms or starts the affiliation agreement; emails students only when a problem arises	All programs
Clinical Placement Compliance Coordinator	Sends the "Cleared for Clinical/Observation" and "Cleared for DNP project" emails	All programs
Clinical Placement Team (Clinical Placement, CP)	Publishes placement and compliance deadlines; receives change notices; removes non-compliant students from rotations	All programs
Clinical Placement Coordinator	Program-specific; sends E*Value onboarding; in the hybrid FNP/DNP, arranges or matches later clinical sites	Hybrid FNP/DNP; also named for online and RN-BSN students
Program Director and Assistant Program Director	Approve independent placements	Hybrid FNP/DNP
Course faculty, Clinical Advisor, Clinical Faculty Advisor	Clinical oversight; the preceptor's contact for concerns; receive preceptor evaluations on request	All programs
Graduate Chair	Meets with students who have a positive background check or drug screen	Graduate programs
DNP Project Leader or Advisor	Guides the DNP project and receives the practice site form	Both DNP programs
Practice mentor	An expert at the project site who opens access and evaluates the student	Both DNP programs
Enrollment Coordinator and Student Services Coordinator	First registration and the plan of study	New students
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, then the Dean	The chain of command; the Dean also approves affiliate titles for preceptors	All programs

The order in which you meet these desks is laid out on the placement process page.

Approval: the advisor and the NP clinical coordinator

Your academic advisor gives the first yes in every online program. For NP students, the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator gives the final one, after reviewing the preceptor's resume, license and board certification sent to the program mailbox. The advisor also governs clinical-course registration, which waits on both approvals and on the coordinator's documentation. Neither approval is a formality, and either reviewer can send a proposal back, so a complete first submission saves the most time.

In the hybrid FNP/DNP, independent placements are approved by the Program Director and course faculty instead, and a contract is executed before the student starts. What each reviewer needs from you, and what speeds the answer, is covered on preceptor approval. Both decisions reach you by email.

Contracts and clearance: two coordinators, two jobs

These two roles are easy to confuse. The Clinical Contract & Compliance Coordinator, whom the guides also call the Clinical Contract Coordinator or Contract Coordinator, receives the Contract Request Form automatically and handles the affiliation agreement. This coordinator writes to your SHU email only when there is a problem.

The Clinical Placement Compliance Coordinator is a separate role that sends the Cleared for Clinical email once compliance, approval and the agreement are all confirmed. For DNP students, the same role sends the "Cleared for DNP project" email required in NU 810 and NU 820. Put simply, one coordinator settles the paperwork with the site, and the other confirms you are ready to walk in.

The NP clinical coordinator's approval email and the compliance coordinator's clearance email come from different roles. Only the second lets you attend clinical.

The Clinical Placement Team and its coordinators

The Clinical Placement Team, which the guides also call Clinical Placement (CP), sets the published placement deadlines for PMHNP, CNL, NE and NMEL students and the compliance due dates for every program. It is the office you notify immediately when a site or preceptor changes, and students who miss compliance due dates are removed from the course and the rotation.

Clinical Placement Coordinators are program-specific. In the hybrid FNP/DNP, the coordinator works with each student to arrange later clinical sites and can match a student to an available site; asking for a match is a binding commitment. For online students, Sacred Heart's State Authorizations page says the Clinical Placement Coordinator works with the student once a site and preceptor are identified, and the RN-BSN guide has the coordinator give each student a firm compliance deadline.

During the course: faculty, advisors and the preceptor

Once you start, course faculty and your clinical advisor or clinical faculty advisor carry clinical oversight. Sacred Heart's NP preceptor orientation tells preceptors to contact the student's clinical advisor with any student or precepting concern, and preceptors submit a student evaluation form to the clinical faculty advisor when asked. If a preceptor raises a concern with you directly, bring your clinical advisor in rather than settling it alone, so Sacred Heart's record matches what happened at the site.

In the hybrid program, E*Value also holds a clinical advisor site visit and SOAP note feedback evaluation. Your preceptor gives weekly feedback, reviews and co-signs your documentation, and completes midterm and final evaluations in E*Value. Keep your clinical advisor informed early about any problem, since that is where Sacred Heart points everyone else.

DNP roles

DNP students add two people to the list. The DNP Project Leader or Advisor guides the scholarly project and receives the practice site and implementation form, which hybrid FNP/DNP students also send to Clinical Placement at practicesiteprojimplement@sacredheart.edu. Sacred Heart IRB approval is part of the same stage.

The practice mentor is an expert in your area, positioned to open access inside the organization, and evaluates you at the proposal and final presentations. The mentor need not hold a DNP. The post-master's DNP page covers the program, its hours and the mentor agreement. Hybrid FNP/DNP students meet these roles alongside the Clinical Placement Coordinator who arranges their FNP rotations, so one semester can involve both a preceptor and a mentor. Plan the mentor search early, since the project site's contract can take months.

Where we fit alongside these roles

Every desk on this page belongs to Sacred Heart, and each makes its own decision. Our work comes before them: your placement advisor finds the preceptor and site, prepares what the academic advisor and NP clinical coordinator review, and gathers the contract contact the Clinical Contract & Compliance Coordinator needs to begin. Every step stays with Sacred Heart's own roles; the preparation is ours.

We keep the Clinical Placement Team's deadlines in view with you and stay on call through the course if a preceptor leaves. You deal with one placement advisor while your file moves between Sacred Heart's desks, which matters most when something changes mid-course and a replacement preceptor has to pass through several of those desks again. Tell us your program in the form below.

Questions Sacred Heart students ask

Who approves my preceptor at Sacred Heart?

For online NP students, two roles in order: your academic advisor, then the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator, who gives final approval. For CNL, NE, NMEL and RN-BSN students, the academic advisor approves after reviewing the preceptor's CV and RN license. In the hybrid FNP/DNP, the Program Director and course faculty sign off on independent placements.

What is NPapprovalrequest@sacredheart.edu for?

It is the program mailbox for the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator. Once your academic advisor approves a site and preceptor, you send the preceptor's current resume, license and board certification there for final approval. The reply approving the site and preceptor is what lets you submit the Contract Request Form.

Whom do I tell if my preceptor changes?

Clinical Placement, right away. The MSN guide asks students to notify CP immediately, submit a new Contract Request Form and wait for an updated clearance letter. Copy your academic advisor too, since the new preceptor needs approval, and keep your course faculty aware of any pause in hours.

Whom can I ask about a problem with my preceptor during the course?

Your clinical advisor or course faculty. Sacred Heart's preceptor orientation directs preceptors to the student's clinical advisor for any student or precepting concern, and the same channel works in the other direction. Contract problems run through the Clinical Contract & Compliance Coordinator, and deadline or compliance questions through the Clinical Placement Team.

Who handles my first registration?

The Enrollment Coordinator and Student Services Coordinator handle first registration and your plan of study. After that, clinical-course registration depends on your academic advisor approving a site and preceptor and, for NP students, on the NP clinical coordinator's documentation, so registration and placement move together.

ProcessClinical placement processHow a Sacred Heart University clinical placement moves from a named preceptor to the Cleared for Clinical email, step by step, with the differences by program.ApprovalPreceptor approvalHow Sacred Heart University's academic advisor and MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator approve a preceptor, what they receive and what speeds a yes.ClearanceCleared for Clinical emailWhat Sacred Heart University's Cleared for Clinical email requires, what happens to hours logged without it, and why a new site or preceptor needs new clearance.SystemBlackboard and student systemsWhere Sacred Heart University nursing students handle clinical work: MySHU, SHU email, Blackboard Ultra organizations, SPA, eSTAR, E*Value and the Health Account.GuideSacred Heart systemsEvery Sacred Heart clinical guide in one place: approval, the Contract Request Form, affiliation agreements, E*Value, NU courses, residencies and states.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against Sacred Heart's own catalog, program pages and 2026-27 student guides. Your student guide, your academic advisor and your course faculty have the final word.

Sacred Heart asks you to secure your clinical placement. We make that the easy part.

Tell us your Sacred Heart program, your city and your next clinical course. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare what your advisor, the NP clinical coordinator and the Contract Request Form ask for, early enough for the affiliation agreement.

Preceptors matched to the course: primary care of adults, women and children for FNP, psychiatric care across the lifespan for PMHNP
Preceptor CV, license, board certification and the site's contract contact ready before your week-10 deadline
Close to home in any state where Sacred Heart's program meets licensure requirements, with New York's rule planned around

Start your placement plan

Program, city and clinical start is all we need to begin.