YSU library and academic support for online nursing students
Most of Youngstown State University's support offices sit on the Youngstown campus, yet several reach online graduate nursing students directly: Maag Library's remote resources and Ask a Librarian, the Writing Center's online consultations, Accessibility Services, Student Counseling Services, the career office and Youngstown State Online. This guide covers what each offers, what YSU's pages leave open for students outside Ohio, and when in the program each one earns its keep.
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Tell us your YSU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your YSU course.
Support offices at a glance
The table sums up what YSU's own pages say about each office and how an online student reaches it. Where a page is silent, the table marks the gap.
| Office | What YSU says it offers | For online students |
|---|---|---|
| Maag Library | Main university library: databases, e-books, print materials, online catalogs | Remote access to electronic resources; Ask a Librarian |
| Writing Center | Consultations for undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff | Online consultations, booked through WCOnline |
| Resch Academic Success Center | Individualized academic coaching and peer tutoring | Serves all students; tutoring list mostly undergraduate |
| Accessibility Services | Accommodation requests | The graduate handbook sends requests here |
| Student Counseling Services | Confidential ongoing counseling by state-licensed counselors and therapists | By appointment; out-of-state eligibility not stated |
| Office of Career Exploration and Development | Career services for three colleges, including nursing's | Events posted on Handshake |
| Dean of Students and YSU CARE Team | Central contact for extenuating situations | Remote access not described |
| Youngstown State Online | Support for students who are not on site | Student Services page on YSU's online site |
Maag Library for nursing coursework
The William F. Maag, Jr. Library opened in 1976 and is YSU's main library. For online students, YSU describes remote access to electronic resources, including databases, e-books, print materials and online book catalogs, and it directs questions about those services to Ask a Librarian.
The YSU pages read for this guide do not name the nursing databases or journals Maag subscribes to. Ask a Librarian is the place to find out which databases cover nursing and clinical evidence and how to reach them from home.
The library matters most at three points in the MSN. NURS 6901, Theoretical Foundations in Science and Research, comes early in the core. FNP Practicum 3, NURS 7063, asks you to apply current evidence to clinical decisions. And the Capstone Practicum, NURS 7005, is a 60-hour project rather than a precepted clinical, taken as your final course. Setting up library access in your first term saves a scramble in your last.
The building is also a hub in its own right: the Writing Center is in room 171, the Comprehensive Testing Center in room 154 and the IT Service Desk on the fourth floor.
Writing and academic coaching
YSU's Writing Center works with current undergraduate and graduate students, and with faculty and staff. It offers appointments, walk-ins and online consultations, all booked through WCOnline. For an online MSN student the online consultation is the practical format, and the timing matters: in a 7-week course a paper due in week five leaves little room for revision, so book as soon as you have a draft. The Capstone project and the early theory and research course are natural times to use it.
The Resch Academic Success Center serves all YSU students with individualized academic coaching and comprehensive peer tutoring. Its tutoring list centers on undergraduate courses, so graduate nursing students are likely to get more from the coaching side.
Coaching suits the program's pace. YSU's online FAQ estimates about 20 hours of study a week for each course, and clinical terms add practicum hours on top, usually alongside a nursing job. A study plan built before your first practicum term is easier to keep than one improvised in week four.
Accessibility Services
The graduate nursing handbook sends requests for accommodation to YSU's Office of Accessibility Services, which the university's web pages call Accessibility Services. YSU also names a Title II and Section 504 coordinator for students.
A practicum brings more people into an accommodation than a course does: your clinical faculty, your preceptor and the clinical site. YSU's public pages do not describe how clinical accommodations are arranged, so start early, ideally before your first practicum term, and ask Accessibility Services how an approved accommodation carries into clinical settings.
If an accommodation shapes the kind of site, schedule or travel you can manage, tell your placement advisor what the search should account for; you decide how much to share. We build that into the search, so the preceptor and site we propose fit both the YSU practicum and the way you need to work.
Counseling and help in a hard term
Student Counseling Services provides confidential, ongoing counseling to enrolled YSU students through state-licensed counselors and therapists. Counseling and consultation are by appointment only, and the office is in DeBartolo Hall. For an emergency, YSU's counseling information points to the YSU Police Department; if you live far from campus, call local emergency services.
YSU's pages do not say whether its counselors can see online students living in Pennsylvania, West Virginia or Michigan. Because the counselors are state-licensed, ask when you book whether they can work with you where you live, and ask for a referral closer to home if they cannot.
A practicum term is a demanding time to be unwell or stretched thin, with a preceptor's schedule, a job and a 7-week clock all running at once. Reach out early, to counseling and to your clinical faculty, rather than waiting until hours have slipped.
Career help after the MSN
The Office of Career Exploration and Development serves students in three colleges, among them the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services, which houses the Centofanti School of Nursing. Its office is in Jones Hall, and it lists its events on Handshake.
YSU reports a 100% job rate one year after graduation for its BSN, MSN and post-master's certificate graduates in each year from 2022 through 2025, with 2026 pending. The people who see your work up close matter here too: the preceptors from your final practicums, NURS 7065 for FNP or NURS 7075 for AGACNP, have watched you manage patients with growing independence. The certification exams guide covers the boards and the Ohio APRN license that come before a first NP job.
Youngstown State Online, and where our help fits
Youngstown State Online says it serves about 2,000 adult learners a year through web-based instruction designed for students who are not on site, and YSU's online program site keeps a Student Services page that gathers these offices in one place. Technology problems go to the IT Service Desk, and registration or general questions to the Penguin Service Center; the online student tools guide covers both.
The preceptor search sits with the clinical side of the program. YSU highly encourages students to secure their own preceptors, and clinical faculty approve every preceptor and site; YSU's expectations are laid out in a separate guide. That search is the work we take on. Your placement advisor tracks down a preceptor matched to the exact practicum, tests the fit against YSU's rules, and gathers what the preceptor request needs well ahead of the two-month deadline, leaving your study hours for coursework. Start with your next practicum term.
Questions YSU students ask
Can I use Maag Library databases from outside Ohio?
YSU describes remote access to its electronic resources for online students, and the pages read for this guide set no state limit on it. If a database or e-book will not open from home, Ask a Librarian is the starting point YSU names for online students, and the IT Service Desk can help if the problem is technical.
Does the YSU Writing Center work with graduate nursing students?
Yes. The Writing Center says its consultants help current undergraduate and graduate students, and it offers online consultations as well as campus appointments and walk-ins. Book through WCOnline, and aim for an early slot: a draft reviewed in week three of a 7-week course leaves far more room to revise than one reviewed in week six.
Is there tutoring for YSU's NP courses?
The Resch Academic Success Center runs peer tutoring, but its course list is mostly undergraduate, so graduate courses such as NURS 6903 Advanced Pharmacology may not appear on it. Its individualized academic coaching is open to all students, and your course faculty remain the first stop for questions about course content.
Does YSU have a testing center for online students?
YSU's Comprehensive Testing Center is in Maag Library, room 154, on the Youngstown campus. Online graduate nursing courses rely on remote proctoring instead: YSU lists Respondus and Examity, and the nursing FAQ says you need a lockdown browser with a camera. The online student tools guide covers the setup.
Who do I contact at YSU if a personal emergency disrupts my practicum?
Tell your clinical faculty and your preceptor as soon as you can, since the handbook says missed clinical hours get rescheduled at a time both of them agree to. For wider support, the Office of the Dean of Students and the YSU CARE Team act as a central contact for extenuating situations, and Student Counseling Services offers appointments.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against YSU's own catalog, graduate handbook, online program pages and FAQ, and Ohio rules. Your clinical faculty, the Graduate Clinical Coordinator and your advisor have the final word.
YSU asks you to secure your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your YSU track, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the practicum, check YSU's rules and hand you what the preceptor request needs, two months ahead, with the next term's preceptor already in view.
- Primary care preceptors for FNP practicums
NURS 7061toNURS 7065, acute care for AGACNPNURS 7071toNURS 7075 - Outside your own unit and away from your supervisor, in a state YSU accepts
- Across Ohio, from the Mahoning Valley to Cincinnati, and in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan
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