Who does what in a YSU practicum, and what to ask each role
A Youngstown State University practicum passes through several hands: the Graduate Clinical Coordinator, your clinical faculty, the Graduate Program Director, a school committee, university offices and your preceptor. Knowing which role decides what can save you weeks. This guide lists each by its YSU title, what YSU's documents say it does, and the questions that belong with it.
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Every role at a glance
YSU describes these roles in different documents: the 2026-27 graduate handbook, the RN-BSN handbook, the online FAQ and the catalog. The titles below are YSU's own. People move on, so confirm current contacts on Blackboard or with your advisor.
| Role | What YSU's documents say it does | Bring it |
|---|---|---|
| Director of the Centofanti School of Nursing | Heads the James and Coralie Centofanti School of Nursing | Matters that reach past a single program |
| Graduate Program Director | Approves transfer credit, leaves of absence and extensions; reviews removals for unsafe practice; shares in arranging placements with clinical faculty and approved agencies | Transfer credit, a leave, an extension, program-level decisions |
| Graduate Clinical Coordinator | Assigned to each student for the whole program; receives the 90-day notice and word of preceptor changes | No preceptor 90 days out, a preceptor who withdraws, a request for placement help |
| Clinical faculty | Approve sites and preceptors, carry out site visits or virtual evaluations, assign the final clinical grade | Whether a site fits, make-up hours, what the practicum expects |
| Admissions, Progression, and Graduation Committee | Reviews clinical progression concerns and appeals within the school, then recommends action to an administrator | Appeals and progression problems |
| College of Graduate Studies | Co-admits MSN students and sets the deadlines for applying to graduate | Admission status and graduation timing |
| Clinical and Student Services Coordinator (RN to BSN) | Handles practicum contracts and advising sheets; receives the Preceptor Information Form | Your RN to BSN practicum contract |
| RN-BSN Coordinator | Serves as faculty advisor to every RN to BSN student; can also receive the Preceptor Information Form | Course planning and your RN to BSN preceptor |
| Your preceptor | Completes preceptor documents before you start, evaluates you and verifies your hours | Your schedule, learning objectives and evaluations |
The Graduate Clinical Coordinator
YSU's online FAQ says each student is assigned a Graduate Clinical Coordinator for the length of the program. Two FAQ answers point students to this role: if you cannot locate a preceptor, tell the coordinator at least 90 days before the practicum, and if your preceptor changes or drops out, tell the coordinator as soon as possible.
The 2026-27 handbook does not mention the role, and the FAQ prints two different names for it in different answers, so check who holds it now before you rely on an old contact. Bring the coordinator questions of timing and supply: no preceptor yet, a preceptor who withdrew, a site whose agreement has stalled. The FAQ is also clear that placement help from YSU may mean a commute, which is worth knowing before you ask. Finding your own preceptor quotes those answers in full.
Clinical faculty
Clinical faculty make the decisions that shape a practicum day to day. The handbook hands them three jobs: deciding whether sites and preceptors measure up to program and accreditation standards, visiting sites in person or evaluating virtually, and assigning the final clinical grade. That grade draws on what your preceptor reports, what faculty observe, your clinical documentation and your practicum logs, among other work.
They also approve, together with your preceptor, when missed hours are made up, and both must hear about an absence as soon as possible. The handbook asks you to set individualized learning objectives with your preceptor and clinical faculty together. Clinical syllabi and hour splits are not public, so your clinical faculty are the people to ask what a practicum expects, whether a candidate site suits the course and how the site visit will run.
The Graduate Program Director and the APG Committee
The Graduate Program Director works at program level. The handbook sends transfer credit, leaves of absence and extensions to this role, which also reviews removals from a clinical setting for unsafe practice. When the handbook describes how placements come together, the Program Director is one of the parties it names, alongside clinical faculty and approved agencies.
The Admissions, Progression, and Graduation (APG) Committee takes up what follows a problem. Clinical progression concerns are on its list, and it hears appeals that fall to the School of Nursing; its role is to recommend, while an academic administrator decides. A failed practicum or a dispute over progression belongs here, and the grades and time limits guide covers the rules behind those cases.
Offices beyond the School of Nursing
The College of Graduate Studies co-admits MSN students with the school and sets the deadlines for applying to graduate. The handbook makes meeting those deadlines your responsibility, and the application itself sits in the Penguin Portal. For 2026-27, YSU's calendar gives October 2 for fall, February 12 for spring and June 18 for summer graduation.
Graduation comes at three points in the year: December, May and August. Your date depends on when the last practicum and NURS 7005 Capstone Practicum end; YSU's FNP page lets Capstone share a term with NURS 7065 or follow it, as the final course.
The Director of the Centofanti School of Nursing leads the school within the Dr. Dominic A. and Helen M. Bitonte College of Health and Human Services. Most practicum questions are settled well before that level, by your clinical faculty or the coordinator.
RN to BSN roles
RN to BSN students work with two different titles. The RN-BSN Coordinator is the faculty advisor for every student in the program. The Clinical and Student Services Coordinator handles practicum contracts and advising sheets, and the RN-BSN handbook says the completed Preceptor Information Form goes to either one of them.
These offices need your contract details, the site's signature authority among them, no later than 60 days before you take NURS 4852. YSU wants that preceptor to be a registered nurse holding a BSN or higher, with a year or more of leadership experience; the FAQ even suggests training at your own workplace under a nurse leader, and the RN-BSN handbook keeps that work outside scheduled shifts. The RN to BSN guide covers the rest.
Your preceptor, and where we fit
Your preceptor has a defined part in YSU's process. The handbook expects preceptors to complete required documents and agreements before the first clinical day, complete student evaluations and verify clinical hours, and it allows preceptors, like clinical faculty, to remove a student from the setting when patient safety is at stake. The FAQ leaves the practicum schedule for you and your preceptor to agree on. Who may precept, and where YSU's sources disagree, is set out in the preceptor requirements guide.
Your placement advisor works alongside all of these roles. We find the preceptor and site, check both against YSU's rules, gather what the request needs and keep the next practicum lined up, so every YSU office receives what it needs from you on time. See how it works.
Questions YSU students ask
Who do I contact if my preceptor cancels partway through a practicum?
The Graduate Clinical Coordinator, right away, according to YSU's FAQ. Tell your clinical faculty as well, since they approve any replacement preceptor and any make-up hours. Our guide to a preceptor who drops sets out the steps in order.
Who decides whether I can repeat a failed practicum?
A required MSN course can be retaken one time, and the program caps retakes at two required nursing courses in total. Clinical progression concerns and appeals go to the Admissions, Progression, and Graduation Committee, which recommends action to the academic administrator who makes the final call.
Who approves a leave of absence or an extension?
The Graduate Program Director, according to the 2026-27 handbook. An approved leave does not pause the school's four-year limit for finishing the MSN, which is stricter than the six-year limit in the graduate catalog, so plan any leave with both limits in mind.
Who should I tell if I am moving to another state during the program?
Your advisor, right away. YSU's online program map warns that relocating mid-program can bring restrictions and affect your progression, because online students must live in and complete the program in a state YSU accepts. The out-of-state guide explains which states and why the sources differ.
Does the Graduate Clinical Coordinator find preceptors for students?
YSU's FAQ asks NP students to secure their own preceptors and to notify the coordinator at least 90 days ahead if they cannot, noting that placement help may involve a commute. The coordinator works with you across the program, while the search itself is set up as the student's task.
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.
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