UT Tyler preceptor and placement questions, answered briefly

Q: Do Informatics, Quality and Safety students need a preceptor?

Not necessarily. The Fall 2026 NURS 5390 syllabus calls a preceptor one option for its 130 practice hours and allows hands-on activities that need no preceptor or facility placement. Students who want a preceptor anyway go through the usual approval steps. See the IQS program page.

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

These are the questions UT Tyler nursing students bring to the placement desk most often, each answered in a few sentences. Every answer links to the page that covers the topic in full, with UT Tyler's own documents, their dates and the places where those documents disagree.

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UT Tyler preceptor and placement questions, answered briefly. These are the questions UT Tyler nursing students bring to the placement desk most often, each answered in a few sentences. Every answer links to the page that — Short, linked answers for UT Tyler nursing students: who finds preceptors, Texas-only clinicals, Exxat, hours by track, timing, cost and our placement desk.

How placement works at UT Tyler

Who finds the preceptor for a UT Tyler NP student? The student does. UT Tyler's clinical policy has graduate students choose their sites with their instructor's approval, and NP students propose a preceptor on the Self-Placement Request. Faculty coordinate with you and give the approval, and the Clinical Coordinator clears each placement. The rule, quoted in full, is on the Self-Placement Request page.

Which UT Tyler students have placements arranged for them? Pre-licensure BSN students, whose clinical placements faculty assign, and DNP-Nurse Anesthesia students, whose clinical sites are the East Texas hospitals UT Tyler lists for that program. The BSN side is explained on BSN clinicals.

When does my clinical site need approval? Before the semester starts, under clinical policy 7.2, and hours completed before every approval is in do not count. The whole sequence, from finding a preceptor to clearance, is on the clinical placement process.

Texas, your workplace and your preceptor

Can my NP clinical hours happen outside Texas? No. UT Tyler requires its NP students to live in Texas for the whole program and to earn every clinical hour at Texas sites, and the older UT Tyler pages that still mention other states predate the rule. See Texas-only clinicals.

Can I do clinicals where I work? Sometimes. FNP rules bar training under your own supervisor, anyone above you in your reporting chain or a family member, and if you work at a small practice owned by an NP or physician, expect to train somewhere else. PMHNP students in their own health system must use another unit, another manager and another approved preceptor. Details are on clinicals where you work.

Who can be my preceptor? A Texas-licensed NP, physician or PA with experience in your population focus, and for the PMHNP a psychiatric preceptor, mostly PMHNPs. UT Tyler documents differ on one year or two in the advanced role, and the preceptor requirements page shows both.

Systems, forms and clearance

Is it Exxat or InPlace? Exxat, for graduate students, since a Spring 2024 UT Tyler checklist retired InPlace and CastleBranch in its favor, though some live pages and syllabi still carry the older names. Exxat at UT Tyler dates each document.

Can I start once my Exxat file is complete? Not by itself. PMHNP syllabi treat Exxat clearance as one of four approvals, next to site, schedule and faculty sign-off, and say clearance alone does not authorize a start.

What does my preceptor sign? An online Preceptor Agreement survey, emailed by the Clinical Coordinator once your preceptor's details check out. The facility signs a separate paper affiliation agreement with UT Tyler. Both are covered on Preceptor Agreement and approval.

What goes in my compliance file? A clear background check and drug screen, immunizations, CPR at the healthcare-provider level, an unencumbered RN license, health and liability insurance and a nursing badge, plus anything the facility adds. The itemized list is on clinical compliance requirements.

Hours and courses

How many clinical hours does the UT Tyler FNP require? The 2026-27 catalog sets 750 direct care hours, while Fall 2026 syllabi written for earlier cohorts describe a 675-hour plan. The FNP hours page sets the two side by side.

What do the PMHNP practicums require? 125 hours each in NURS 5367, NURS 5368, NURS 5370 and NURS 5373, all in Texas, with a telehealth cap per course and an inpatient minimum across the program. See PMHNP practicums.

I'm behind on hours. What now? Tell your course faculty in writing first, then read UT Tyler's rules on Incompletes and making time up on behind on clinical hours.

When are the FNP campus days? On-campus OSCEs, usually around Week 11, are the only mandatory FNP campus dates. Plan clinical weeks around them with OSCE campus days.

Working with our placement desk

What do you do for a UT Tyler student? We find a Texas preceptor near you who fits your exact course, check that fit against UT Tyler's rules, gather what the Self-Placement Request needs and keep facility onboarding moving. Step by step on how it works.

Who approves the preceptor you find? UT Tyler faculty and the Clinical Coordinator, exactly as with any preceptor. Our job is a request they can approve on the first review: complete, early and matched to the course.

How early should I contact you? A semester before the clinical course, so the agreement, onboarding and approvals all finish before the term. If the semester is closer than that, start with can't find a preceptor.

What does it cost? It depends on your course, your region and the time left; the cost page explains what shapes a quote. To begin, use the request form.

Questions UT Tyler students ask

Does UT Tyler allow students to use a placement service?

UT Tyler's published policies, preceptor guides and syllabi do not address placement services either way. What they govern is the preceptor and the site: faculty approve both, the Clinical Coordinator clears them, and the facility signs an affiliation agreement. A preceptor found through us passes through exactly those steps. See your own search or placement help.

Can I have more than one preceptor in a single UT Tyler course?

Yes, provided each one is approved. Each approved site and preceptor on an AGACNP student's clinical schedule gets its own Good to Go email, which the student uploads, and the Education track's NURS 5329 may carry two Self-Placement Request forms. Every added preceptor needs a request, the agreement survey and faculty approval before hours with them count.

Do UT Tyler DNP students need a preceptor or mentor?

Post-master's DNP students are paired with two mentors, one from the faculty and one from industry, and log at least 1,000 practice hours in Exxat. A fully executed affiliation agreement must exist before hours at any site, their own employer included. The mentor profile and the hour rules are on DNP practice hours.

Does the UT Tyler RN to BSN include clinical placements?

The online RN to BSN uses self-directed clinical projects rather than a preceptor placement, such as a community windshield survey and a TeamSTEPPS module counted as 40 clinical hours. License rules and course structure are on the RN to BSN page.

Do Informatics, Quality and Safety students need a preceptor?

Not necessarily. The Fall 2026 NURS 5390 syllabus calls a preceptor one option for its 130 practice hours and allows hands-on activities that need no preceptor or facility placement. Students who want a preceptor anyway go through the usual approval steps. See the IQS program page.

Our serviceHow it worksHow we find a Texas preceptor for your UT Tyler clinical course, collect every Self-Placement Request detail, and stay on call until your hours count.PlacementClinical placement processHow a UT Tyler NP clinical placement moves from your preceptor search to the Self-Placement Request, approvals, the affiliation agreement and counted hours.PlacementSelf-Placement RequestUT Tyler's Self-Placement Request in full: policy 7.3, the NP essay on securing preceptors, what the form needs from your preceptor, and when to file it.UrgentNo preceptor yetClinical semester close and still no UT Tyler preceptor? Tell lead faculty and the Clinical Coordinator, then work the leads that can clear in time.CostCostWhat shapes the cost of a UT Tyler preceptor search, what a quote covers, and the Exxat, compliance and insurance costs UT Tyler's own rules put on students.ContactContactStart a UT Tyler preceptor search: what to send, what happens next, what to do when the semester is weeks away, and the Texas-only rule for NP students.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against UT Tyler's own catalog, syllabi, program pages and clinical policies, and Texas rules. Your course, your program coordinator and the Clinical Coordinator have the final word.

UT Tyler asks you to choose your clinical site. We find it.

Tell us your UT Tyler track, where in Texas you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and gather everything your Self-Placement Request needs, so faculty can approve it before the semester.

Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for NURS 5453, adult and geriatric care for NURS 5455, psychiatric care for NURS 5367
Texas-licensed preceptors who clear UT Tyler's supervisor, relative and site rules
Anywhere in Texas, from the Piney Woods to the Valley

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