FIU clinical site contracts: lead times, rules and backup sites
Florida International University (FIU) lets no rotation begin until the clinical site is under contract. If your practice already holds an FIU agreement, that step is quick; if it does not, FIU's Clinical Education Department has to obtain one, which the current graduate handbook puts at 6-8 weeks. This page covers how contracts work, what FIU's documents say about timing and how to keep a backup ready.
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Tell us your FIU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your FIU course.
No contract, no clinical day
FIU's Clinical Education page is direct: the contract with the clinical partner has to be in place before the rotation begins. The graduate handbook backs this with its conduct rules, under which beginning clinical work before approval or a signed contract is treated as unprofessional. That leads to a written warning and, if problems continue, clinical probation with an improvement plan; the grades and progression page covers the full sequence.
In practice, a preceptor's yes is only the halfway point. The date you can start is set by the contract, not by the practice's calendar, so treat any start date agreed with a practice as provisional until FIU confirms the agreement is done. Say the same to the practice, so its plans and FIU's timeline stay in step.
How long a new contract takes, by FIU's own documents
The figures do not agree, and FIU does not reconcile them. For NP students the practical answer is to plan for the longest graduate figure, 8 weeks counted back from the first clinical day, and to check with the office about how long your particular practice is likely to take. RN to BSN students should read the 2021 package's much longer estimate as a warning and confirm the current figure with the RN-BSN Program Coordinator.
| FIU document | Lead time | Date of the document |
|---|---|---|
| Preceptor Request Form (Appendix A) | May take up to 6 weeks | Revised 3/31/2022 |
| Preceptor manual text | At least 8 weeks' notice before the clinical date | AY 2022/2023 |
| Graduate Nursing Student Handbook, DNP section | 6-8 weeks | 2025-2026, Rev. April 30, 2026 |
| RN to BSN Track Information Package | 6-9 months or longer | Fall 2021 |
Existing agreements save the most time
The fastest contract is one that already exists. The Preceptor Request Form asks whether the site is an approved FIU-NWCNHS site, DNP students are pointed by the handbook to a Clinical Site Contracts list, and the form flags clinicians already approved in Typhon. FIU does not post the contract list publicly, so the Office of Clinical Education is the place to ask.
That makes the order of your search matter. Before you put weeks into a new practice, find out whether practices near you already hold FIU agreements and whether a clinician at one of them could precept you. A new site is worth the wait when it fits your course clearly better and the calendar leaves room for the agreement.
A suggestion is only a starting point
Naming a practice on the request form starts the process without settling it. The 2022 manual is explicit that a proposed site may end up with neither a contract nor a rotation: a practice may decide not to sign, or the agreement may not be finished by the time the semester starts.
Large health systems publish conditions of their own. Baptist Health South Florida will consider requests only from partner schools that have both a Master Agreement and a Program Letter of Agreement fully executed; it also expects the placement and preceptor to be confirmed first, and each student's Complio profile no later than 10 business days ahead of the rotation. Cleveland Clinic Florida says placements are arranged only by an academic representative once an affiliation agreement is fully executed, with APRN partnerships handled through its Office of Advanced Practice. FIU's status with either system is not stated on those pages; the Florida preceptors guide covers more systems.
Keeping a backup site ready
A second candidate is the simplest protection against a stalled contract. Screen the backup with the same care as your first choice: the right patients for your course, a preceptor who meets FIU's rules, weekday availability and, ideally, an existing FIU agreement, so no new contract is needed if you have to switch.
Tell your clinical faculty about the backup early rather than at the deadline. Because the handbook permits a new site and preceptor each term, a backup you leave unused this term can become next semester's first choice. If the first site falls through close to the start, the need a preceptor fast page covers the short-notice options. Keep the backup's license, address and schedule details in the same format as your first request, so switching means refiling rather than starting over.
DNP and out-of-area contracts
DNP residency hours follow the same contract principle with a mentor at the center. The handbook has you identify an organizational mentor, confirm the site's agreement through FIU's mentor approval process, and then read and comply with the contract; FIU holds the agreement, and a post-MSN rotation goes ahead only once the Clinical Education Department and the DNP Program Director have both approved it.
Online-track students may train outside FIU's four home counties, and the contract rule travels with them: the site still needs an FIU agreement before your first day. A practice far from Miami is more likely to be new to FIU, so allow the full lead time and confirm with the office that the location works for your track. Questions to put to the office are in the outside South Florida guide.
Why students bring the contract question to us first
We check contract status at the start of every search, before a preceptor has committed. For each candidate practice we find out whether it already holds an FIU agreement; when it does not, we tell you right away that a new contract is needed and build the 6-8 week window into your timeline.
We also keep a screened backup in view, so a stalled agreement does not cost you the semester, and if a preceptor pulls out later in the term, we are on call for the replacement search. FIU's Office of Clinical Education negotiates and approves every contract; we make sure the practice details it receives are complete and accurate from the first submission. Use the form below to start with your track and practicum semester.
Questions FIU students ask
Who signs the clinical contract, me or FIU?
FIU does. The Clinical Education Department works to obtain an agreement with any site FIU-NWCNHS has not yet approved, and for DNP residency hours the handbook says FIU holds the contract. Your part is to identify the site, pass on accurate details, and read and follow the contract's terms once it is in place.
Do RN to BSN practicums need a site contract too?
Yes. The BSN handbook requires an RN to BSN preceptor to work at a site holding a current NWCNHS contract. The 2021 information package tells students to ask the Program Coordinator or the Clinical Education Department which South Florida facilities are already under contract, and it warns that a new agreement can take 6-9 months or longer, so an already-contracted facility is the practical choice.
What if my site's contract is not ready when the semester starts?
You cannot begin at that site until it is. Tell your clinical faculty straight away, move to your backup if it already holds an FIU agreement, and remember that the handbook requires missed clinical hours to be made up. If the delay threatens the whole semester, the delayed graduation page covers what comes next.
Does an FIU contract carry over to my next semester?
FIU does not publish how long its site agreements run. A practice already on the Clinical Site Contracts list is under agreement, but confirm with the Office of Clinical Education that it is current for each new term and course before you file the next Preceptor Request Form.
Is a contract needed if I train at my own employer?
Yes. Every rotation needs an FIU agreement with the site, employer or not, although your employer may already hold one. Keep in mind the handbook's workplace limit: your own unit is off the table, although another unit of a large employer can qualify. The working where you work page covers the detail.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against FIU's own graduate handbook, preceptor manual, plans of study, catalog and licensure pages. Your plan of study, your course faculty, your clinical faculty and FIU's Office of Clinical Education have the final word.
- FIU MSN Nurse Practitioner Clinical Education page
- FIU Graduate Nursing Student Handbook 2025-2026
- FIU Advanced Practice Nursing Programs Clinical Preceptor Manual (2022)
- Baptist Health South Florida: college and university student rotations
- Cleveland Clinic Florida: advanced practice provider education onboarding
FIU asks you to identify your clinical site. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your FIU track, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors whose patients fit the course, check early whether the site already holds an FIU contract, and prepare everything the Preceptor Request Form asks for.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult and older-adult primary care for
NGR 6201L, pediatric primary care forNGR 6301L, an organizational mentor forNGR 7940C - Preceptor, facility, license and schedule details ready for the Preceptor Request Form, weeks ahead of the contract clock
- Across Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe, or beyond them where FIU approves your site
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