Liberty's practicum team: who they are and how to work with them

Who is on the team

Liberty's School of Nursing staff page, last modified January 2025, lists the roles behind online placement. The Assistant Director of Practicum Experiences leads practicum for the online nursing programs, and four Practicum & Clinical Coordinator II staff work with online students. A Director of Clinical Operations is also listed; a Liberty job ad for that role, seen only as a search snippet, says it administers InPlace across nursing programs.

Faculty hold practicum titles too, including an FNP Practicum Field Director and a PMHNP/DNP Program Field Director. Liberty's state licensure pages call the staff group the School of Nursing Practicum Coordinators. The order in which they touch your file is laid out on the placement process page.

Where to write

• NP and DNP practicum questions: APRN.DNPPracticum@liberty.edu, the address printed on every NP program page.
• DNP advising about courses and plans: dnp@liberty.edu.
• MSN practicum: the 2022-23 handbook gave PracticumCoordinator@liberty.edu, and a 2023 Liberty preceptor page used msnpracticum@liberty.edu. Both are dated, so confirm the current address in your Gate course.

What “collaborative partnership” means

Liberty's NP program pages describe placement as a “collaborative partnership between the student and our dedicated practicum team.” Read it as two halves of one search. The team says it is “committed to assisting students in identifying suitable preceptors and practicum sites,” and under the heading Preceptor and Site Matching: “Our goal is to match each student with a preceptor and site.”

Your half is written just as plainly: “we also encourage students to take an active role in finding potential placements.” Liberty's stated reason is that you know your local area. The post-BSN PMHNP page says its practicum coordinators “can help you gain practicum placement.”

So the partnership is genuine help, not a handoff in either direction. The team brings Liberty's existing site relationships and its review process. You bring local knowledge, names, and fast replies.

What the team actually does

Liberty publishes no full description of the coordinators' work, but several sources sketch it.

• Searches and matches. The NP pages say the team aims to match each student and may provide a site outright.
• Checks preceptors and contracts. The Practicum Coordinator II job ad (search snippet only) lists “Assisting students in securing sites and preceptors for practicum completion,” verifying preceptor credentials and licenses, and making sure contracts meet University rules.
• Reviews your practicum paperwork. Liberty's state pages describe the School of Nursing reviewing and approving each student's practicum paperwork before clinicals.
• Handles state notices. Notices to the Alabama, North Dakota, New Jersey and Wyoming boards, and Louisiana's facility form, are Liberty's job. Alaska is the exception: there, the student files the board's APRN Preceptorship Registration Form.

What the team has never promised

Liberty is candid about the limits. The same matching section says “the assigned term may not always meet the student's initial preferences” and warns that, with preceptors scarce, “students may need to travel longer distances.” A student who turns down a provided site over distance is asked to find a new one; the distance page explains that rule.

An older PMHNP FAQ, whose file name is dated December 2020, adds that particular weekdays cannot always be secured and that long commutes are at the student's expense. Fees a site or preceptor charges are yours to negotiate directly with the site, as the preceptor fees page explains.

None of this is a failing of the team. It is preceptor supply, stated upfront. The match is an aim, not a guarantee, and no date comes attached to it.

How to work with the team well

These habits are not Liberty rules. They are what keeps a shared search from stalling.

• Reply from your Liberty email, fast. The 2022-23 MSN handbook asked students to check Liberty email at least every 48 hours, and that pace serves every track.
• Send leads that are ready to review. Give the preceptor's credentials and license state, the practice address, the specialty and patient mix, and who can sign for the site. Our outreach guide covers what to ask a preceptor first.
• State your limits early. Tell the team how far you can travel, which days you can work, and which state your RN license covers.
• Keep compliance current. One lapsed item in CastleBranch can hold up an approval that is otherwise finished.
• Ask before approaching large health systems. Liberty may already have a relationship there, and two requests arriving from different directions help no one.
• Keep one written thread. Put agreements and dates in email so everyone works from the same record.

MSN students: a different relationship

The matching language covers the NP tracks. For MSN, the 2026-27 catalog says students “must obtain a preceptor site contract,” and the practicum course descriptions refer to a “student selected” facility. Liberty's MSN page adds that practicum hours can be completed in your own community. The 2022-23 handbook went further, telling MSN students to confirm before enrolling that sites and qualified preceptors exist where they live.

Support still exists. The 2022-23 MSN handbook said “The MSN program works with students to secure preceptors” and suggested asking the MSN Practicum Coordinator about approved sites already in your area. It also said preceptors are screened by the practicum coordinator and approved by the program Chair. Use that coordinator as a checker and a source of known sites, while treating the search itself as mainly yours.

Why students add us to their half

We add capacity to your half of the partnership. A placement advisor contacts preceptors and practices near you that suit your Liberty track, and passes you the ones who agree, along with the details the team will want to review. You forward them to the practicum team as your leads; the team remains your point of contact at Liberty. When the team asks for a document about one of those preceptors, we help you gather it.

If the team offers a workable site first, take it seriously. If it doesn't fit, extra leads give you choices. Liberty approves every preceptor and site, and each lead we pass you is prepared for that review. You can compare the routes on practicum team vs self-placement, or send us your details.