Liberty's preceptor site contract and affiliation agreement, explained

What the catalog asks for now

The current requirement sits in the 2026-27 MSN degree plans. The Nurse Educator, Nursing Administration and Health Policy plans state: “Students must obtain a preceptor site contract.” Informatics uses its own term, a practice experience site contract with an approved experienced informatics clinician. The MSN/MBA and MSN/MSHA duals run on the Administration practicum courses, so the same rule applies to them.

The course descriptions add the facility layer. For NURS 677 and NURS 674, “An educational site affiliation agreement with a student selected approved facility is secured” before you enroll, and a practicum contract is set up with an approved preceptor. Both must be in place before the first practicum course starts. The descriptions refer to a Graduate Nursing Handbook for pre-practicum requirements; that handbook isn't public, so the Gate course in Canvas is your working guide.

Two documents, two signers

It helps to separate the layers. The affiliation agreement is between Liberty and the facility: the hospital, clinic, school, health department or agency where you'll spend your hours. Someone with authority to sign for that organization has to approve it, and that is often not the person who agreed to precept you.

The preceptor site contract, also called the practicum contract, is the preceptor's own commitment to supervise you for the course. It names an individual Liberty has approved, and it travels with that preceptor's CV and license details.

Who typically signs what (roles vary by facility)

• Affiliation agreement: the facility's authorized signer, such as an administrator, legal office or education department, and Liberty.
• Preceptor site contract: your preceptor, subject to Liberty's approval.
• Attestation of Agreement letter (2022-23 handbook): the facility, when it requires no agreement of its own.

The affiliation agreement in the 2022-23 handbook

The 2022-23 MSN Student Handbook, the newest public edition, gives the fullest picture of how agreements worked. Students were encouraged to use facilities that accept the Liberty University Clinical Program Affiliation Agreement. A facility's own contract “may delay the approval process,” the handbook warned, and “Liberty University is under no obligation to agree to affiliate contracts.”

A facility that required no agreement signed an Attestation of Agreement letter instead. Nurse Educator students were told they might need more than one agreement, which fits a sequence where NURS 678 covers both clinical and classroom settings. The Nurse Educator practicum page covers those courses.

Treat these details as dated. They show the shape of the process, but the current form names may differ, so confirm them in your Gate course before a facility starts reviewing anything.

The older preceptor forms: Preceptor Verification and Agreement

The 2022-23 MSN handbook listed two preceptor documents in the pre-practicum packet. They are named here as that handbook named them.

• Preceptor Verification and Agreement Forms. Completed with the preceptor, and required to show the preceptor's work email and phone.
• Preceptor Curriculum Vitae. Including license numbers, education and employment history.

Both went into CastleBranch, Liberty's compliance database, along with your own records. The handbook also described InPlace, which replaced Typhon that year, as holding a preceptor, contract and clinical database. The CastleBranch and InPlace pages cover how those systems work now.

Whether today's Gate uses the same two forms under the same names isn't public. The underlying need, a signed commitment plus proof of the preceptor's credentials, appears in every version Liberty has published.

NP tracks: what's public about contracts

Liberty's NP program pages don't name a contract or preceptor form. They say students must finish every step of the placement process and be fully compliant, and Liberty's state pages describe the School of Nursing reviewing and approving each student's practicum paperwork. In New Jersey, Liberty sends the board program, preceptor and site information before the start date.

A Liberty job ad for a Practicum Coordinator II, seen only as a search snippet, lists making sure contracts meet University rules among the duties. So contracts exist on the NP side too; the names and templates just aren't published. Your Gate course, such as NURS 731 or NURS 756, is where they appear, and the Gate courses page lists each track's Gates.

Getting a contract signed without losing a term

These are practical habits, not Liberty rules.

• Find the signer early. Ask your preceptor who signs affiliation agreements for the facility, and contact that office the same week.
• Ask about templates up front. If the facility insists on its own contract, tell Liberty at once; the 2022-23 handbook named that as a source of delay.
• Collect preceptor details in one pass. CV, license numbers and states, work email and phone, and practice address, so nobody is asked twice.
• Check the workplace conditions. The 2022-23 handbook allowed MSN practicum at your own workplace only with unpaid hours, an agreement and a different unit; see using your workplace.
• Settle fees before signing. Under Liberty's rules, any facility or preceptor charge is between you and the site; the fees page covers what to ask.

Contract details, handled

Contracts stall on details, and details are our specialty. Once a placement advisor finds a preceptor who agrees, we help you collect the CV, license and contact details, identify who signs for the facility, and prepare the site information your Gate asks for, so the practicum team receives a complete file. If a preceptor withdraws after signing, we search again with you, knowing the replacement's paperwork will go through Liberty from the start.

Signatures come from Liberty and the facility, and a facility's legal review runs at its own pace, so we get the details to both sides early. Final approval of the placement is Liberty's. Its rules on who can precept are on preceptor requirements. To start a search, use the form.