Changing or adding a preceptor during a Graceland University practicum
A lone substitute at your main site may fill in for as many as 40 hours a term with no new forms. Past that, and for any new preceptor, Graceland University needs an approved Appendix B, plus Appendix A and a site contract if the address is new, before those hours count. Graceland stops taking added-preceptor requests fourteen days before a term begins, and it would rather you never drop a preceptor who has agreed and filed.
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Tell us your Graceland program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
Four kinds of change, four sets of rules
Graceland treats a short absence, a planned second preceptor and a full replacement differently. Sort out which one you are facing first; the paperwork follows from it.
| Situation | Paperwork | When the hours count |
|---|---|---|
| A substitute at your primary site, one per term | None for the first 40 hours | Right away, up to 40 hours |
| That substitute going past 40 hours | Appendix B to add them as a second preceptor | Only after approval; hours over 40 without it are not counted |
| A planned second preceptor at the same site | Appendix B | After the approval email for that preceptor |
| A second preceptor or replacement at a new address | Appendix A, Appendix B and an affiliation agreement | After the contract is signed and the approval email arrives |
Graceland wants an Appendix A per term and per address, and an Appendix B per preceptor per term. That is why a preceptor who moves to another office generally triggers a new Appendix A for the address while their Appendix B for the term can stand.
The 40-hour substitute allowance
The handbook allows "a single substitute preceptor at their primary site for up to 40 hours" before paperwork is required to add that person as a second preceptor, and its list of pre-practicum conditions adds "(One allowed per term.)" The allowance is built for ordinary disruptions: a vacation week, a conference, a short illness.
Read the limits closely. It is one substitute, not a rotating cast, and only at your primary site, so it cannot move you to a colleague's other clinic. The substitute must still qualify as a preceptor, which rules out a physician assistant. And the cap is firm: "Any hours over 40 will not be counted towards total practicum hours without a completed and approved Preceptor Application."
If an absence may run past a week, start Appendix B for the substitute at once instead of waiting to reach 40. Mark substitute days clearly in your time log, so the preceptors who validate it can see who you worked with on each date.
Adding a second preceptor on purpose
Plenty of students plan a second preceptor from the outset: pulmonology hours in AGACNP NURS5450, a specialty block in FNP NURS6830, or simply a deeper bench. Graceland allows up to two preceptors per practicum, and each one files Appendix B and receives an approval email of their own. The two-preceptor rule shows how the limits fit together.
Timing is the catch. No submissions requesting additional second preceptors are accepted in the two weeks before the term they are for. File the second preceptor's Appendix B alongside your first, by the regular paperwork deadline, and the cutoff never comes into play.
You show each approval email to your instructor when class opens. Without one for a preceptor and site, hours there cannot be counted, however good the experience.
Why Graceland asks you not to cancel
Graceland is direct about this: students "should not cancel a preceptor once the preceptor has agreed to the preceptorship and that paperwork has been submitted." The handbook gives its reasons. Changes create extra work and slow approvals for every student, and they strain the professional relationships Graceland keeps with preceptors and their sites. Contract coordinators monitor every preceptor change.
The practical lesson is to be choosy before the paperwork goes in. Confirm the preceptor's availability for the whole term, their patient volume and ages, and their comfort completing evaluations in Typhon before you file. A better offer arriving later is not, on its own, a reason to switch.
If a change truly cannot be avoided, raise it with the contract coordinators before anything shifts on the ground, so the new plan and the courtesy owed to the original preceptor are handled together.
When the change is not your choice
Preceptors change jobs, fall ill or lose clinic space in the middle of a term. Graceland's handbook is silent on a preceptor who withdraws mid-practicum, so the lead faculty for your course and the contract coordinators decide the path. Tell both the same day, from your Sting email, with how many hours you have logged and the last day you worked with your preceptor.
The substitute allowance may keep you seeing patients at the same site for up to 40 hours while a replacement's paperwork moves. The replacement then becomes the second preceptor in that practicum, which matters if you already had two. Preceptor dropped out is the full playbook for that week. Keep your time log current through the last day with the original preceptor; it is the record everyone will work from.
Steps for any preceptor change
- Email the contract coordinatorsWrite to soncontracts@graceland.edu from your Sting account with your course, term, current preceptor and the change you need, and copy the course lead faculty.
- Confirm the site's contractIf the new preceptor works at an address not on your Appendix A, file a new one so the coordinators can check for an affiliation agreement or start one.
- Send the Appendix B linkGive the new preceptor your track's link with your name, student ID, Sting email, course and term.
- Hold new hours until approvalOutside the 40-hour substitute allowance, log nothing with the new preceptor until their approval email arrives.
- Check Typhon and evaluationsMake sure the new preceptor and site appear in Typhon and that the new preceptor knows when midterm and final evaluations are due.
How we keep a change from costing you the term
Graceland students choose us because a preceptor change is exactly when thorough preparation pays off. We find a replacement or second preceptor who fits your course and setting rules, confirm their availability for the rest of the term, and gather the license details, credentials and site contract contact both appendices need, so the contract coordinators can move quickly. When the replacement sits at a new address, we put the site's contract contact first, since Graceland warns that contracting with sites can take considerable time.
We also watch the calendar with you: the two-week cutoff, the hours still owed before week 14, and the next paperwork deadline if the change reaches into a later practicum. When the plan is steady again, we stay on call for the rest of the term. Tell us what changed on the contact page.
Questions Graceland students ask
Can I use two different substitutes in one term?
No. The allowance is one substitute per term, at your primary site, for up to 40 hours. A second fill-in clinician, or the same substitute past 40 hours, needs an approved Appendix B like any other preceptor. Hours logged outside those limits without approval are not counted toward your practicum total.
Can I add a second preceptor the week before my Graceland term starts?
Graceland accepts no requests for additional second preceptors in the two weeks before the term they are for. File the second preceptor's Appendix B with your first, by your regular paperwork deadline. If the need appears inside the cutoff, ask the contract coordinators what is possible once the term is underway.
My preceptor is moving to a new clinic. Can I follow?
Often, yes, but the new address needs its own Appendix A and an affiliation agreement check, and hours there count only after an approval email for that site. The handbook's example of a preceptor with three offices needing three Appendix A requests but one Appendix B suggests the preceptor's form may still stand for the term.
Does a replacement preceptor affect my two-preceptor count?
Yes. A replacement is a different preceptor in that practicum, and the handbook caps each practicum at two. The replacement also counts toward the rule that one preceptor covers at most two of your three terms. Before accepting, check how the change fits the rest of your three-practicum plan.
Do hours with my original preceptor still count after a change?
Nothing in Graceland's handbook voids hours completed with an approved preceptor inside the term. Protect them by having your original preceptor validate your time log and complete any evaluation that is due before they step away. If anything about crediting is unclear, the course lead faculty confirms it.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Graceland's own catalog, program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your handbook, your track coordinator and the contract coordinators have the final word.
Graceland's practicums are arranged by you, with Graceland's help. We do the searching.
Tell us your Graceland track, your city and your next practicum. We find preceptors who fit the course, line up what Appendix A and Appendix B ask for, and aim everything at Graceland's paperwork deadline for your term.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP, hospital and ICU clinicians for AGACNP, psychiatrists and PMHNPs for PMHNP
- Site address, contract contact and preceptor details ready before the June 15, October 15 or February 15 deadline
- Close to home in your approved state, with a second preceptor planned for Graceland's two-preceptor rule
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