UTA's placement assistance: what it is and how to ask
UTA does help graduate nursing students who cannot find a preceptor. The catch is in the details: you are expected to search first, the help starts when you are having difficulty, and the procedure sits in an Exxat policy that is not public.
Searching while UTA looks?
Tell us your track, course and start date. A placement advisor replies with how a parallel search would work alongside UTA's process.
What UTA says, word for word
UTA describes clinical placement as “a collaborative process with each student.” Every NP program page then divides the work. First the student's side: “Students are asked to locate a preceptor which is aligned with their program requirements”. Then the department's: it “will provide assistance with clinical placement when a student is experiencing difficulty.”
The online program pages go a step further. The online FNP page says the department “will provide assistance with locating a preceptor” for students having difficulty, and UTA's online FAQ invites you to ask your Clinical Coordinator about “partnering with you in securing clinical sites.”
So the help is real and it is in writing. Some outside sites claim UTA does not place students at all; UTA's own pages say otherwise. What UTA does not publish is the mechanics: what triggers the help, how fast it moves and what it looks like.
The policy that governs it
The procedure has a name. The MSN and PMC Student Handbook calls it “Students Experiencing Difficulties with Clinical Placements”, one of six policies posted in the clinical management system. It is not on UTA's public website. Log in to Exxat at steps.exxat.com and start with the Resources tile, where UTA keeps its self-placement resources.
Two other clues point to a formal request step. The handbook lists “Falsification of information submitted requesting assistance with clinical placement” as an event reportable to the Board of Nursing, which implies you submit information when you ask. And a student-uploaded copy of UTA's MSN Clinical Practicum Acknowledgment (about 2022), which we could read only in part, says students first look “using their network of colleagues” and that the College is “responsible for finding clinical sites and preceptors when a student experiences difficulty.”
Read the current Acknowledgement in Exxat rather than relying on that fragment. All six policies are summarized on UTA clinical policies.
How to ask for help
UTA does not publish a request form or a cutoff date for assistance, so the steps below follow what the public sources do say. Check each one against the Difficulties policy in Exxat.
- Read the Difficulties policyOpen “Students Experiencing Difficulties with Clinical Placements” in Exxat and note any form, timing or evidence it asks for.
- Document your searchKeep a dated list of every preceptor and site you contacted and the answer you got. Be exact: false information in an assistance request is reportable to the Board of Nursing.
- Write to your Clinical CoordinatorUse MavMail, UTA's official email. Give your program, the clinical course number, its start date and what you have tried. Program mailboxes are listed below.
- Keep your own file movingStay compliant in Exxat and keep entering real leads through Exxat MyRequest before the course Wishlist closes. Nothing public says a request for help pauses either one.
- Escalate if it stallsThe handbook's path for “issues regarding clinical placements” is your Program Director, then the Associate Chair.
Ask early. UTA's online FAQ wants your search going 12 to 16 weeks before clinicals open, and help that begins in week one of the course leaves little room. The full order of dates is on the placement timeline.
Asking UTA for help does not stop the clock. Keep your compliance current and your Exxat requests moving while you wait.
Who to write to
UTA's CONHI directory lists a Graduate Clinical Coordination Team with one mailbox per program. We found no clinical placement office by name, so these mailboxes are the published way in.
| Program | Mailbox |
|---|---|
| Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP | AGAcuteNP@uta.edu |
| Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP | AGprimaryNP@uta.edu |
| Family NP | FNP@uta.edu |
| Neonatal NP | NNP@uta.edu |
| Pediatric Acute Care NP | PediacuteNP@uta.edu |
| Pediatric Primary Care NP | PediprimaryNP@uta.edu |
| Psychiatric-Mental Health NP | PsychNP@uta.edu |
| MSN Nursing Education | MSNeducation@uta.edu |
| DNP | dnp@uta.edu |
Write from MavMail: UTA's handbook says personal and work email addresses are not used for official communication. Put your program, course number and term in the subject line so the message lands with the right coordinator.
Nursing Administration has no mailbox on that list, so ask your course faculty where placement questions go. A degree-plan problem that hides a course in Exxat goes to MSNadvising@uta.edu, and questions about clinicals in another state go to NursingSOA@uta.edu.
What the help does not promise
Nothing UTA publishes promises a placement, a date, a location or a specialty. Plan around these limits.
- No timeline. Public sources give no turnaround. A search snippet of UTA's September 2024 FNP guidelines, which we could not open in full, says missing the deadline before the semester means moving to the next course start.
- No location commitment. The online FNP page advertises “Clinical experiences in your local area”, but the assistance statements do not say where a UTA-found site will be.
- No override of agency rules. If an agency will not accept a vaccine exemption, UTA says “the self-placement request will be denied”, and the course shifts to the following semester.
- No shortcut through approval. Any preceptor or site still goes to the Clinical Coordinator and/or course faculty, with a signed Preceptor Agreement and an affiliation agreement in place.
- No published criteria. What counts as difficulty, and how many contacts you must show, is not public.
None of this makes the help weak. It means the details live in Exxat and with your coordinator, not on the website.
Where outside help fits
You can keep searching on your own while UTA looks, and some students bring in a placement service. UTA publishes no statement about partnering with, endorsing or ruling out outside placement companies, and it lists no placement fee of its own.
Our placement desk works alongside UTA's process, not around it. We look for a preceptor and site matched to your course, help you assemble what the Clinical Coordinator reviews, and you submit through Exxat as usual. Tell your coordinator about any lead you are pursuing so two searches do not collide, and if UTA finds you a spot first, take it.
If you have already tried and come up empty, can't find a preceptor covers what to do this week, and how it works shows where our role ends.
Questions UTA students ask
Does UTA place nurse practitioner students in clinicals?
UTA expects you to look for your own preceptor first, and it says the Department of Graduate Nursing will help when a student is experiencing difficulty. So UTA does step in, but not by default and not on a published timeline. The procedure is in the Students Experiencing Difficulties with Clinical Placements policy in Exxat.
Does UTA charge for help finding a clinical placement?
UTA publishes no placement charge. The placement-related costs it does state are the Exxat purchase when you enter the program, every clinical clearance item such as immunizations and the background check, a yearly liability-insurance student fee, and parking fees that some agencies charge. Ask your Clinical Coordinator if a charge you see is unclear.
When should I ask UTA for placement help?
UTA does not publish a trigger date. Its online FAQ puts the search start 12 to 16 weeks out from your first clinical course, so if you have worked your contacts for several weeks inside that window without a yes, write to your Clinical Coordinator then rather than at the course start.
Will UTA find me a preceptor close to home?
That is not promised. The online FNP page advertises clinical experiences in your local area, but the assistance statements do not say where a site will be. Your state matters too: NP clinicals can only happen in states UTA has approved for your program, as set out on out-of-state clinicals.
Can I use a placement service and still ask UTA for help?
Nothing UTA publishes says otherwise. Whoever finds the preceptor, the same approval applies: the Clinical Coordinator and/or course faculty review the preceptor and site. Keep your coordinator informed about every lead, and make sure anything you put in an assistance request is accurate, since false information there is reportable to the Board of Nursing.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against UTA's own sources. UTA's current handbook and your course faculty have the final word.
Hand us the search. Keep your term.
Tell us your UTA track, your county and when your clinical course opens. We look for a preceptor and a site that fit what UTA asks for, and we help you put the approval packet together.
- Matched to your track's population and setting
- Paperwork prepared the way UTA's clinical team expects it
- In person near you, or a virtual option where your course allows it
Start your placement plan
A placement advisor replies with what a UTA-ready preceptor and site look like for you.