Behind on clinical hours as the Rivier semester closes
Rivier University withholds a final practicum grade until the last required clinical hour is in, and a surplus next term cannot cover a shortfall in this one. If you are short with only weeks left, the academic calendar decides your options: how long you can still add hours, when an Incomplete has to be requested, and when the withdrawal window shuts.
Close the gap in time
Tell us your track, NURS course, city, hours still needed and weeks left. Your placement advisor looks for approved ways to add hours.
Why a shortfall cannot wait for next term
Four rules from Rivier's Nursing Student Handbook make a late-semester gap urgent. First, faculty cannot post a final course grade while any required clinical hour is outstanding. Second, FNP and PMHNP students owe 250 hours within each practicum term, and a surplus never rolls into the next one. Third, nothing earned before the semester's opening day counts. Fourth, an hour counts only once the Clinical Practicum Coordinator has verified your file and the site's contract.
Put together, those rules mean the only hours that can rescue this semester are hours earned between now and its end, at an approved site. A fifth rule raises the stakes: finishing a practicum under 84% ends your place in the graduate track, so a practicum that ends badly costs far more than one course.
Measure the gap before you choose a fix
- Confirm the target for your courseFNP totals differ by source. The Handbook sets 250 for every practicum, while the 2025-26 catalog lists 120 for
NURS 511, 250 forNURS 513and 240 forNURS 515. Ask course faculty which figure your course uses; the 750 vs 610 hours page explains the conflict. - Subtract only confirmed hoursCount hours logged at your approved site after the coordinator's confirmation, not hours you expect to log.
- Count the clinic days leftList the days your preceptor actually sees patients before finals week, minus holidays and planned time off.
- Check the mix, not just the totalTelehealth and alternative-setting hours have caps, so a total can look complete while the mix of hours breaks a limit.
If the hours left divided by the clinic days left is something your preceptor can host, ask for the extra shifts now. If it is not, you need a second source of approved hours or a conversation with faculty this week.
The 2026-27 dates that set your options
Rivier's 2026-2027 academic calendar fixes the points where your choices narrow. Check your own course in Colleague Self-Service, since 7-week terms run on different dates.
| Event | Fall 2026 | Spring 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Last day to withdraw with a W | November 17 | April 5 |
| Graduate 14-week final exams | December 15-18 | May 4-7 |
| Final grades due | December 22 | May 11 |
The withdrawal date matters for more than the W. The Handbook gives an NF to a student who stops participating before the withdrawal deadline and an F to one who stops after it. For fall 2026, the calendar also sets February 15, 2027 as the last day to complete fall Incompletes. In summer 2027, a Summer Long class can be withdrawn until July 22 and the semester ends August 26.
Approved ways to add hours
The quickest source is usually the preceptor you already have. Ask for added clinic days or longer shifts, in writing, with specific dates, so faculty can see the plan closes the gap before finals.
- A second preceptor. A second clinician can share the remaining hours, but they go through the full approval path, including a 30-day contract if their organization is new to Rivier. This works only if you start early.
- FNP alternative settings. Alternative settings can supply as many as 120 of the 750 hours; urgent care, for example, is allowed in the second and third practicums. You request them through the coordinator and Program Director; the alternative practicum hours page lists what qualifies.
- PMHNP telehealth. A telehealth prescriber can account for at most 300 hours of the PMHNP total of 750.
- AG-ACNP specialties. In each of Practicums II and III, as many as 90 hours may be spent in the acute-care specialties the Handbook lists. Telehealth hours do not apply.
Time at a new site before the coordinator clears its paperwork and contract adds nothing to your total, however many hours you log.
Incomplete or withdrawal: weigh them early
If the hours cannot fit, Rivier offers two exits, and both must be arranged before the semester ends. You ask for an Incomplete ahead of the final exam, and only when something serious that you could not control has disrupted the term. Left unresolved, the catalog turns it into an F, and any extension is capped at three months and needs the dean's approval.
A withdrawal starts a different clock: two weeks to reach the Program Director and rebuild your Program of Studies, with no assurance the practicum stays in its original term. Repeat withdrawals carry their own limit, since leaving the same course a third time can end an MSN student's program, and a second time is enough for a DNP student. Rivier's rules for what comes next are on the leave, withdrawal and readmission page.
Whichever way you lean, raise it with course faculty before finals week, not after. Rivier already expects a missed clinical day to reach your preceptor right away and faculty soon after, and a shortfall is the same conversation on a larger scale.
How we help you close the gap
When Rivier students write to us with a shortfall, we start with the numbers: the hours you need, the clinic days left and the caps that apply to your track. Your placement advisor then looks for a qualified second preceptor or an approvable alternative setting near you with open days before finals, and gathers the resume and site details the request needs.
We also look past this semester. A shortfall usually starts with a preceptor whose schedule could not carry 250 hours, so we line up next term's preceptor around the calendar first and the credential second, early enough to meet Rivier's deadlines. The coordinator and faculty sign off on every added site, and we make sure the request reaching them is complete. Send us your numbers through the form on this page, or read how it works first.
Questions Rivier students ask
Can I finish my Rivier clinical hours after the semester ends?
Only through an Incomplete arranged with faculty. The catalog wants that request in before the final exam, tied to a serious event you could not control, and an Incomplete that is never finished converts to an F. For fall 2026 courses, the calendar sets February 15, 2027 as the completion deadline.
Can I make up missing hours in my next practicum?
No. Rivier's Handbook requires 250 hours inside each FNP and PMHNP practicum semester, and hours cannot be carried from one semester to another in either direction. The next practicum still needs its own full total, so a shortfall has to be solved in the course where it happened.
What happens to my grade if I am short at the end of the term?
No final grade can be posted while required clinical hours are missing, which is why an Incomplete or a withdrawal must be set up in advance. The stakes are high: a practicum finishing under 84% removes you from the graduate track under the Handbook's progression rules.
Who approves alternative-setting hours at Rivier?
Two people: the Clinical Practicum Coordinator and the Program Director. A request runs through the usual approval steps with a resume from the preceptor and the facility's name and street address attached. For FNP students the total is capped at 120 of the 750 hours, and several specialties are not approved at all.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Rivier's own Nursing Student Handbook, program sheets, catalog, academic calendar and State Guide. Your program of study, your course faculty, your Program Director and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
Rivier asks you to identify a qualified preceptor. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Rivier track, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who meet your track's rules, check early whether the site can contract with Rivier, and prepare everything the Preceptor Request Form asks for, well ahead of August 1 and December 1.
- Preceptors matched to the track: an MD, DO or FNP in outpatient family practice for
NURS 511, a psychiatrist or PMH-certified NP forNURS 521, a hospitalist or intensivist forNURS 638P - Preceptor license, credentials and CV ready for the Preceptor Request Form, with the site's contact details for the contract
- In your own area, in New Hampshire or any state Rivier's State Guide accepts
Start your placement plan
Track, city and semester is all we need to begin.