Rivier's student systems and where each one touches your practicum
Rivier University runs a nursing program on a handful of systems: Colleague Self-Service for registration and records, Canvas for courses, your Rivier email for official notices, CastleBranch (myCB) for clinical requirements, Regina Library for research, IT Support for technical help, and a Success Coach for online students. Each one has a job in the practicum year, and a notice missed in the wrong inbox can cost you a term.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Rivier program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Rivier course.
The systems at a glance
Rivier's nursing documents name each of these systems. The table pairs every one with the point in a practicum year where it matters most.
| System | What it does | Where it meets your practicum |
|---|---|---|
| Colleague Self-Service | Registration, course catalog, bills, financial aid, academic records, add/drop, withdrawal, intent to graduate, address changes, transcripts | Registering for the practicum course, withdrawing, filing to graduate |
| Canvas | Courses and communication with instructors | Seminar work; FNP pelvic-exam consent forms are kept here |
| Rivier email (Microsoft Office 365 Outlook) | The official channel for notices | A Written Notice arrives here |
| CastleBranch (myCB) | Clinical requirement records | Everything on record before any practicum course |
| Stericycle | Bloodborne Pathogens Training | A clinical requirement |
| Regina Library | Databases, interlibrary loan, research guides | Evidence for seminars and the DNP project |
| IT Support | Work tickets and an in-person center | Access problems before a deadline |
| Success Coach | First contact for Rivier Online students | Leave-of-absence forms and hardships |
Colleague Self-Service, still called MyRiv in places
Colleague Self-Service is Rivier's Ellucian student portal. The Registrar calls it Colleague Self Service, while the Registrar's web address and the 2023 Rivier Online Student Handbook still say MyRiv; they are the same place. The 2025-26 catalog routes add/drop, withdrawal, intent to graduate, address changes and transcripts through it. You withdraw from a single course by clicking Drop, and leaving every course also takes the Withdrawal/Leave of Absence Form.
Two practicum points live here. The older 2018 Rivier practicum form says preceptor approval and a fully signed affiliation agreement come before you register for the practicum course, and students who register early may have to drop it; check the current practice with the Clinical Practicum Coordinator. And a withdrawal is never just a click: the withdrawal and leave guide explains the 14-day call to the Program Director that should follow.
Canvas and your Rivier email
Canvas, at rivier.instructure.com, is Rivier's learning system. The 2023 Rivier Online Student Handbook asks online students to message instructors through Canvas from their Rivier student email. For FNP students, the Nursing Student Handbook says pelvic-exam informed consent forms are kept in Canvas. On the undergraduate side, exam-procedure updates go out through Canvas, and faculty raise academic alerts with a retention-alert tool built into it.
Your Rivier email, on Microsoft Office 365 Outlook, is where the formal notices land. When a nursing course average falls below B, the instructor sends a Written Notice that includes an improvement plan, and it goes to that address; the Handbook tells students to check it regularly. If you forward mail to a personal account, test that the forwarding works before a practicum semester starts. The grades and progression guide covers what a Written Notice sets in motion.
CastleBranch and the other clinical tools
CastleBranch holds your clinical requirements in a myCB account, and nothing may be missing from it when a clinical or practicum course starts; graduate items are due four months ahead. The CastleBranch guide lists each item and what non-compliance costs. The account and its fees are yours, and a graduate practicum can be suspended while documents are missing.
Around it sit a few more named tools. Stericycle Bloodborne Pathogens Training covers bloodborne pathogens and OSHA training. Rivier also runs the Centralized Clinical Placement orientation online every August and asks for a printed Clinical Assignment Ticket at every clinical experience; the CCP and ticket guide explains both. The 2025-26 catalog says faculty monitor clinical logs in the AG-ACNP practicums but names no logging tool, so take your log instructions from your course faculty on day one.
Regina Library for seminar papers and the DNP project
Regina Library gives you RivResearch and the EBSCOhost databases from off campus through a Rivier proxy login. Interlibrary loan goes by the name RivILL, and research guides and Ask a Librarian run on LibGuides at libguides.rivier.edu. For practicum seminars, case write-ups and a DNP scholarly project, this is the evidence base Rivier provides. Place RivILL requests early in a seven- or 14-week course, since a borrowed item has to travel before you can use it.
One timing trap: Rivier's 2025-26 catalog cuts off services including Regina Library once a student starts a leave or withdraws. If you are heading into a leave of absence mid-project, save the articles and search histories you need before the leave begins, not after. Ask a Librarian can help you pull together what a paper still needs while your access is active.
People who keep the systems working for you
- Success Coach. Rivier Online students get one. The 2023 online handbook says the coach registers students after their first courses, is the first contact for hardships, and is the only person who may drop or withdraw an online student once a course starts. The 2026-2027 Nursing Student Handbook sends the graduate leave-of-absence form to your advisor or Success Coach.
- IT Support. Service requests go through the work-ticket system at it.rivier.edu, and the catalog describes an in-person IT Support Center on the lower level of Sylvia Trottier Hall.
- Academic Support Center. Writing consultants and peer tutors, including nursing content tutoring, with reserved, drop-in and Zoom appointments.
- Complaints. Online students use Rivier's Online Student Experience Complaint Form first, then the home-state SARA Portal Entity if a complaint stays unresolved.
The same online handbook asks Rivier Online students to log in at least three times a week, and to talk with their Success Coach if they will be out of classes for two consecutive terms.
The one piece no Rivier system handles: the preceptor
Every system above tracks something you already have: a course, a record, a notice, a license. None of them finds the preceptor, and Rivier's Practicum Placement Policy leaves identifying a qualified one to you. That is the gap we fill for Rivier students.
We find a preceptor who meets your track's rules in your own area, and we hand you that preceptor's credentials, license and CV, ready for your Preceptor Request Form, plus the site's details for the contract, well ahead of August 1 or December 1. Your faculty and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator review a complete request, and you spend your time on Canvas, not on cold calls. Tell us your track, your city and your practicum semester, and the search starts from there.
Questions Rivier students ask
Is MyRiv the same as Colleague Self-Service at Rivier?
Yes. Rivier's Registrar now calls the student portal Colleague Self Service, an Ellucian system, but the Registrar's web address and the 2023 Rivier Online Student Handbook still use the older MyRiv name. Both refer to the portal where you register, drop courses, check bills and financial aid, change your address and request transcripts.
Where do Rivier nursing students log their clinical hours?
Rivier's catalog says faculty monitor clinical logs in the AG-ACNP practicums, but Rivier's published documents do not name the logging tool for any track. Your course faculty tell you where and how to record hours at the start of the practicum. Remember that no hour counts until the Clinical Practicum Coordinator signs off on your paperwork and the site's contract.
Who can drop a Rivier Online course after it starts?
Per the 2023 Rivier Online Student Handbook, after an online course has begun the Success Coach is the only one who can drop or withdraw you. The coach is also the first contact for hardships. For a nursing course, also contact the Program Director within 14 days of a withdrawal to get an updated Program of Studies.
Can I use Regina Library during a leave of absence?
Not by default. Rivier's 2025-26 catalog states that library privileges, along with other services, end when you begin a leave or withdraw. Download the articles and save the searches you need before the leave starts, especially if you are partway through a seminar paper or a DNP scholarly project.
Where does a Rivier Written Notice arrive?
In your Rivier email. When your average in a nursing course drops below B, your instructor sends a formal Written Notice, paired with a plan for improvement, to your Rivier address. The Handbook tells students to check that account regularly, and three notices in one academic year mean you must meet the Program Director inside 14 days.
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.