Questions to ask your WilmU program chair before your practicum

Updated September 27, 2026 · Reviewed by the Wilmington Preceptor placement team

Wilmington University publishes the hours, the credentialing rule and the license condition for its NP and DNP practicums, and leaves the working details to the program handbook and to faculty. The questions below cover those gaps, grouped by topic. Put them in writing a term or more before your first practicum, and you plan your preceptor search on answers rather than guesses.

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Numbered steps. How to ask so the answer is usable: 1 Gather your facts; 2 Check the handbook first; 3 Write one email, not five; 4 Name your cohort; 5 Save the reply. — How to ask so the answer is usable: 1 Gather your facts; 2 Check the handbook first; 3 Write one email, not five; 4 Name your cohort; 5 Save the reply.

Why the timing of your questions matters

WilmU places FNP practicum experiences in the second half of the program, and the first one, GRN 7121, follows a fixed set of courses. That gives you lead time, but not unlimited lead time. A facility may want months of notice, credentialing has to clear before clinical courses, and registration for each term opens long before classes start. The four FNP practicums also run in order, so one late answer can ripple into every term after it.

Treat the registrar's calendar as your deadline. Spring 2027 registration opens October 19, and Summer 2027 registration on March 1. With answers in hand before the registration window for your practicum term, you still have room to change plans if a reply surprises you.

Who answers which question

Send each question to the role that owns it. The College directory lists these roles by title; the full map is on who does what.

Where to send practicum questions at WilmU
Topic	Ask
FNP practicums, `GRN 7121` to `GRN 7124`	The Chair, Nurse Practitioner Programs, or the Assistant Chair, Family Nurse Practitioner Program
PMHNP practicums, `GRN 7221` to `GRN 7224`	The Chair, Nurse Practitioner Programs, or the Assistant Chair, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program
DNP hours, experiential engagement, the DNP Project	The Chair, DNP Program, and your DNP Project Advisor
BSN to DNP and certificate + DNP plans	Both the DNP Program Director and the NP Program Chair, as joint advisors
`MSN 7752` and Leadership certificate clinicals	The Chair or Assistant Chair, RN to BSN and MSN Leadership Programs
Clinicals or study outside Delaware	The Online Learning office
Expectations inside a running course	Your course faculty

Questions about preceptors and sites

These decide who you can approach and how early. They are the questions with the biggest effect on a search.

What is the process for putting forward a preceptor or site for my practicum, and is there a form?
Who reviews a proposed preceptor, and which documents do they want to see?
Delaware's Board allows APRN, PA, pharmacist and physician preceptors in a comparable practice focus. Which of these does my track accept for each practicum?
May a clinician at my own workplace, or my direct supervisor, precept me?
Does WilmU hold a current agreement with the facility I am considering, and if not, can one be started in time?
May I split one practicum's hours between two preceptors or two sites?
How far ahead of the term should a site be confirmed?

Why facilities ask about school agreements, and what they are, is covered on the affiliation agreements page.

Questions about hours, calendar and seminars

Is each NP practicum a 15-week semester course or a 7-week block course?
How are clinical hours logged, and who signs them off?
How much planned simulation counts toward the 750 FNP hours, and when does it take place?
The program is listed as Online, yet practicum students are said to attend face-to-face seminars twice a year. Where and when do those happen?
If I finish a practicum short of its 175 or 225 hours, is an IP (course in progress) grade or an incomplete possible, and on what terms?
How do my preceptor's evaluations reach my course faculty?

Under the graduate catalog, an I grade turns into an F when the work misses the instructor's deadline, and that deadline can sit no later than 60 days past the course's end. Ask how that rule plays out for a practicum before you ever need it.

Questions about credentialing, licenses and where you live

At what point in my course plan is clinical credentialing clearance due?
Which immunization records do graduate students provide, and to whom?
Which CPR certifications count, and must mine stay current through every practicum?
I plan my clinicals in another state. What does WilmU need before I start there, beyond an RN license for that state?
WilmU's licensure table shows Not Determined Yet for my state and program. What does that mean for me?
If I move during the program, what changes for my practicums?

The status WilmU gives each state is on the licensure by program page. WilmU's NP pages also urge applicants aiming for a license in another state to review that state's rules before they apply, so these questions are worth asking even before admission.

Questions for DNP and PMHNP students

Some of WilmU's published figures conflict. Ask which one applies to your cohort, and keep the reply.

The DNP curriculum and catalog give 500 practice hours for APRNs, and the DNP overview says 1,500. Which applies to me?
The curriculum page sets a five-year time limit, and the DNP application packet mentions seven. Which is mine?
How are practicum hours from earlier graduate coursework credited toward the 1,000 post-baccalaureate hours?
Who confirms that my experiential engagement preceptor is doctorally prepared, and what proof is needed?
PMHNP certificate: is my plan 31 credits, as the certificate page says, or 27, as the combined PMHNP and DNP page says?
BSN to DNP: how many DNP practice hours follow the 750 NP hours?

How to ask so the answer is usable

Gather your factsYour course plan from MyWilmU Degree Works, the course numbers ahead of you, your home state and each state that has issued you an RN license.
Check the handbook firstNote the section you read, so your question shows what you already know. See the program handbook guide.
Write one email, not fiveGroup related questions and send them from your MyWilmU student email to the role that owns the topic.
Name your cohortWilmU's figures have shifted over the years, so give your start term and ask for the answer that applies to it.
Save the replyKeep it with your credentialing records and share it with anyone helping with your search.

Turning the answers into a preceptor search

Each reply narrows the field. Knowing which license types your track accepts, how early a site must be confirmed and whether a workplace clinician can precept you tells us exactly whom to approach and when. Send us the answers and we shape the search around them. If a preceptor later drops partway through, we find a replacement.

From there we line up a clinician and site suited to the course, collect the preceptor's license and credential records well before the practicum opens, and map the facility's intake steps. Approval stays with WilmU faculty, and our part is making sure the file they see needs nothing added. Reach us through the contact page with your course and start term.

Questions WilmU students ask

Who is the right person to email about my WilmU FNP practicum?

Start with the FNP Assistant Chair or the Chair of Nurse Practitioner Programs, both listed by title in the CONHS staff directory. For questions inside a specific course, write to your course faculty. If you are in BSN to DNP or a combined program, WilmU gives you two advisors working together, the DNP Program Director and the NP Program Chair, so copy both.

How early should I ask about my first WilmU practicum?

WilmU publishes no lead time, so ask at least a term before the practicum semester and before registration for it opens. That leaves room to act on the answer, whether it concerns credentialing timing, a facility agreement or the kind of preceptor your track accepts.

Can I ask my program chair what help is available with finding a preceptor?

Yes, and it is a sound first question. Ask what support the program offers for your course, what it needs from you, such as a proposed site's details or proof of credentialing, and by when. The answer tells you how to plan everything else, including whether outside help is worth adding.

What if a chair's answer conflicts with WilmU's website?

Keep the written reply and ask the chair to confirm it if it contradicts the catalog. WilmU's pages disagree with each other on points such as DNP hours and the MSN-FNP format, so a reply addressed to your cohort usually tells you more than any single web page.

Should I ask about clinicals before I apply to WilmU?

It helps. WilmU's NP admission includes an application review and an interview on Zoom, and its NP pages advise anyone seeking a license outside Delaware to look up that state's rules first. Asking the Office of Admissions or the NP Program Chair about clinicals in your state before enrolling avoids surprises later.

HandbookThe program handbookThe program handbook Wilmington University points graduate nursing students to: what it sets, how it differs from the catalog, and what to look up first.RolesWho does whatEvery Wilmington University role around a nursing practicum, by title: chairs, coordinators, committees, course faculty, preceptors and University offices.ProcessClinical placement processWhat Wilmington University publishes about reaching your first practicum: course order, credentialing clearance, CPR, the RN license and the handbook.Preceptor searchFinding a preceptorHow to run a preceptor search for a Wilmington University NP practicum: the license screen, each site's intake, whom to ask at WilmU and how to approach.DNPDNP practice hours: 500, 1,000, 1,500How many practice hours Wilmington University's DNP requires: 500 for Advanced Practice, 1,000 for Leadership and to graduate, and the overview's 1,500.

Last checked 2026-09-27

We check these pages against Wilmington University's own program and curriculum pages, the 2026-27 graduate catalog, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences policies and the State Licensures by Program page. Your NP Program Chair, your course faculty and the College have the final word.

A WilmU practicum coming up? Your preceptor search starts here.

Tell us your WilmU program, where you live and when your next practicum starts. Whether WilmU's faculty help with your placement or you are starting the search yourself, we find preceptors who fit the course, check the health system's own intake steps, and organize the preceptor's license and credentials well before the first day.

Preceptors matched to the course: family practice across the lifespan for GRN 7121 to GRN 7124, psychiatric mental health for GRN 7221 to GRN 7224, doctorally prepared for the DNP
Clinicians who meet Delaware's rule for APRN program preceptors: an active APRN, PA, pharmacist or physician license in a comparable focus
Close to home, in a state where you hold an RN license, with each system's onboarding mapped out early

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