Bradley clinical deadlines, from admission to your last log
Four dates decide whether a Bradley University practicum starts on time: clearance in Viewpoint Screening at the halfway mark of your first semester, the DocuSign preceptor packet at the halfway mark of the term before the course, no hours before the semester opens, and each clinical day logged in Typhon within 7 days. Miss the packet date and a course can slide a full term.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Bradley program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
The deadline calendar at a glance
The current dates come from Bradley's welcome sites for new online students, the Graduate Student Handbook in its May 2026 revision and the Graduate Clinical Requirements Policy. Where Bradley's 2017 preceptor webinars gave a different timing, the table labels it as the older guidance.
Two of these clocks start in your first semester, long before any practicum. The rest repeat with every clinical course, so it pays to put them in your own calendar the week you are admitted.
| What | When it is due | Where Bradley says so |
|---|---|---|
| Background check, drug screen, immunizations, physical (Viewpoint Screening) | By midterm of your first semester | Graduate Clinical Requirements Policy; welcome sites |
| Health insurance proof | Midterm of first semester, the semester before clinicals, then each February 1 | Health and Hospitalization Insurance policy |
| Reply to a missing-item notice | Within 24 hours | Graduate Clinical Requirements Policy |
| Preceptor packet through DocuSign | By midterm of the semester before the clinical course | Welcome sites (current rule) |
| Preceptor packet, older guidance | About 7 weeks before clinicals start | 2017 preceptor webinars |
| First Typhon access | Within 72 hours of the access email, sent one or two weeks before your first clinical course | Welcome sites |
| First practicum hour | Not before the scheduled semester starts | Graduate Student Handbook |
| Each practicum day's log | Within 7 days, in Typhon | Graduate Student Handbook |
| Report a move or a bordering-state rotation | Before a new semester begins | Graduate Student Handbook |
The preceptor packet: midterm of the semester before
The rule that moves everything else is printed on each track's welcome site: preceptor packets travel through DocuSign and must be in by the midpoint of the semester that precedes the clinical course. A course that opens in spring needs its packet by the middle of fall; a summer course needs it by the middle of spring; a fall course needs it by the middle of summer.
Bradley's 2017 preceptor webinars, still posted on the online site, described an older rhythm: send the packet about seven weeks before clinicals and expect a decision in about five business days. Treat that as history. The midterm rule almost always lands earlier than seven weeks out, so plan to it, and use the older figure only to understand why classmates from earlier cohorts remember a shorter runway.
What goes in the packet and who signs which page is covered on the preceptor packet page. The per-track packets themselves live in MyOnline, where only enrolled students can open them.
Working backward from a January 2027 start
Bradley's online program pages show January 20, 2027 as the next start date, and spring 2027 runs from January 20 to May 15 in the university calendar. Here is how the dates stack for a student whose practicum course opens that spring.
- Summer and early fall 2026: secure the preceptorLine up a preceptor and site that fit the course. If the site belongs to a hospital system with its own student process, start that request now; some take two months or more.
- Fall Session 1 (August 26 to October 9): finish the packetCollect the preceptor's signature, license, CV and malpractice coverage and send the DocuSign packet. Midterm of fall is the cutoff; the exact online date is in the MyOnline academic calendar.
- Late fall: approval and agreementBradley weighs the preceptor and site for approval while the agency paperwork is finalized. Set up the preceptor and site in Typhon once your access arrives.
- January 20, 2027: hours may beginNot one day earlier. Log each clinical day in Typhon within seven days.
Bradley's welcome sites send online students to the academic calendar in MyOnline for term dates. The university calendar above is public, but Bradley does not say its online 7-week terms follow it to the day, so check MyOnline before you plan to a date.
Clearance deadlines in your first semester
Clearance runs on its own clock, and it starts well before your first practicum. Under the Graduate Clinical Requirements Policy, the background check, multi-panel drug screen, immunization record and physical exam go through Bradley's background requirements platform, Viewpoint Screening, with a cutoff at the midpoint of your first semester. Leave the file unfinished past that point and, per the welcome sites, a hold lands on your registration.
Health insurance carries a repeating date. You prove coverage in your first semester, once more in the term before clinicals open, and then every year on February 1, and any switch in coverage goes on record within two weeks.
The shortest window of all is the notice window. A flag on any item, whether it is missing or simply not acceptable, gives you one day to answer, or you risk being unable to register for the next term. The Clinical Requirements Policy page and the Viewpoint Screening guide have the details.
Easy to miss: a clearance notice gives you 24 hours, so check B-Mail every day while your Viewpoint file is open.
Once the course starts: hours and logs
The handbook's hour rules are brief and firm. The first countable hour falls on or after the semester's opening day, even if your preceptor has room for you in December. After that, each practicum day, with patient data on the NP tracks, belongs in Typhon inside a week.
The Typhon invitation reaches your BUMail inbox shortly before your first clinical course, and the welcome sites give you 72 hours to act on it. A log entered the evening of the shift is easier to get right than one pieced together a week later. The Typhon guide walks through the entries.
FNP students carry one more fixed date. Bradley's October FNP Bootcamp, two days in Peoria, must be behind you before NUR 679, and you attend it during one of the three earlier FNP practicums. The bootcamp page covers planning clinical weeks around it.
Breaks, incompletes and leaves
Hours over a semester break count only in narrow cases. A student carrying an Incomplete may log break hours only when the course's lead faculty member signs off. During a leave of absence, no practicum hours count at all.
DNP project hours face a three-part test for breaks: a passing grade in the project course just finished, enrollment in the one that follows, and your project mentor's agreement. Under an In Progress grade, the break hours that count are only those that complete the open course.
If you take an Incomplete, the Department of Nursing sets the finish line at your contract date, with week 11 of the next semester as the outer limit. The university catalog words the limit differently, as four weeks before the next regular semester ends, so follow the department policy and confirm with your academic advisor. A leave of absence may not run past 12 consecutive months.
Why Bradley students choose us to stay ahead of the calendar
The midterm packet date is the one that sets the pace for everything else, and the placement desk plans from it. We work backward from your course start, secure the preceptor early, and pull together the preceptor's credentials, coverage certificate and practice address for the DocuSign packet, so you have a complete set well before the midterm of the prior semester.
Your following practicum is arranged during the one underway, so its packet is done before a busy term peaks, and we schedule FNP clinical weeks around the October bootcamp. If a deadline is already close, read need a preceptor fast or tell us the course and where you live through the form here.
Questions Bradley students ask
Is the Bradley preceptor packet still due seven weeks before clinicals?
The seven-week figure comes from Bradley's June 2017 preceptor webinars. Today's welcome sites move it to the middle of the term before the clinical course, which comes sooner. Plan to the midterm rule, and check your track's clinical packet in MyOnline for the exact wording that applies to your course.
When is the packet due for a summer practicum?
The rule ties the deadline to the semester before the course, so a summer practicum needs its DocuSign packet by midterm of spring. In the 2026-27 university calendar, spring starts January 20 and its first half-session ends March 9. Confirm the online midterm date in the MyOnline academic calendar before you plan around it.
Can I start clinical hours over winter break if my preceptor has openings?
Not for a new course. The Graduate Student Handbook keeps every new practicum hour inside the semester itself. Break hours are an exception reserved for students closing out an Incomplete with faculty sign-off and for DNP project work that passes the handbook's three-part test.
What happens if I miss the Viewpoint deadline?
Bradley's welcome sites attach a registration hold to any clearance file still open at the first-semester midpoint. The Graduate Clinical Requirements Policy is sterner: leave a notice unanswered past 24 hours and next term's registration is at risk, with dismissal possible in serious cases.
Where can I see the exact online term dates?
In MyOnline's academic calendar, open to enrolled students. The public catalog lists the 2026-27 university dates (fall August 26 to December 19, spring January 20 to May 15, summer May 19 to August 20), yet Bradley stops short of saying its online 7-week terms line up with those dates.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Bradley's own catalog, online program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your clinical packet, course faculty and academic advisor have the final word.
- Bradley University Online, FNP welcome site (DocuSign packets, Viewpoint, Typhon)
- Bradley University, Graduate Student Handbook (revised 5/8/2026)
- Bradley University, Graduate Clinical Requirements Policy
- Bradley University, Health and Hospitalization Insurance Coverage Requirements
- Bradley University catalog, 2026-27 academic calendar
Bradley lets you choose your preceptors. We find the ones worth choosing.
Tell us your Bradley track, your city and your next practicum course. We line up preceptors who fit the NUR course and gather the license, CV and malpractice details the DocuSign packet asks for, well before the midterm of the semester before you start.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, mental health settings for PMHNP
- Preceptor license, CV, malpractice coverage and the site address ready for the packet
- Every practicum in your sequence planned together, close to home in your approved state
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next practicum is all we need to begin.