The Office of Academic Affairs and your MRU clinical courses
In MRU's clinical rules, the Office of Academic Affairs approves preceptors for most NP tracks, receives written disclosures within 24 hours, signs off on incompletes that run past 14 days and handles withdrawals. Nothing MRU publishes describes it as a placement office. Knowing which questions belong there saves you a round of emails.
Need a preceptor to submit for approval?
Tell us your MRU program and course. We help you find and prepare a preceptor; the Office of Academic Affairs or your program's approver decides.
Where the office appears in the clinical rules
The catalog names the Office of Academic Affairs at several points in a clinical course. Most of them involve something you must put in writing.
| Situation | What MRU's catalog says | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Preceptor approval | Approves preceptors for the MSN-FNP, the FNP certificate and AGACNP; named for PMHNP on the October 2025 program sheet | Before the preceptorship starts |
| Change in criminal background | Disclose any change, including a pending charge, in writing | Within 24 hours |
| Change in physical or mental health | Disclose in writing | Within 24 hours, or before entering an affiliate agency |
| Incomplete grade running long | Approves an incomplete beyond 14 days past course end | No later than 15 weeks after course end |
| Leaving the program | A student who cannot continue is withdrawn through this office | Re-entry is by application through Admissions |
| Prerequisite override | Approves overrides | Not specified |
Preceptor approval
For MSN-FNP, FNP certificate and AGACNP students, this is the office that says yes to a preceptor. The catalog places that approval before the preceptorship starts. MRU's October 2025 PMHNP program sheet names the same office for PMHNP, where the 2025 catalog had named the Program Coordinator.
The office does not handle approval for every program. The MSN in Healthcare Systems Leadership uses a graduate clinical coordinator, and the 2025 catalog gives DNP practicum approvals to program faculty. The approval page has the full list.
When you submit, make the request easy to act on: your name and program, the course code and semester, the preceptor's details and the site. MRU does not publish the approval form or how long the office takes, so check the handbook for both.
The 24-hour disclosure rules
Two catalog rules give you 24 hours and require writing. Any change in your criminal background, including a pending charge, goes to the Office of Academic Affairs within 24 hours. So does a change in your physical or mental health, or else before you next enter an affiliate agency.
The stakes are clinical. MRU may run background checks at the start and again during enrollment, may release background information to externship agencies, and may drop a student whose record prevents or restricts externship placement.
Write the disclosure the same day, from your university email, and keep a copy. If you are unsure whether something counts, report it; the catalog's wording covers any change. The Level II background check page covers the screening itself.
Incompletes that run past 14 days
When a clinical course cannot be finished on time, an incomplete is the tool MRU offers, and this office controls how long it can run. You request an "I" in writing on the Incomplete Grade Request Form, citing extenuating circumstances, and the course faculty and program Dean must approve it.
Three limits apply. At least 80% of the course must be complete. Stretching past 14 days after the course ends takes Office of Academic Affairs approval. The absolute ceiling is 15 weeks after course end, after which unfinished work becomes an F.
For clinicals, the 80% threshold matters most. An incomplete can help you finish the last hours after a preceptor leaves late in a course, but it cannot rescue a course that barely started. You also usually cannot take a course whose prerequisite still shows an "I". See the incomplete grade page for the full process.
Withdrawals, and why there is no leave of absence
The catalog states plainly that MRU has no leave of absence. A student who cannot continue is withdrawn through the Office of Academic Affairs and later applies for re-entry through Admissions. The Registrar's page adds that withdrawing starts with an appointment with your program advisor or associate dean.
Timing changes the grade. A W before the course's 50% point does not affect GPA, while withdrawal after it is recorded as a WF, which counts as a failure. Two Ws in the same course also count as one failure. Separately, 14 consecutive calendar days of unexcused absence from all courses triggers automatic withdrawal.
If a missing preceptor is pushing you toward withdrawal, talk to the office before a deadline passes, not after. The no leave of absence page sets out the options, and preceptor dropped out covers the search for a replacement.
What the office is not
No MRU source describes the Office of Academic Affairs as finding preceptors or sites. The catalog says the University appoints a preceptor for students who do not bring one, but it does not say which office carries that out.
It is also not your advising or support office. Academic advising sits with the Office of Academic Advisement and Student Success, WellConnect provides counseling, and formal complaints belong with Human Resources, through MRU's complaint and grievance form.
MRU's leadership page lists a Director of Academic Affairs. The public pages give no clinical-specific contact route for the office, so use the route in your handbook or portal and write from your university email. The who does what guide maps the other offices.
Questions MRU students ask
Does the Office of Academic Affairs find preceptors for MRU students?
No public MRU source says so. The office approves preceptors for most NP tracks, while the catalog's appointment route, for students who do not bring a preceptor, does not name the office that makes the appointment. Ask your program chair who handles appointments in your program.
How do I contact MRU's Office of Academic Affairs?
MRU's public pages list a Director of Academic Affairs on the leadership page but give no clinical contact route for the office. Look in the nursing student handbook or on the student portal, and send clinical matters from your university email so you have a dated record of what you asked and when.
What counts as a change I must report within 24 hours?
The catalog names two kinds: any change in criminal background, pending charges included, and any change in physical or mental health. Both go to the Office of Academic Affairs in writing, the health change within 24 hours or before you enter an affiliate agency. If you are unsure whether something qualifies, report it.
Can the Office of Academic Affairs extend my clinical course?
Only through an incomplete. Your course faculty and program Dean approve the incomplete first, and only if at least 80% of the course is done. The Office of Academic Affairs then approves any time beyond 14 days after the course ends, up to a hard limit of 15 weeks.
Does MRU allow a leave of absence if my preceptor falls through?
No. MRU does not offer leaves of absence. If you cannot continue, you are withdrawn through the Office of Academic Affairs and apply for re-entry through Admissions later. Before choosing that, check whether an incomplete, a replacement preceptor or MRU's appointment route could keep you enrolled.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against MRU's own catalog, addenda and program pages. The nursing student handbook on the MRU student portal and MRU's Office of Academic Affairs have the final word.
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