Editing Herzing Issues: Clinical Placement (section)

=== HU-123: Initial Preceptor Meeting assignment due Week 1 but no clinical site has been assigned; students cannot complete a meeting with a preceptor they have not been given; institutional deadline imposed before institutional obligation fulfilled ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:12em" | Severity
| High
! style="width:12em" | Status
| CONFIRMED
|-
! Issue type
| Assignment Due Before Clinical Site Assigned / Institutional Sequencing Failure
! Date added
| 2026-05-07
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Dr. Stacey Gombar / Dr. Heather Gregg / Clinical Placement Team / Christina Kennedy (transitioning)
|}
'''Finding.''' The Unit 1 Initial Preceptor Meeting assignment, a required graded assignment worth 0 pts but mandatory for clinical progression, was shown as due in Week 1 (May 10, 2026), but the reporting student had not yet been assigned a clinical site or preceptor. Christina Kennedy's email ({{HU|HU-121}}) confirmed that as of May 7, 2026, no Clinical Faculty Member had been finalized. A student cannot complete an Initial Preceptor Meeting if the institution has not yet assigned a preceptor or clinical site. The institution is imposing a Week 1 deadline for an activity that depends entirely on the institution completing its own prior obligation of assigning the clinical site and preceptor.

'''Evidence.''' Email from the reporting student to Dr. Gombar and Dr. Gregg (May 2026), stating that the initial preceptor meeting is showing due this week but he had not yet been assigned a clinical site. NSG621 Canvas assignment screenshot ({{HU|HU-116}} evidence) showing "Unit 1: Initial Preceptor Meeting Agreement," due May 10, 0 pts. Christina Kennedy's May 7, 2026 email to the reporting student ({{HU|HU-121}}), confirming the team was currently working to secure a Clinical Faculty Member to be onsite with him and that it had not yet been finalized. Source Group: Email, the reporting student to Dr. Gombar / Dr. Gregg, May 2026.

'''Reported statement.'''
<blockquote>The initial preceptor meeting is showing due this week, but I have not yet been assigned a clinical site.</blockquote>

'''Standards.''' ACEN Standard 5 requires that clinical supervision be arranged by the institution before clinical activities begin. Imposing a Week 1 deadline for a preceptor meeting when the institution has not yet assigned a preceptor inverts the proper sequence: the institution must fulfill its obligation first, by assigning the preceptor and site, before the student can fulfill theirs, by completing the initial meeting. 34 CFR 668.14 (administrative capability) requires institutions to coordinate clinical and academic schedules so that academic requirements can actually be fulfilled. The Unit 1 Initial Preceptor Meeting Agreement being due May 10 while the preceptor was not yet assigned as of May 7 gave the student only a three-day window to complete an assignment that depends on an institutional action that had not yet occurred.

'''Impact.''' If the Initial Preceptor Meeting Agreement was not submitted by May 10, the reporting student faced a missed assignment, even though the failure to complete it is directly attributable to the institution's failure to assign a preceptor. This is a structural harm: the student is penalized for institutional non-performance. The assignment is listed as worth 0 points but required, meaning it may be a prerequisite for clinical progression; failure to submit it on time may affect clinical standing regardless of points. This connects directly to {{HU|HU-121}} (Kennedy email confirming no Clinical Faculty Member assigned) and {{HU|HU-117}} (Celia Pfaff resigned without replacement).

'''Notes.''' This issue illustrates the compounding effect of the Week 1 institutional failures: the professor resigned ({{HU|HU-117}}), the clinical placement specialist was transitioning out ({{HU|HU-121}}), clinical faculty had not yet been assigned ({{HU|HU-121}}), and now a graded clinical prerequisite assignment was due before the institution had arranged the clinical relationship it requires. Dr. Gombar's email did not address this concern specifically; she acknowledged the duplicate assignments and the empty content assignments but made no mention of the preceptor meeting sequencing issue. Cross-reference: {{HU|HU-121}} (clinical faculty not assigned, Kennedy transitioning), {{HU|HU-117}} (Celia Pfaff resignation), {{HU|HU-071}} (Spring 2025 placement crisis), {{HU|HU-109}} (affiliation agreement requests denied).

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