Affiliation Agreements
USU must have an agreement with the practice immersion site prior to the student beginning field experiences – regardless of whether or not you are already employed at the location.
When you are at the site as a DNP student, you are required to meet both USU and the practice site’s student requirements (which may differ from what you are required to meet as an employee). It is the student’s responsibility to provide OFE with their site’s coordinator information so that the OFE can work directly with the facility to obtain the required paperwork. It is important to remember this is not a contract when submitted for approval. If a current agreement is not already in place, the legal contract will be sent directly to the project mentor’s site from the OFE. All correspondence about the agreement should be conducted directly between the OFE and the site coordinator as to prevent delays or missed information.
Completing new site agreements can be a lengthy process, and the Affiliation Agreement must be in place prior to the Immersion course start date. Students should allow at least four to six months for a new agreement to be finalized. Failure to provide site information accurately and entirely can slow this process and may prevent the student from beginning the field experience on time. Once an Affiliation Agreement has been finalized, students will be notified via email. Some sites may have specific requirements for documentation for placement. Students are to work with both the site and OFE to ensure all requirements are met (e.g., a hospital may require a background check different from the original background check and has the right to specify their own institutional requirements that are not within the control of the University).