Aspen University’s Office of Field Experience (OFE), Explained
If you’re starting a practicum in an Aspen University nursing program, you’ll work with the Office of Field Experience (OFE). Here’s exactly what OFE does, the forms and approvals involved, where ProjectConcert fits, and the one responsibility that stays with you, finding your own preceptor and site.
What the Office of Field Experience is
Aspen University’s Office of Field Experience, commonly shortened to OFE, is the university department that supports students through the field-experience and practicum portion of their nursing programs. You can reach it at ofe@aspen.edu. OFE is the administrative home for the documentation, site approval, and preceptor approval that surround your practicum.
The single most important thing to understand about OFE is the difference between assist and guarantee. OFE assists with identifying and approving a practicum site and preceptor, helps with the required documentation, and can help explore alternative locations when a placement falls through. What OFE does not do is hand you a preceptor or secure a site for you. Students are responsible for securing their own placement, and in practice many students arrange their field experience at their own workplace.
We are an independent service, aspenpreceptor.com. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with Aspen University or its Office of Field Experience. This page explains how OFE works so you can navigate it confidently, and where we can take work off your plate.
Which programs involve OFE, and which don’t need a preceptor
Different Aspen nursing programs have very different field-experience requirements, so it helps to know where you stand before you contact OFE.
The MSN and RN-to-MSN programs each include a 120-hour practicum that requires a preceptor. Your preceptor must be a Registered Nurse affiliated with the practicum site who holds a master’s degree with expertise relevant to your specialty. For the Nursing Education, Forensic Nursing, and Public Health tracks, a minimum of 20 of those 120 hours must be direct-care hours. Practicum courses include N550, N552, and N586, graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. You can read more on our RN-to-MSN page and the specialties overview.
The DNP program is built around 1,000 clinical-practice immersion hours, with up to 500 previously precepted hours bankable toward that total. It requires access to a clinical site and a preceptor, plus a DNP Project / Capstone; DNP880 requires submitting and obtaining Aspen University IRB approval. See our DNP immersion page for the details.
The RN-to-BSN field experience is different: it does not require a preceptor. It involves community-health field hours, N492 Community Health I (30 hours), N493 Community Health II (80 hours), and N496 Nursing Leadership (10 hours), documented and approved before course completion. This is community and public-health field work, not hospital clinical rotations. Our RN-to-BSN field experience page walks through it.
ProjectConcert and how hours are logged
Once your practicum is underway, your hours are logged in ProjectConcert, the system Aspen uses to track field experience. The record OFE expects includes a signed preceptor audit report and Week-7 site and preceptor evaluations.
Keeping ProjectConcert current matters: it is the evidence that your hours actually happened and were supervised. Logging consistently, rather than scrambling at the end of a term, is the cleanest way to keep your practicum on schedule.
The required forms and the Practicum Approval Letter
Before a practicum course begins, OFE works from a specific set of forms. You’ll typically need a Practicum Site Agreement, a Preceptor Agreement, a Student Profile, and a Student Performance Evaluation.
When those pieces are in order, OFE issues a Practicum Approval Letter. This is the gate: the Practicum Approval Letter must be obtained before the practicum course begins. Missing or incomplete paperwork is one of the most common reasons a start date slips, so it pays to get the agreements signed and submitted early.
Site type matters too, because OFE approves sites against the specialty. Drawing from Aspen’s MSN Handbook: Forensic Nursing sites include emergency departments, law enforcement agencies, correctional facilities, medical examiner’s offices, and the court system; Public Health includes local and state health departments and school nurse offices; Nursing Education includes staff education departments and continuing-education companies; Informatics includes ambulatory/outpatient and HIM informatics departments; and Administration & Management includes acute-care and skilled-nursing facilities, Magnet facilities, and professional organizations. You can review each on our specialties pages, and the approval mechanics on our practicum hours approval page.
The honest gap, and how we complement OFE
Here is the part Aspen leaves to you: OFE assists, but the actual search for a qualifying preceptor and an approvable site is the student’s responsibility. That is exactly where many students get stuck. It’s common to hear of preceptor searches dragging on for months, because OFE’s role is approval and documentation, not sourcing on your behalf.
That’s the gap we fill. We don’t replace OFE; we complement it. We do the sourcing, finding a qualified, specialty-matched preceptor (a master’s-prepared RN with relevant expertise) and an approvable field-experience site, and we help organize the paperwork OFE requires, so your Practicum Site Agreement, Preceptor Agreement, and the rest are ready to move toward your Practicum Approval Letter. We offer placement two ways: physical placement matching with a real preceptor and an approved in-person site, or our virtual practicum service with a remote preceptor and a virtual experience.
We assist; we don’t guarantee placement, and final approval always rests with Aspen’s OFE. But we can take the months-long search off your shoulders. If you want help finding a preceptor, tell us about your program or contact us, and you only pay when matched.
Frequently asked questions
Does Aspen’s Office of Field Experience find my preceptor for me?
No. OFE assists with identifying and approving a site and preceptor and helps with documentation, but it does not guarantee placement. Securing your own preceptor and site is the student’s responsibility, which is why many students use their own workplace, or ask us to source a qualified, specialty-matched preceptor for them.
What is the Practicum Approval Letter and when do I need it?
It’s the letter OFE issues once your required forms, Practicum Site Agreement, Preceptor Agreement, Student Profile, and Student Performance Evaluation, are complete. You must obtain it before your practicum course begins, so incomplete paperwork can delay your start.
What is ProjectConcert used for?
ProjectConcert is where Aspen field-experience hours are logged. The expected record includes a signed preceptor audit report and Week-7 site and preceptor evaluations, documenting that your hours were completed and supervised.
Does the RN-to-BSN field experience require a preceptor through OFE?
No. The RN-to-BSN involves community-health field hours (N492, N493, and N496) that are documented and approved before course completion. It does not require a preceptor and is community/public-health field work rather than hospital clinical rotations.
Are you part of Aspen University’s Office of Field Experience?
No. aspenpreceptor.com is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with Aspen University or its OFE. We complement OFE by sourcing preceptors and sites and organizing paperwork; final approval rests with Aspen.
Get your Aspen practicum handled.
Tell us your program and specialty. We’ll map your field-experience requirement and start the search, in person or virtual. No payment until you’re matched.