Advising & Mentoring

Prospective graduate students may contact the Office of Student Services with questions about graduate programs at 309-438-7400 or e-mail mcninfo@ilstu.edu.

Current students in the graduate programs will be contacted via ISU email from the Graduate Program Academic Advisor every semester prior to early registration to verify intended course enrollment for the upcoming term. September registration is scheduled for the spring semester and March registration is scheduled for the summer and fall semesters. Students must be in compliance with all health and safety requirements in order to register for upcoming terms.

In the DNP program, students are assigned a Faculty Advisor.  A clinical and scholarship interest match between student and faculty is considered in assignment of a Faculty Advisor.  Once the match has been determined, the DNP Program Leader assists the initial link between student and advisor.

The student and Faculty Advisor will meet at least one time per year during the required two day DNP Intensives program.  The meeting should focus on the student’s professional development to include establishing goals for the academic year, reviewing progress toward the achievement of annual goals, and begin planning for the next academic year.

The student and Faculty Advisor will meet at least 2 times during each Scholarly Project course to evaluate progress and set goals for completion of the project.

Out of State Policies Related to Program Enrollment and Clinical Experiences

There are policies set by the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement and the individual State Boards of Nursing around participating in out of state, online programs as well as participating in clinical outside of the state in which you live.  Students will be required to have a clinical site agreement for their proposed clinical experience.  ISU will work with students on proposed out of state placements but may not be able to guarantee ability to meet practice requirements from states other than Illinois.  It is necessary that students consult the applicable licensure boards in their state of residence or in the state where they intend to practice a profession before beginning an academic program or beginning a clinical or practicum experience to identify any requirements that impact the student’s ability to obtain a license, certification, or complete a clinical or practicum experience.  Please know that there could be additional costs incurred by the student based on that State's requirements.  

Illinois State University maintains a list of our programs that customarily lead to licensure or certification which is available at Provost.IllinoisState.edu/planning/nc-sara/state-information.  This list includes information on whether a program:

1. Does meet licensure/certification standards in a specific state;
2. Does not meet requirements for licensure/certification in a specific state; or
3. Illinois State University has not determined whether the program leads to licensure/certification in a state.

The list also includes contact information for many state licensing boards.

Student Advisement Responsibilities

The student bears substantial responsibility to assure that advisement occurs in a timely and appropriate manner.  The student is responsible for:

1. Being aware of College of Nursing policies and requirements
2. Initiating contact with Faculty Advisor
3. Communicating regularly with his/her Graduate Program Academic Advisor and Faculty Advisor regarding progress, plans, and goals
4. Following the plan of study and goals as agreed upon with advisors
5. Reporting any problems that might delay the completion of coursework, or scholarly project progress
6. Participating in annual review
7. Participating in the selection of committee members for the scholarly project
8. Requesting and completing all appropriate documents consistent with the completion of the doctoral degree

Forms

• DNP Program Student Guide
• DNP Scholarly Project and Clinical Residency Handbook
• DNP Student Annual Evaluation
• Change of Faculty Advisor
• Preceptor Request Form for DNP
• DNP Clinical Residency Log
• Request for Appointment of Scholarly Project Committee
• Change of Scholarly Project Committee
• Scholarly Project Preliminary Outline
• Scholarly Project Proposal Outline
• Clinical Residency Evaluation by Student
• Clinical Residency Evaluation by Preceptor
• Clinical Residency Evaluation by Faculty
• Clinical Residency Evaluation of Preceptor and Site
• DNP Residency Guidelines
• Authorship Agreement Form
• Student Recommendation Request Form
• DNP Scholarly Project Timeline