Standard 3.9B Clinical Education - External Placements
Standard 3.9B Clinical Education - External Placements
The clinical education provided through external placements is governed by formal agreements between the program and partnering facilities, ensuring a structured and high-quality training experience. These affiliation agreements are managed using a standardized process at Northern Michigan University (NMU), with templates reviewed by the Manager of Risk and Insurance if modifications are required. The graduate program’s Administrative Assistant maintains a tracking system for these agreements, including their expiration dates, to ensure timely renewals.
Students progress through a carefully sequenced curriculum to prepare them for external placements, completing specific courses and an on-campus clinical practicum (SL 561) before selecting and beginning off-campus placements. Clinical placements are tailored to students’ preferences and educational goals, with attempts made to assign students to one of their top three choices for educational (SL 563) or medical settings (SL 564). The final externship allows students to select a site in the United States, contingent upon establishing a valid affiliation agreement.
The Director of Clinical Education uses the CALIPSO platform to match students with sites that align with their clinical needs and tracks their progress through twice-per-semester evaluations of clinical experiences and clock hours. On-site supervisors develop goals and objectives for the practicum, which are reviewed with the Director of Clinical Education and the student to ensure alignment with program requirements. With all sites that host a student clinician, the Director of Clinical Education will complete at least one site visit per semester, either virtually or in-person, depending on need, the Supervisor’s and site’s preferences, and geographical location. Additionally, student evaluations of supervisors and site effectiveness will be collected and used to evaluate the effectiveness of the clinical education provided at each active site.
Through these monitored agreements and structured processes, the program ensures that external clinical education aligns with academic preparation, provides diverse and meaningful experiences, and supports students in meeting professional standards.
Supporting Documentation can be reviewed by following the links provided below.
MS-SLP Affiliation Agreements with External Facilities
MS-SLP Clinical Policies and Procedures
- MS-SLP Handbook of Clinical Policies and Procedures
- Structure of Clinical Practicum describes the policies and procedures used by the program to select and place students in external facilities.
- Offsite Clinical Practicum Experiences describes the policies and procedures used by the program to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational opportunities provided at each active site.
- CALIPSO - Cumulative Hours Form
- Clinical Practicum - Student Evaluation
- Clinical Practicum - Supervisor Evaluation
- Clinical Practicum - Clinical Placement Evaluation