Lewis's preceptor contract portal, status by status
Every Lewis nursing student headed into a clinical practicum files a preceptor contract request in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences portal, "Requests for Initiation of Agency Contracts." Lewis calls the request mandatory, and its legend defines eight statuses from MISSING INFO to INACTIVE. Here is each one in Lewis's words, what it means for your start date, and how to reach APPROVED on the first pass.
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Tell us your Lewis program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your Lewis course.
What the portal is, and who has to use it
The portal is a small set of pages on Lewis's website headed "CONHS - Agency Contracts." Its welcome text calls the preceptor contract request "a mandatory requirement for all students that are going to participate in clinical practicums." That covers every NP practicum, and nothing on Lewis's pages exempts the DNP residency, the Nursing Education practicum or the School Nurse internship.
Lewis built it for two jobs: taking in your request, and letting you follow it afterward, whenever you like. One practical quirk: Lewis's site asks search engines to skip the portal's folder, so a web search rarely turns it up. Open it from Lewis's agency contract page and bookmark it. It is the last step, not the first: the preceptor has to be found and confirmed before you file, as laid out on identifying preceptors.
Creating your account
Begin at "Create Student Account." Lewis is firm on one point: the account MUST be created with your Lewis University email address. The portal account stands apart from your Lewis Network and Blackboard accounts, so it is a one-time setup of its own that you reuse on every later visit.
Watch that inbox. Denial notices go to your Lewis email, and reviewers may write with questions about your entries; an unread question is the most avoidable delay in the process. For trouble with the portal itself, Lewis sends portal questions to a member of the Clinical Placement Office.
What a request needs before it will submit
Required fields on the contract request form are marked in red, and the form will not submit until every one is filled. The form is visible only to account holders, so rather than guess at its fields, read what APPROVED promises: a start at a specific site, with the named preceptors, when your requested semester begins. Site, preceptor and semester are the facts everything else hangs on.
A dating note: the legend behind the portal's "See Full Descriptions of Contract Statuses" link is a one-page PDF created in August 2020. The live portal still points to it, so it is the fullest public account Lewis offers, but where the live form differs, the form wins.
What the placement desk hands you before you open the form
- The agency's name and address exactly as the agency writes them, and its contact for school agreements
- Your preceptor's full name, credentials, specialty and license details, already checked for discipline
- The Lewis course the hours count toward, the semester, and the preceptor's confirmed availability across all 16 weeks
- Whether the site already hosts students from other schools, a clue to whether a new affiliation agreement is likely
All eight statuses, in Lewis's words
These are the legend's own descriptions, quoted from the 2020 PDF, with a plain note on what each one asks of you.
| Status | What Lewis's legend says | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| MISSING INFO | "Initial entry of information is incomplete. All required information (listed in RED) is mandatory and must be entered before the contract request will “SUBMIT”. Any request with missing information will NOT be reviewed until all required information has been submitted." | Nothing moves. Fill every red field. |
| SUBMITTED | "Contract request form has all required spaces filled with information and the request will be forwarded to administration for review. If information is incorrect, the contract may be denied until information is corrected by the student." | Complete on paper, not yet checked. An error found later can still sink it. |
| IN REVIEW | "The request form has been received by administration. Please allow minimum of two weeks for the request to be processed. If a current affiliation agreement is not in place, one will be drafted and sent to the agency; the status will remain In Review until the signed contract is returned from the agency. The student may be contacted for clarification of submitted information. Incomplete/inaccurate information will delay processing." | Usually the longest wait. Watch your Lewis email. |
| APPROVAL PENDING | "A contract is in place and active with the submitted clinical agency. Awaiting approval from the agency that the student has been cleared to begin." | Lewis's side is done. The agency's onboarding sets the pace. |
| STUDENT ACTION | "The agency requires additional documentation; the student needs to submit the documentation to the agency AND to the clinical placement office. The status will remain until the student is cleared by the agency." | Your move. Send every item to both places. |
| APPROVED | "The contract has been approved and the student has verified that specific clinical agency requirements have been completed. At this point, the student is, essentially, able to start their practicum at the specific site, with the indicated preceptor(s) upon start of the semester indicated in the student’s request for contract submission." | You start when your requested semester starts, at that site, with those preceptors. |
| DENIED | "Any submission of a student request for clinical contract can be denied for specific reasons. The contract may be denied at any time during the process and may even be denied after approval had been granted. If the contract is denied, the student will be informed, via their Lewis email." | Read the reason and act the same day. |
| INACTIVE | "This status will show up if the contract for a given clinical agency or preceptor is cancelled by the agency, the preceptor, the student, or Lewis University." | A cancellation. Talk to the Clinical Placement Office about next steps. |
In Review: the two-week floor and the agreement wait
IN REVIEW is where most calendar time goes, and the two weeks Lewis mentions are a minimum, not an estimate. The bigger variable is the affiliation agreement. When Lewis has no current agreement with your agency, it drafts one and sends it out, and your request stays in this status until the agency signs and returns it. The legend gives no typical length for that wait, and it depends on the agency, not on you or Lewis.
Two things stay in your hands: answer any clarification request quickly, and keep every detail accurate, since wrong or missing entries slow processing. How agreements work, and why some take longer, is on affiliation agreements.
Approval Pending and Student Action: the agency's turn
Once Lewis has an active contract with the agency, the request moves to APPROVAL PENDING. Lewis's part is essentially finished, and the agency now decides when you are cleared. If it wants more paperwork, the status switches to STUDENT ACTION until the agency clears you.
The detail students miss here is the double delivery. Whatever the agency asks for goes to the agency and also to the Clinical Placement Office, so Lewis's file matches the site's. Agencies run their own clocks: Northwestern Medicine's student practicum request page, for one, asks applicants to allow a minimum of 4-8 weeks. Your compliance record should be complete before this stage arrives, and CastleBranch at Lewis explains what that record holds.
Denied and Inactive
A denial can land at any stage, even after approval, and it arrives by Lewis email. The legend's causes run from wrong details on the form to a CastleBranch lapse; each one, with what prevents it, is on why Lewis contracts get denied.
INACTIVE means someone cancelled: the agency, the preceptor, you or Lewis. It can reflect changed plans rather than a problem with your file, but either way no live contract stands behind your hours at that site. Contact the Clinical Placement Office at once; a preceptor who pulled out needs a replacement who goes through review.
Reaching Approved before the semester starts
Lewis's NP practicums are 16-week courses, and APPROVED clears you to start only when the semester named in your request begins. Fall 2026 runs August 24 to December 12 and spring 2027 runs January 19 to May 15, so a request still in review on the first day of classes costs practicum weeks that are hard to win back. Lewis publishes no filing deadline, so file the moment your preceptor is confirmed.
That is the part we make easy. The placement desk finds a preceptor in your own community who fits the exact Lewis course, confirms the commitment, and gives you every detail the request needs so it goes in complete the first time. If a preceptor drops later, we find the replacement. Read how it works or send the form below.
Questions Lewis students ask
Can I file a Lewis contract request before my preceptor has said yes?
You can open the form, but a request missing required details stays at Missing Info, unreviewed. Approval is tied to the exact site, preceptors and semester you name, so filing with a preceptor who later declines only produces a cancellation. Get a firm yes and the preceptor's details first, then submit.
How do I check the status of my Lewis preceptor contract?
Return to the portal at any time after you submit; Lewis built the portal so students can follow each contract through review and approval. Changes that need your attention, such as a denial or a reviewer's question, arrive at your Lewis email, so check that inbox often while your request is being processed.
Do I need a new contract request for every practicum?
Lewis does not say outright, but the legend ties each approval to one agency, the named preceptors and one semester, and the welcome page speaks of contracts in the plural. Plan on a request for each new site, preceptor or term, and confirm the rule for your track with the Clinical Placement Office.
Who reviews my request after I submit it?
The legend says a submitted request goes to administration for review, and Lewis's MSN FAQ gives approval of the preceptor and site to Clinical Coordinators and/or track lead faculty. The Clinical Placement Office facilitates and answers portal questions. Which role handles which piece is mapped on who does what.
What if my preceptor changes jobs in the middle of the semester?
When a preceptor or agency cancels, the contract goes Inactive, and hours after that point have no active contract behind them. Tell the Clinical Placement Office right away and line up a replacement who fits the same course. Students working with us get a replacement search started the day the preceptor leaves.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Lewis's own catalog, program pages and FAQ, its contract portal and Illinois law. Your course, your track coordinator and the Clinical Placement Office have the final word.
Lewis asks you to identify your preceptor. We do the searching.
Tell us your Lewis program, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and prepare every detail the contract portal asks for, so your request goes in complete.
- Preceptors matched to the practicum: primary care for
NURS 61100andNURS 61800, acute care forNURS 62500, psychiatric care forNURS 63300 - Preceptor, license and site details ready for your preceptor contract request
- In your own community, anywhere Lewis enrolls you and your RN license is valid
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