UC Critical Requirements and CastleBranch, including the purchase hold

What Critical Requirements are and why they gate clinicals

Critical Requirements is UC's name for the compliance items every graduate clinical student must clear. Deadlines come from the Office of Clinical Placement and Operations, and UC's page states the stakes plainly: missing them will prevent you from participating in clinical hours or external experiential learning activities.

Sites can see the outcome through UC without handling your file. Your Clinical Site Coordinator can send a site a compliance summary or a Letter of Good Standing, and UC's Clinical Requirements page says a student without a valid Compliance Summary is excluded from all patient contact.

The 2026–27 Student Handbook places the full policy in the Critical Requirements section of the applicable learning management system, which for UC courses is Canvas. Read that section as soon as you have access; it goes further than the public page.

The CastleBranch purchase hold

UC's graduate Critical Requirements page currently carries this notice: all CastleBranch package purchases are on hold until further notice. It gives no reason, no end date and no replacement vendor. The 2026–27 handbook speaks more generally of the College's designated compliance tracking system, yet still says the background check will be conducted through CastleBranch.

Until UC says otherwise, three things make sense. Don't buy a screening package from another company on your own, since UC routes the drug screen through CastleBranch vendors only. Check the Critical Requirements page and your UC email often, because the handbook says policy changes are announced by UC student email. And ask your CSC how the hold affects your term, especially if your first clinical course is close.

Every Critical Requirement UC lists

Read together, UC's Critical Requirements page and FAQ, the handbook and the May 2026 Preceptor Guide give this list. A site can add its own items on top.

Order and document deadlines by term

UC sets two dates per term for MSN, DNP and post-graduate certificate students: one to order the CastleBranch package, and a later one to have your documents submitted. With purchases on hold, ask your CSC whether these dates still apply to you this term.

The handbook adds a longer view. Most students must be verified compliant by the published deadline in their first term. A student still out of compliance at the end of the second term may face an administrative drop, a registration hold and delays, and anyone out of compliance at any point is immediately restricted from course enrollment.

When you'd buy a package again

UC's CastleBranch instructions have you buy a package once, with your UC email as the username and the classification code for your program. The codes differ by program; the online FNP MSN and the BSN-to-DNP FNP, for example, each have their own. You buy again if you change specialty, relocate or have a gap in enrollment.

Some students also need a second, state-specific package code, which UC's instructions say to order by the preceptor packet deadline. That ties your compliance timing to your placement timing: settle the clinical state late, and the state package runs late with it. See the preceptor packet deadlines, and if you're relocating, moving during UC clinicals.

Staying compliant after the first term

Compliance doesn't end once you're cleared. Flu vaccines are annual, TB screening repeats and CPR or BLS cards expire. UC's FNP FAQ says students track their own Critical Requirements in CastleBranch, which sends reminders, while college staff monitor compliance. An older UC overview of CastleBranch said renewal notices go out roughly two months ahead of each expiry.

Put every expiry date on a calendar beside your clinical terms. An item that lapses mid-semester can pull you out of clinical hours at the worst possible moment.

Which programs does this cover? UC's documents differ. The 2026–27 handbook applies Critical Requirements to all students except post-baccalaureate certificate and microcredential programs, while an older Clinical Requirements page says RN-to-BSN, PhD and DNP students complete a background check only. If you're in one of those programs, confirm your list in Canvas or with your advisor.

How we keep your placement moving

Critical Requirements are yours to order and upload. We take on the other half of your file, the preceptor and site side that runs alongside compliance: we search for clinicians whose practice suits your UC course, assemble the preceptor's details for UC's packet, and flag any site whose onboarding adds checks beyond UC's list.

The two sides meet on the Preceptor Application. Its student section asks for your CastleBranch status, so your CSC sees where your compliance stands when the packet arrives. With purchases on hold, note that status honestly and keep the preceptor search moving; a hold on compliance orders is no reason to let the packet deadline slip.

UC's Clinical Site Coordination team gives the final approval on every preceptor, site and agreement. Students choose us so that when the hold lifts, the placement half of their file is already done and waiting for that review. Send your track and term through the form here and we'll start the search.