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Student Success

About the Office of Student Success

The Office of Student Success in the School of Pharmacy offers a variety of student services and programs that are available to help students transition successfully to their professional environment and receive maximum benefit from the total pharmacy school experience. The Office of Student Success provides students with a full spectrum of academic support beginning with first semester mentoring and continuing through graduation. The Rangel School of Pharmacy and the Office of Student Success offers a variety of services including the following:

Faculty Advisors

Once a student is enrolled in the program, the Offices of Academic and Student Affairs collaborate to select a Faculty Advisor for each professional student pharmacist. Students are encouraged to meet with their advisors periodically, at least once a semester, to discuss academic, personal, career and professional goals. To ensure a comprehensive advising experience, the Director of Student Success will collaborate with administrators and faculty advisors with a wide variety of expertise.

Career Development

The school provides several career and professional development opportunities to student pharmacists. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • A Day in the Life of an Intern
  • Intern Recruitment Fair
  • Career Expo
  • Announcements for available Internship and Fellowship opportunities
  • Classroom and group activities that provide information on academic success, personal assessment, job searches, career exploration, and transitioning into the practice of pharmacy.

Peer Mentoring

Each first-year student is assigned a peer mentor from the second-year class to facilitate the entering students' transition into the pharmacy school and university life. First-year pharmacy students meet their second-year peer mentor during orientation week. Thereafter, student pairs meet at least twice within the first semester and as needed during the year facilitated by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and the Director of Student Success.

Academic Coaching and Advising

The Office of Student Success will work with students to develop a strategic academic success action plan for reaching goals.

The role of the Director of Student Success is to advise students experiencing academic difficulty in one-on-one sessions and suggest approaches for improving performance that are tailored to the unique situation of each student. The Director of Student Success will monitor the success of advisees and schedule sessions as needed until significant improvement is observed. Academic coaching includes:

  1. Regular follow-ups with advisees
  2. Academic Success Action Plan – Monthly appointments (2 to 3 a semester) or as needed
  3. Learning Assessment Analysis:
    • LASSI Assessment (Learning and Study Strategies Inventory)
    • VARK (Visual, Aural, Read/Write, Kinesthetic)
    • StrengthsFinder
  4. Student Success Workshops

Rho Chi Tutoring Services

School of Pharmacy students (P1-P3) can request individual or small group peer tutoring as needed. Rho Chi tutors assist students in improving subject knowledge, while developing academic skills and strategies. Peer tutors are faculty-recommended students with excellent academic records and have earned an “A” in the course in which they tutor. Tutors will make preparations for each tutoring session and take attendance which will be shared with the Director of Student Success and the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.

Guided Study Sessions (GSS)

Voluntary, peer-led group sessions to study course material in an engaging and supportive environment. In addition to reviewing course concepts, students learn how to identify main ideas, synthesize course material, and study strategically. GSS leaders are faculty recommended and trained peer facilitators who earned an “A” in the courses they are supporting.

Early Alert Program

The Early Alert Program is a partnership between students and the Associate Deans of Academic and Student Affairs, The Director of Student Success, and select faculty members who work together to recognize potential academic problems in specific courses or with individual student progression. The team surveys student achievement and attendance in courses, takes immediate and appropriate corrective action when a student deficiency is identified by an academic alert and develops strategies to improve student achievement and retention.

Possible benefits of the activities of the PEA Network are:

  • Potential problems may be detected earlier in the semester, allowing time to devise and implement strategies to keep a student on track.
  • Constant monitoring of each student’s academic progression may help to develop a strategy for improving the academic performance of students with deficiencies.
  • Self-directed learning skills can be enhanced in students who may need it.

Referral Services

The Rangel School of Pharmacy partners with professional counseling and wellness services on both the Kingsville and College Station campus. This is a free and confidential service to our students so that they can maximally benefit from their educational environment and continue to succeed in the life long task of their career development.