(345) The Road to a Pharm.D.: Mapping Effective Retention Strategies at Texas Pharmacy

Objective : The college has maintained low attrition and high on-time graduation rates historically. The past few years provided unique challenges for students to which the college has had to respond. The college has implemented retention strategies to assist students in navigating academic and non-academic struggles.

Methods: The college assesses exam performance to identify academic interventions that are being utilized and provides additional assistance when needed. Students who score less than 70% on any single assessment are required to attend an exam review and provide feedback regarding exam preparation. Feedback includes exam preparation and performance assessment. The student is then asked if outside factors impacted their performance and to identify those factors. Survey data is received for engagement and ongoing monitoring. If outside factors were involved, others are alerted to assist the student in engaging with available resources.

Results: Since fall 2020, 2% of students who entered are no longer continuing and 9% are not on track to graduate on time. For those who have experienced academic difficulties, the majority engaged in resources made available by the college and individual courses. Many students engaged in multiple resources for each assessment, and even more engaged in “other” activities. The majority felt they experienced some outside factor that impacted their academic performance.

Conclusions: Students are engaging in resources provided by both the college and individual courses, as well as other useful resources to achieve academic success. However, the college should assess which resources are most impactful for individual courses and implement other resources students find useful. Finally, the college should identify opportunities to assist students in gaining skills to manage outside factors.