Accessing Academic Support

Academic Success Specialist

Tennisha Frierson, Academic Success Director, in her office.

Tennesha Frierson–Ali is the Academic Success Specialist at the College of Pharmacy. She works closely with students and PDN advisers with the goal of helping every student complete their courses and receive their PharmD degree.  She has a bachelor’s degree in humanities/communications from Wilberforce University and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Northeastern Illinois University.  She has held similar positions supporting student success at the high school and post-secondary levels.

She provides support for the following:

  • Assess barriers to success
  • Assist in self-reflection and building a personal academic success plan
  • Time management
  • Study skills
  • School/Life Balance
  • Mentoring, engagement, and connections
  • Campus and community resource referral

Make an appointment by email or by 678.547.6204, or drop by her office at the Pharmacy Administration and Cafeteria Building, room 112, in the dean’s suite.

Tutoring

Feeling a bit lost on class material? Don’t wait until you have failed an exam to act. Access tutoring beforehand–it works! Data on our tutoring sessions show that 85% of struggling students who use tutoring go on to earn a passing grade in their course. (Lots of students have accessed tutoring over the years because, yeeeessss, there is a lot of material to learn in pharmacy school! You’re smart, and so are we because we admitted you! Everyone needs a guiding hand now and then. You got this! Read the details below.)

Tutoring is conducted by upper-level students, i.e., those further along in the curriculum, some of whom are members of the Rho Chi society, representing the top 20 percent of their class GPA. Tutoring is free for all students.

  • All tutoring is confidential.  Tutors will not share information about a student’s academic performance with others.
  • Students who have failed a test can select either individual tutoring for the first two sessions or small group tutoring (2-4 students).  Additional tutoring will be done in a small group.
  • Tutoring for students who have not failed a test will be done in a small group of 2-4 students. Assignment to a tutoring session will be prioritized to those students with greater need based on their most recent test performance.
  • Large group help sessions held prior to exams in most required courses will continue to be provided by Rho Chi members.

Requests for a tutor should be made here at least 3 days in advance of desired meeting day. Don’t wait until exam time! A tutor will usually respond within 24 hours, and likewise, a student requesting help should promptly respond back to the tutor. If the student and tutor cannot find a mutually agreeable time to meet, the student can request another tutor through the webpage.

Students should be on-time for the session and come prepared with specific questions or topics for the tutor. Students who are unable to attend a scheduled session must notify the tutor at least 3 hours in advance.

Study Skills

Start here to assess, explore and improve your study skills.

The assessment will help you identify your study skills strengths and potential weaknesses. Once you have identified possible weaknesses, visit the Study Skills Topics page to select the topic that best addresses your individual study skills needs.

Office of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives

To provide extra support for our students and especially students of color, Dr. Ansley Booker, director of diversity and inclusion initiatives at Mercer and part of the University’s student affairs team, is available to you here at the College in DuVall 163 during the academic year. She will be available on both a drop-in and scheduled basis. You can contact her if you’d like to make an appointment. She’ll be here for anything you’d like to discuss—academic struggles, relationship or financial concerns, whatever is on your mind.

Atlanta Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

The Atlanta CAPS office provides in-person and online counseling to currently-enrolled Mercer students. CAPS conducts 30-minute initial screening appointments by phone. Please call CAPS at 678.547.6060 to request an appointment. CAPS also makes available the option of online/telehealth appointments via HIPAA-compliant secure video conferencing through Tao Connect.

In Case of Emergency: Please contact Mercer Police Department at 678.547.6358 if you are on the Atlanta campus, or call 9-1-1 if you are in the United States off-campus.

In addition, students can access the free Georgia Crisis and Access Line at 1-800-715-4225 for either crisis assistance or assistance with locating mental health resources in their area.

Additional Resources: CAPS encourages Mercer students to visit our library of behavioral health resources available to you at no cost through Tao Connect. Tao can be used as a self-care resource and/or integrated into sessions with a counselor. Tao and counseling go hand-in-hand, providing modules of selected content to help you build useful skills and perspectives, while using check-ins with a counselor to monitor progress and encourage further growth.