College alumni receive tenure at Clayton State University

Two UGA College of Education alumni recently received tenure and were promoted to the position of associate professor at Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia.

Eckart Werther (PhD '12) and Pearl Chang (PhD '12)—both graduates of the counseling psychology program in the department of counseling and human development services—earned the advancement by achieving excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.

"The accomplishments of these individuals were recognized by their peers and university leadership," said Nasser Momayezi, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Clayton State University. "They set the high academic standards so crucial to accomplishing our university's mission and achieving its goals."

As an integrative psychotherapist, Werther's work is guided by humanistic, pragmatic, interpersonal and multicultural approaches. His goal is to help clients access their unique strengths and abilities to overcome and better manage their circumstances of life.

In addition to serving as an associate professor of psychology, Werther works with the Atlanta Police Department's Employee Assistant Program, which provides free short-term assistance and counseling to employees and their dependents.

Chang, alongside Werther, co-authored an article titled, "Do Modernity and Traditionality Exist in Chinese Americans?" which was published in the Journal of Public and Professional Sociology last year. Their study supports the notion that modernity and traditionality continues to exist in the Chinese-American population.