STUDENT CLOSE-UP

Fulfilling Promises

By Ashlee Erwin

Yu-Wei Wang joined the Counseling Psychology doctoral program at the University of Missouri-Columbia much to her mother’s dismay. When Wang left her native country, Taiwan, to attend graduate school at Columbia University in New York City, she had promised her crying mother that she would be back in two years.

But her plans changed when, upon graduating from Columbia, she interviewed with Puncky Heppner, MU professor of educational, school and counseling psychology in Mizzou’s nationally ranked program. She decided to enroll based on Heppner’s emphasis on mentoring students and his problem-solving and coping research. In 2002 she accompanied him and his wife, Mary, associate professor in the department, for a semester to Taiwan to research East Asian coping techniques through the Fulbright Scholar Program.

“It’s hard for Taiwanese parents to send a daughter to a foreign country to get advanced degrees,” Wang said. “When Puncky and Mary came to Taiwan, my mom said, ‘She (Wang) needs to get married; maybe she shouldn’t continue in the program.’ But Puncky said, ‘No, she should continue because she will make you really proud one day.’”

Wang may not have fulfilled the promise to come home, but she has made her mother proud. Wang was recently honored as one of two Outstanding Graduate Students of the Year by the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs (CCPTP), a professional organization comprised of more than 75 of the nation’s leading counseling psychology doctoral programs. She is the first international student, and the third student from Mizzou, to win the award (Karen Smarr, 2001; Meghan Davidson, 2003) – an unprecedented feat by any university.

“When I told my mom, she started crying,” Wang said. “She remembered what Puncky had told her.”

No one knows Wang’s capabilities better than Heppner, who has known her for more than six years as his student, advisee, co-presenter, co-teacher, cultural assistant and contributing author. He and Mary were in attendance as Wang accepted her award in July at the American Psychological Association’s (APA) annual convention in Honolulu, Hawaii. The CCPTP graduate student awards are based on such criteria as academic record, scholarly and professional contributions and overall promise as a scholar in counseling psychology, all of which Heppner said are inherent in Wang.

“What we have here is a young woman who has acquired a great many research and practice skills, and, most importantly, a strong and genuine motivation to make a significant difference in the lives of other people,” Heppner said. “Her level of scholarly accomplishments is exemplary, and her motivation and desire to help others is heartwarming.”

The award was the capstone of a long list of accolades for Wang, who, while studying stress and coping, women’s issues and multicultural counseling issues for her doctoral work, also published eight articles and book chapters, gave 25 presentations at national conventions and wrote a dissertation on childhood sexual abuse in Taiwan. In her spare time she was an active member of the Tzu Chi Buddhist Compassion Foundation, a volunteer for the Disability Services office and the assistant director of MU’s Center for Multicultural Research, Training and Consultation.

“It’s not surprising that a student from the counseling psychology department would be recognized for such an award,” said Handy Williamson, vice provost for minority affairs, international programs and faculty development. “That department seems to be able to amass students from many cultural backgrounds who represent diversity and a genuine commitment to academics.”

Since graduating in July, Wang has accepted an assistant professorship in counseling psychology at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where she will continue her research on stress, trauma and coping. With every reason to gloat about her current success, Wang remains humble.

“It’s (the award) not about me or my individual achievements,” Wang said. “It’s about what my adviser and my program have given me. MU still feels like my second home in the world.”

Fulfilling Expectations

MU’s Counseling Psychology doctoral program, the fifth oldest program in the United States, continually ranks among the top four nationally and maintains a diverse culture that attracts students from around the world. The program has garnered much national attention, including:

• A No. 9 ranking in the 2005 edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools” published by U.S. News and World Report
• A No. 1 ranking in a 2003 research productivity study conducted by the University of Notre Dame
• The 2000 Richard Suinn Award for Excellence in Multicultural Graduate Education from the American Psychological Association (APA)
• The 2000 APA “Psychology Department of the Year” Award
• The 2004 election of Puncky Heppner as president of the Society of Counseling Psychology
• The distinction of being the only multiple winner (three times) of the Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year Award given by the Council for Counseling Psychology Training Programs

In addition, many faculty members have been editors of major counseling psychology professional journals over the years. In 2004:

• Associate Professor Brent Mallinckrodt was appointed editor of the Journal of Counseling Psychology
• Professor Rich Lapan was appointed as editor of the Professional School Counselor
• Professor Norm Gysbers was appointed once again as editor of the Journal of Career Development, while assistant professor Lisa Flores was named associate editor

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Last Update: March 12, 2007