
Rebecca L. Cooney
The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University
- Scholarly Associate Professor, Strategic Communication
- Director, Murrow Online Programs
- Co-Investigator, Center of Excellence for Natural Product-Drug Interaction Research
Stickperson LLC
- Principal Consultant, Stickperson LLC
Research Areas
- Strategic communication
- User experience
- User-centered design
- Public relations
- Integrated communication
- Digital communication
- Digital metrics and analytics
Teaching
- COMSTRAT 701 Online MA Strategic Communication Capstone
- COMSTRAT 383 Media Strategies and Techniques
- COMSTRAT 310 Digital Content Promotion
- COMSTRAT 475 Internet Marketing Campaigns
- COMSTRAT 475 PR Seminar
- COMSTRAT 476 Consumer Insights and Branding
- COMSTRAT 562 Creative Media Strategies and Techniques
- COMSTRAT 563 Professional Digital Content Promotion
Service & Engagement
- Voting member, Graduate Studies Committee
- Member-at-large: LMS Governance Committee
- Murrow Online Programs representative – Global Campus Academic Council
- Faculty representative: Entrepreneurship Faculty Ambassadors
Awards Highlights
- 2021 President’s Distinguished Teaching Award
- 2019 Provost Featured Faculty Member
- 2019 Murial Oaks Award for innovation in teaching
- 2018 LIFT Fellow
- 2016 WaCLA PR Campaign #ifeelinspired
- 2015 Scripps Howard Visiting Professor in Social Media
- 2014 Plank Center Educator Fellow
Educator and specialist in multi-modal curriculum development and training.
I am a scholarly associate professor with more than 26 years of experience in professional communication. I teach courses in integrated campaigns, user experience design, message strategy, and digital marketing. In addition to teaching, I am the director of Murrow Online Programs and a co-investigator for the Center of Excellence in Natural Product-Drug Interaction Research. Outside of my work at WSU, I serve as a consultant in multi-modal curriculum and training, LXD, and professional development. My service to WSU includes peer coaching and serving as a representative on the Global Academic Council and elected member of the Faculty Status Committee. In 2022 I was selected as a Les Smith Distinguished Professor, PhDigital Fellow with The Knight Foundation PhDigital Bootcamp, as a faculty fellow with the WSU Granger Cobb Institute for Senior Living, and as a Kopenhaver Center Fellow sponsored by the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication. In 2021 I was a recipient of the President’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Career-Track Faculty and placed 2nd in the AEJMC annual Best Practices in Teaching competition. In 2019 I was a Provost Featured Faculty member and was the recipient of the Oaks Award for innovation in teaching. Two additional fellowships include the Scripps Howard Visiting Professor in Social Media (2015) and Plank Center Educator Fellow awards (2014). I am professionally certified in learning experience design (LXD) and hold a bachelor’s and master’s degree in communications.
Current Roles
Scholarly Associate Professor
Washington State University (2012-present)
The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Strategic Communication Department. Areas of emphasis: user experience design, integrated communication, brand strategy, and digital communications and metrics.
Research Associate
Center of Excellence for Natural Product-Drug Interaction Research (2015-present)
Responsible for the planning, design, creation, and evaluation metrics of the public portal that provide access to the organized raw data housed in a repository. napdi.org
Director, Murrow Online Programs
The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication (2014-present)
I provide long-term and day-to-day management of the college’s online degree programs and certificates. It is my responsibility to ensure the quality of curriculum design and delivery, personalized attention in advising and mentoring, faculty training and orientation in development and execution of content in the digital space.
Principal Consultant
Stickperson is a community of creators. We are passionate about learning experience design, visual design, and video production. We seek to inspire creativity in others through sharing, instruction, and motivation.
Education
Master of Science, Communication
Eastern Washington University (2003)
Bachelor of Arts, Organizational Communication
California State University Sacramento (1996)
Certified, Google Analytics
Certification valid thru Nov 2021
Past Experience
Director of Marketing and Business Development
University of Colorado Lockheed Martin Engineering Management Program (2010-2012)
Developed and generate awareness of the engineering management degree with prospective students, corporations, and associations through earned, owned and paid marketing methods, digital campaigns, customer relations management, and metrics. Launched sustainable recruitment and retention campaigns.
Director of Regional Marketing & Web Coordinator
University of Idaho (2007-2010)
Managed marketing, outreach and web initiatives for three regional university centers, served as interim Director of Web Communications managing staff and training web authors and managed special outreach assignments for leadership.
Adjunct Professor
Whitworth University & Eastern Washington University (2005-2008)
Communication Studies Departments – Designed and delivered multiple courses focused on public relations, transitioning graphic designers into the workplace and integrated campaigns.
Associate Director of University Relations
Eastern Washington University (1997-2003)
Managed staff of 16 to execute university marketing, web marketing, event promotions, publications development, strategic planning, creative concept development, branding and image development. Served as a brand ambassador and project manager and served on multiple committees within and outside EWU.
Senior Account Manager
CW Crocker Communications (1994-1997)
Managed project supervision, quality control, copywriting, production coordination, marketing management, event coordination, and implementation, PR project development and advertising management.
Special Projects
- Guest speaker, moderator, panelist for best practices in online education and remote teaching
- Instructor, Optimizing Courses for Online Learning for the Graduate School of Media and Communications at Aga Khan University in Kenya and Center of Excellence in Journalism for the International Business Institute in Pakistan
- Webinar facilitator, “Let Your Voice Be Heard: Effective Online Communication” for Syracuse Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE)
- Talent, client relations, and script writer for 3-part webinar series for PNNL StoryLab Science Communication Training Program focused on technology and tools for online communication, creating and establishing an online presence, and preparing and rehearsing before live sessions
- Webinar facilitator, “Creating and Cultivating Your Online Presence” for PNNL StoryLab series
- Coach, Adobe Creative Jam hosted by WSU
- Faculty lead, Center for Civic Engagement Projects in health communication and promotion