Teaching Interests

  • Social media engagement
  • Digital media strategy and metrics
  • Integrated strategic communications
  • Advertising
  • Brand and consumer behavior
  • User Experience Design (UX)
  • Learning Experience Design (LXD)
  • Instructional design for online course and program delivery

Rebecca L. Cooney is a scholarly associate professor with more than 26 years of experience in professional communication. She teaches courses in integrated campaigns, brand and consumer behavior, advertising, user experience design, message strategy, and digital marketing. In addition to teaching, she is the director of Murrow Online Programs and a research associate for the Center of Excellence in Natural Product-Drug Interaction Research (NaPDI). Outside of her work at WSU, she serves as a consultant in learning experience design and effective communication in the virtual space. Her 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 she was selected as a 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 she 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 she 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). She is professionally certified in learning experience design (LXD) and holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in communications.

Research Projects

Ms. Cooney bridges her professional experience with her passion for research and discovery.  In 2013, she worked on a research project for the Miller Coors/Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation called Great Plays where she provided support and expertise in email, web development, and analytics. She is a co-investigator for the Center of Excellence in Natural-Product Drug Interaction Research (NaPDI), a 10-year NIH/NCCHIH-funded grant ($20m). She serves on the Informatics Core alongside Murrow College’s Dean Bruce Pinkleton. They manage the main website, lead communication strategy, support subject recruitment campaigns, and lead their social media strategy. Their multi-channel outreach efforts for two subject recruitment campaigns in 2021-2022 directly contributed to the success of meeting objectives in the recruitment of 40 research subjects for important studies of kratom and goldenseal.

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