Alla Kushniryk (Associate Professor)
BA (Chernivtsi State University), MS (Lviv National University), PhD (University of Tennessee)
Alla Kushniryk came to the Mount from the Ukraine via the United States, where she earned a PhD in Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2008. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature and a Master’s degree in Linguistics from Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine. Alla’s research centers on health communication, organizational communication, digital and social media, and quantitative research methods.
Currently, Alla is engaged in a study that addresses the impact of two-way communication in the owned/earned/paid social media space. This study was funded by Communications + Public Relations Foundation. She is also involved in an ongoing research project about organizational trust with Natalie Doyle Oldfield, President of Success through Trust. This project examines how organizations build, protect and strengthen trust with their stakeholders.
Alla was also one of the investigators in a study titled “Evaluation of Best in Class Public Relations Practices” which was funded by a large Canadian organization. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive evaluation to measure organization’s public relations practices and create the best in class standards for public relations performance in Canada. In addition, Alla was one of the investigators in a research partnership with the Canadian Public Relations Society titled the GAP (Generally Accepted Practices) VIII Canadian study. This research was part of an international study of generally accepted practices of public relations in Canada, the United States and in five international partner nations.
Alla welcomes enquiries from MA (Communication) students interested in working in the following broad areas:
* Excellence in Public Relations Practices
* Social media
* Health Communication
* Organizational communication
* Quantitative research methods (such as survey research)
* Measurement and evaluation.
Selected Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
Oldfield, N., & Kushniryk, A. (2017). Building and Protecting Organizational Trust with External Publics: Canadian Senior Executives’ Perspectives. Canadian Journal of Communication, 42(5), 767-784.
Kushniryk, A., Orlov, S., & Wertz, E. (2017). Health and Culture: Factors Influencing Immigrant Women’s Health Beliefs and Health Behaviour. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 7(1).
Thurlow, A., Kushniryk, A., Yue, A., Blanchette, K., Murchland, P., & Simon, A. (2017). Evaluating Excellence: A model of evaluation for public relations practice in organizational culture and context. Public Relations Review, 43(1), 71-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2016.10.013
Kushniryk, A., Titus-Roberts, J., & Wertz, E. (2014). Immigration as a catalyst for increased health awareness: Immigrant women define health and health decision making. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 12(3), 172-190.
Kushniryk, A., & Levine, K.J. (2012). Effects of multitasking on listening effectiveness in the learning environment. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 3(2).
Refereed Articles in Conference Proceedings and Conference Presentations
Orlov, S. & Kushniryk, A. (2016). You’ve been followed: How public libraries use Twitter to engage their patrons. Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Communication, Media, Technology and Design, Zagreb, Croatia.
Thurlow, A., Kushniryk, A., Yue, A., Blanchette, K., Murchland, P., & Simon, A. (2016). Evaluating Excellence: A model of evaluation for public relations practice in organizational culture and context. Paper presented at World Public Relations Forum. Toronto, ON.
Oldfield, N., & Kushniryk, A. (2015). It is all about Trust: A New Model for Building and Protecting Organizational Trust with External Publics. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Puerto Rico.
Thurlow, A., & Kushniryk, A. (2015). A visual roadmap to success: An analysis of the two-way communication in the social media space. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Public Relations Society, Montreal.
Kushniryk, A. Orlov, S., & Wertz E. (2014). Culture and Health: Impact of Acculturation on Immigrant Women’s Health Beliefs and Health Behaviour. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southern States Communication Association, New Orleans, LA.
Kushniryk, A., Orlov, S. (2014). Public libraries in a post-soviet state: Challenges and opportunities. Poster presented at ALA annual conference, Las Vegas, NV.
Kushniryk, A. (2011). PowerPoint and lecture: Listening effectiveness in the multitasking environment. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Boston, MA.
Kushniryk, A. (2010). Receiver apprehension and multicommunicating. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Singapore.