• Education -
  • Ph.D., Communication, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies, 2006.
  • M.A., Communications, William Paterson University, 1992
  • B.A., Communications, William Paterson University, 1987
     
• Professional Certification/Accreditation -
  • APR, Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

• Research Interests - My major area of study is public relations, with primary emphasis on relationship building public relations activities via the Internet. I view the practice of building organization-public relationships from an interpersonal communication perspective and see dialogic communication as a critical function in building and maintaining organization-public relationships.  I am also interested in the role that dialogic communication plays in communicating identity, image and branding. 
   
• Teaching Philosophy - My teaching philosophy is based on the premise that students learn best when they are asked to think on two levels in their coursework—theoretical and practical. It is my goal to train students to think critically about major communication and public relations theories and to link theory with practice using critical analysis.  I bring to the classroom extensive practical experience in areas such as: developing promotional and marketing materials; drafting and editing speeches, press releases, brochures, and academic publications; media relations; and Web development.
   
• Professional Affiliations -

·         Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)

·         Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)

·         Eastern Communication association (ECA)

·         International Communication Association (ICA)

·       Jersey Shore Public Relations and Advertising Association (JSPRAA)

·         National Communication Association (NCA)

·         New Jersey Communication Association (NJCA) - Immediate Past President

·         New Jersey Chapter, Public Relations Society of America

·         Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)- Educators Academy; Counselors to to Higher Education; Assemby Delegate

Scholarship -

PUBLICATIONS: 

McAllister, S. M. (2013).Toward a Dialogic Theory of Fund raising. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, (37), 262-277.

McAllister, S. M., (2012). Practitioner Perceptions of the Importance, Function, and Actual Utilization of Dialogic Internet Tools and Institutional Resources, Atlantic Journal of Communication, 20(4), 221-236.

McAllister-Spooner, S. M., (2012). How the world's top 100 university provide dialogic forums for marginalized voices, Public Relations Review, 38, 319-327.

McAllister, S. M., & Taylor, M. (2012). Organizational Influences and Constraints on Web-based Media Relations Tactics. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 36(02), 93-110.

Walsh, J. , & McAllister-Spooner, S. M. (2011). Analysis of the image repair discourse in the Michael Phelps controversy. Public Relations Review, (doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2003.10.071).

McAllister-Spooner, S. M. (2010, Spring). Whose Site is it Anyway? Expectations of College Web sites. Public Relations Journal, 4(2).

McAllister-Spooner, S. M. (2009). Fulfilling the dialogic promise: A ten-year reflective survey on dialogic Internet principles. Public Relations Review, 35(3), 320-322..

McAllister-Spooner, S. M., & Kent, M. L. (2009). Dialogic public relations and resource dependency: New Jersey community colleges as models for Web site effectiveness. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 18(2).

Kent, M. L., Taylor, M., & McAllister-Spooner, S. M. (2008). Research in dialogic theory and public relations. In R. R. Mathur (Ed.), Public relations: An ethics engagement. New Delhi, India: Icfai University Press

McAllister-Spooner, S. M. (2008). User perceptions of dialogic public relations tactics via the Internet. Public Relations Journal, 1(1).

McAllister-Spooner, S. M., & Taylor, M. (2007). Community college Web sites as tools for fostering dialogue. Public Relations Review, 33(2).

PRESENTATIONS AT SCHOLARLY/PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS:

November 2013.

• McAllister, S. M. & Pretz, K., Paper selected for presentation at the Roundtable for Research in Progress (RRiP), An examination of the paracrisis and situational crisis communication theory through the causes and context of sexual abuse by Catholic priests report, Washington, DC
• McAllister, S. M., Panelist, Enjoy Better Connections with your Students: How to Improve Civility in Your Classes. Washington, DC
• McAllister, S. M., Chair, Panel, Individual and Contextual Factors that Affect Group Processes . Washington, DC
• McAllister, S. M., Chair, Roundtable, Research in Progress (RRiP). Washington, DC

November 2012. McAllister, S. M. Panel selected for presentation at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Future Directions of Building and sustaining COMMunity Relationships thought Dialogue, Orlando, Florida

November 2011. McAllister-Spooner, S. M., Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, An analysis of the world's top 100 university Facebook pages: Dialogic forums for marginalized voices, New Orleans, Louisiana

May 2011. McAllister, S. M.,  Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the International Communication Association, Globalizing Dialogic Relationships: An Analysis of the World’s Top 100 University Web Sites, Boston, MA

 November 2010. McAllister-Spooner, S. M., Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Practitioner Perceptions of the Importance, Function, and Actual Utilization of Dialogic Internet Tools.

 November 2010. McAllister-Spooner, S. M., Respondent, Panel, This Bridge is Sponsored by…Public Relations Corporations, the annual convention of the National Communication Association.

 October 2010. McAllister-Spooner, S. M., Paper accepted for presentation at PRSA International Conference, Practitioner Perceptions of Organizational Factors Impacting Web-based Public Relations Strategies, Washington, D.C.  

 August 2010. McAllister-Spooner, S. M., Discussant, New Media Research, Annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Denver, Colorado.

 November 2009. McAllister-Spooner, S. M., Top Three Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Parent and high school student preferences of college Web sites, Chicago, Illinois

 November 2009. McAllister-Spooner, S. M., Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Toward a dialogic theory of fund raising, Chicago, Illinois

 August 2009. McAllister-Spooner, S. M. paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication, High School Guidance Counselor Preferences of College Web Sites, Boston, Massachusetts

November, 2008. McAllister, S. M., Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Fulfilling the dialogic promise: A ten year reflective survey on the dialogic Internet principles, San Diego, California

March 2008. Chair, panel selected for presentation at the annual convention of the New Jersey Communication Association, The hybridization of communication courses, Kean University, Union, New Jersey

 March 2008. Chair, panel selected for presentation at the annual convention of the New Jersey Communication Association, Communication for PR connections, Kean University, Union, New Jersey

 March 2008. Invited panelist for panel selected for presentation at the annual convention of the New Jersey Communication Association, Net agility: Getting connected without getting snagged, Kean University, Union, New Jersey

November 2007. McAllister, S. M., Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, It sounds good in theory but…organizational factors inhibiting dialogic relationship-building via the Internet, Chicago, Illinois

November 2007. McAllister, S. M., & Kent, M. L., Top Three Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Dialogic communication and resource dependency: Community colleges as models for Web site effectiveness, Chicago, Illinois

March 2007. Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the New Jersey Communication Association, User perceptions of dialogic public relations tactics via the Internet, Union, New Jersey

November 2006. Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Communicating the community college missions, San Antonio, Texas

March 2006. Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the New Jersey Communication Association, Dialogic public relations practices via community college Web sites, Montclair. New Jersey.

April 2005. Top Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the New Jersey Communication Association, Communicating identity and forming relationships via community college Web sites. Trenton, New Jersey.

May 2005. Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the International Communication Association, Dialogic public relations via community college Web sites. New York, NY,

November 2005. Paper selected for presentation at the annual convention of the National Communication Association, Communicating the community college mission via the Internet. Boston, Mass.,