School of Media & Communication

Organizational communication, small group communication, communication theory, qualitative research methods, nonprofit communication, communication and organizational identification

Organizational identification, work identity, corporate philanthropy, fundraising discourse, communication processes in nonprofit organizational contexts, voluntourism

Dr. Jennifer Mize Smith (Ph.D., Organizational Communication, Purdue University) received her Doctorate in Organizational Communication in 2006, with an emphasis on the Social Construction of Philanthropy. Her research uniquely intersects organizational commuication practices and processes with nonprofit and philanthropic contexts. Her research has been published in international, national, regional, and state journals, as well as nonprofit-related books. She is also the first editor of a book featuring emipirically based case studies targeting nonprofit practitioners and students alike. Dr. Mize Smith Currently serves on the editorial review boards of Management Communication Quarterly, International Journal of Business Communication, and Southern Communication Journal. She is also the past chair and a current member of the WKU Institutional Review Board, as well as the past Marketing Director of the Southern States Communication Association. 

Selected Publications

Mize Smith, J. (2019). Think Pink! Dialectical tensions in survivor discourse about corporate support of breast               cancer awareness. International Journal of Business Communication. Advance online publication.
           doi:10.1177/2329488419856086

Payne, H. J., Mize Smith, J., Everson, K. K., & Newman, IV, G. L. (2018). Measuring stakeholder identification             with nonprofit causes: The development and validation of the identification with social causes
           scale. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 27, 30-45. doi:10/1080/15456870.2019.1540419

Mize Smith, J., & Payne, H. J. (2017). Social capital. In C.R. Scott & L. Lewis (Eds.), The international
           encyclopedia of organizational communication (pp. 2167-2177). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley &
           Sons. ­­­­­­­­doi: 10.1002/9781118955567.wbieoc189

Mize Smith, J., & Kramer, M. W. (Eds.) (2015). Case studies of nonprofit organizations and volunteers.
           New York, NY: Peter Lang. 

Mize Smith, J. (2013). Philanthropic identity at work: Employer influences on the charitable giving
           attitudes and behaviors of employees. Journal of Business Communication, 50,128-151.
           **Selected as the Outstanding Article of the Year by the Association of Business
           Communication

Professional Affiliations

National Communication Association
Southern States Communication Association
Kentucky Communication Association

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