Always goes the extra mile for students.
Creates a positive and welcoming vibe.
Helps students see the joy in learning.
Makes complex ideas simple and clear.
Dr Yolandi Botha is a Senior Lecturer in Strategic Communication within the School of Media and Communication at Murdoch University, where she joined in July 2023. Previously, she served as a Full Professor in the Department of Communication Science at the University of South Africa (UNISA), following earlier roles including senior lecturing positions there. Botha holds a Doctor of Literature and Philosophy (D Litt et Phil) in Communication from UNISA, along with postgraduate studies in Communication at UNISA and Corporate Communication at the University of Johannesburg. She is recognized as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), affirming her commitment to excellence in teaching and learning practices. Her career also encompasses positions such as Unit Coordinator and Lecturer at Edith Cowan College and Media Liaison Manager, reflecting a diverse trajectory in academic and professional communication roles.
Botha's research focuses on strategic communication, stakeholder engagement, social organizational credibility, and stakeholder inclusivity. She has made significant contributions through peer-reviewed publications that advance theoretical frameworks in these areas. Key works include the journal article 'Rebranding as a Crisis Response Strategy: A Stakeholder Perspective,' co-authored with Corné Meintjes and published in Corporate Reputation Review in 2024; 'Determinants of social organizational credibility: Towards a formal conceptualization' in the Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies in 2023; 'Extending polyphonic strategic communication to stakeholder engagement: Exploring deliberate-emergent and radical-emergent approaches' in Management Dynamics in 2021; and book chapters 'Brand legitimacy and social justice: Building social capital through corporate social responsiveness' and 'Relational capital through strategic stakeholder engagement,' both appearing in Strategic Communication: South African Perspectives in 2021. Additional publications encompass 'Considerations for Sustainable Employee Engagement as Enablers for Communication About Sustainability' (2025), 'A sequential, integrated, sustainable organisation-stakeholder relationship (SISOSR) process for building organisation-stakeholder partnerships: a conceptual framework' (2022), and 'Towards a new stakeholder-inclusive conceptual framework to strengthen internal corporate image' (2022). Her scholarship, evidenced by over 160 citations and an h-index of 7 on Google Scholar, influences discussions on organizational-stakeholder dynamics. Botha actively engages in academic discourse through conference presentations, such as at the Western Australia Teaching and Learning Forum on inter-university collaborative simulation assessments to bridge theory and practice.
