Niusha Jones, associate professor of marketing, has developed a powerful model for integrating research, teaching and community engagement through her sustained collaboration with the nonprofit Envision Sight.
Jones conducted her sabbatical research in partnership with the organization, examining how different message formats shape engagement, understanding and donor intent in nonprofit health communication.
“My sabbatical focused on examining how stories versus statistical digital advertising influences the effectiveness of organ donation appeals,” she said. “When I presented the sabbatical research to Envision Sight’s leadership, they shared that it helped explain why prior advertising efforts had underperformed and informed future strategic decisions, leading to invitations to present the findings to additional stakeholders.”
Connecting research, teaching and community engagement
Jones’s partnership with Envision Sight began as a service-learning collaboration in her Marketing Insights and Digital Marketing courses. Over multiple semesters, students have worked with the organization as a real client — creating digital advertising campaigns to increase organ donor registration among Gen Z audiences, developing message strategies, creative concepts, platform recommendations and outreach plans to improve engagement and donor education.
Her sabbatical research built directly on her classroom teaching experiences.
“Insights from students’ projects helped shape the research questions I explored during my sabbatical, and the findings now feed back into the course — guiding campaign design, strategy development, and evidence-based decision-making in real-world marketing contexts,” she said.
Impact on students and the community
In Jones’s marketing courses, students gain hands-on experience while building career-relevant skills in digital strategy, communication and nonprofit marketing. At the same time, Envision Sight applies student work and research findings to inform and improve its advertising efforts.
“Envision Sight is using both student work and sabbatical findings to reflect on and refine their advertising and outreach strategies,” Jones said.
Looking ahead
Jones plans to continue the collaboration with more service-learning projects for her marketing classes. In the upcoming semester, her students will build on her sabbatical findings to test new message strategies and create evidence-based digital campaigns to expand Envision Sight’s outreach and donor registration efforts.
Jones encourages faculty to view community partnerships as long-term collaborations.
“When teaching, research and service are intentionally aligned, students gain deeper learning experiences, community partners receive meaningful value, and faculty scholarship becomes more impactful and grounded in real-world relevance,” she said.
Faculty interested in exploring community partnerships or incorporating service-learning into their teaching can connect with the Center for Teaching and Learning’s Service-Learning Program. The team offers support with identifying community partners, aligning projects with course outcomes and streamlining logistics. Learn more at boisestate.edu/servicelearning or contact servicelearning@boisestate.edu.