Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
The purpose of this thesis study was to market a favorable solution to reduce stress levels and improve the quality of sleep for young adults by using a piece of technology developed by NASA. This technology was a lighting system initially designed to help astronauts regulate their circadian rhythms in space, and our goal was to find a suitable market for this type of product. Our team wanted to focus on college students because they often suffer from high anxiety and stress levels, which affects their overall productiveness in study rooms and dorms. After conducting research and interviewing students on the ASU campus, we wanted to market a solution that incorporates the same technology, but is also able to adjust lighting intensity and color. Taking this solution, our group setup demonstration rooms in Noble Library to collect data from students who would be interested in seeing more of this product on campus. Additionally, a Facebook advertisement campaign was launched to promote our website and gain any other feedback. Ultimately, these two methods of outreach proved to be a huge success, and there was a significant amount of interest in this product, validating that there is a potential market.
The Founder’s lab is a year-long program that gives students an opportunity to participate in a unique team-based, experiential Barrett honors thesis project to design and apply marketing and sales strategies, as well as business and financial models to start up and launch a new business. This Barrett honors thesis project focuses on increasing the accessibility of health and wellness programs for small businesses and their employees through a customizable and easily implemented third party program that encourages employee retention.
The Founder’s lab is a year-long program that gives students an opportunity to participate in a unique, team-based, experiential Barrett honors thesis project to design and apply marketing and sales strategies, as well as business and financial models to start up and launch a new business. This Barrett honors thesis project focuses on increasing the accessibility of health and wellness programs for small businesses and their employees through a customizable and easily implemented third party program that encourages employee retention.
Transportation around campus on time is crucial for in-person college students looking to succeed in their studies. Unfortunately, inequities have arisen between the ability of able-bodied students to get to and from class and permanently or temporarily disabled students looking to do the same. ASU’s solution to this problem, the Disability Access and Resource Transportation (DART) service, does adequately address the needs of its targeted customers properly. Unfortunately, student surveys and anecdotal evidence from students’ lived experiences have demonstrated that DART often leaves students waiting for more than half an hour for a ride, causes students to miss class, and is altogether unreliable in today’s age where punctuality is key to success. Our goal in our thesis project was to create an equal on-campus transportation playing field for students with and without mobility issues so that a students’ ability to get around campus would never serve as a hindrance to his/her ability to, at a minimum, earn a degree; ideally empowering all students to thrive regardless of their personal circumstances.