Public Health

About this opportunity

Honors Opportunities in the College of Health Solutions

The College of Health Solutions (CHS) aims to prepare the next generation of health professionals through a broad set of health degree programs. We have recently introduced degree programs that will prepare professionals for continued graduate education and health leadership positions. We are thrilled to offer challenging and rewarding experiences to Barrett students across ASU. Welcome!

Honors Opportunities in Public Health
The Bachelor of Science Public Health is designed to provide students with knowledge and skills in the core concepts of public health; namely health behavior, health statistics, environmental health, epidemiology, health administration and policy. The degree prepares public health practitioners who are competent to plan, implement, evaluate and monitor public health functions in local, state, national and international settings. Graduates are prepared to fill entry-level positions in public and community health as well as to further their education through the Master of Public Health, Master of Health Administration, Master or PhD in Population Health, or other advanced degree programs. The bachelor's degree in public health is designed to appeal to students with interests in population rather than individual health.

Thesis

The Honors Thesis project is an excellent opportunity to gain experience conducting original research under the advisement of a public health faculty member. A topic for your thesis or creative project usually emerges from an aspect of an introductory course that sparks your interest and/or is the result of a collaboration between you and a faculty member in their lab. This topic becomes more refined as a depth of knowledge is developed in negotiation with your faculty thesis director. Most theses involve quantitative field- or lab-based research. Often faculty members have secondary datasets that students can use to examine a topic. Students can also collect and analyze original data. Qualitative theses are also acceptable, but less frequent. A minimum of two-person thesis committee is required. The thesis director must be a continuing faculty member at ASU with a terminal degree. The second committee member can be faculty or anyone with sufficient expertise in the thesis topic, as approved by the thesis director.

Please reach out to your FHA, Dr. Marc Adams (marc.adams@asu.edu), to help you identify eligible public health faculty doing research in your area of interest.  

Academic Preparation

All Barrett Honors students are must complete a thesis/creative project information session prior to enrolling in thesis credit (492 or 493). The session is designed to make certain each student has been informed about the process, expectations, and deadlines. Students may complete this requirement in several ways.

Recommended Timeline

We strongly encourage Public Health majors to begin planning their thesis/creative project by the fall of their junior year at the latest, particularly if you would like to be engaged in research during the summer before your senior year. 

After completing the information session, the following steps are required:

1. Meet with the Faculty Honors Advisor to discuss your areas of interest.
2. Consult with an appropriate thesis/creative project director.
3. Form a Barrett Thesis/Creative Project committee with a minimum of two members; the director (who must be a regularly appointed lecturer or professor) and one other committee member with expertise in the area of interest, after consultation with the director.
4. Develop a brief prospectus in collaboration with your thesis/creative project director and submit within the timelines identified by Barrett.
5. Complete the research or creative project with collaboration from the committee. Expectations regarding what constitute a thesis or creative project vary among faculty members and will be conveyed by your thesis director. However, the thesis/creative project will require either independent development of a project with written documentation of the project rationale, method of development, primary data collection, and results and discussion of the project OR completion of a secondary analysis of an existing dataset with similar components. A research paper relating the research completed by other researchers does not meet the criteria for a thesis/creative project.
6. The thesis/creative project defense must be scheduled and held according to Barrett timelines and all committee members must be present at the defense.

Example Honors Thesis schedule:

Junior Year
End of Spring Semester

• Find a faculty member to advise you on your Honors Thesis (the Thesis Director); begin discussing possible projects
• Enroll in 492 for 3 credits

Senior Year
Start of Fall Semester

• Work with your Thesis Director to define your project and formulate an action plan for the project (the Prospectus).
• Prepare your Prospectus and submit to Barrett. See Barrett website for prospectus document. 

Fall Semester

• Complete background review for project
• Continue working on project and begin preparing thesis document

End of Fall Semester

• Enroll in 493 for 3 credits

Beginning of Spring Semester

• Continue working on project and begin preparing thesis document

Before Spring Break

• Complete first draft of the thesis document and submit to Thesis Director for initial review
• Schedule your thesis defense - remember this is your responsibility – by completing the Thesis/Creative Project 

Defense Reporting Form

• Note that a draft of the thesis should be sent to the entire committee for review at least 10 calendar days before your defense

After Spring Break

• Prepare for your defense
• Hold defense; following a successful outcome, have thesis director inform Barrett. 
• Make any necessary changes to the thesis document based on feedback from committee

Early April

• Submit final thesis document to Barrett!

Other Honors Opportunities

Honors contract is a great opportunity to develop new academic experiences. Contracts are created on a case-by-case basis. Examples include: interview a professional about their career, shadow a professional, help develop new course materials, or help modify an entire course. Honors contracts are negotiated with faculty members and must be filled during the first four weeks of class. They must be completed during the semester in which the course is offered. The enrichment contract form offers guidelines to aid students and faculty in developing appropriate contracts.

Tips

• Explore Barrett Resources: Barrett has excellent online resources outlining the Honors Thesis projects. 
• Attend a Thesis Workshop: Barrett also arranges several workshops throughout the semester to help you get started with your thesis and to de-mystify the thesis process.
• Talk to CHS Faculty: Faculty have experience mentoring students on the Honors Thesis and can guide you through the process and advise you what they might expect. 
• Review past thesis documents: Barrett Honors College has a digital library of completed projects by Honors students. These are an excellent resource to help plan the structure of your document. To view past projects see “Examples and Past Projects.”
• Attend Thesis Defenses: Every student publicly presents thesis outcomes as part of a defense. Attending a defense before you do your own will help you prepare and give you a sense of how to present your outcomes as well as the kinds of questions you might expect. Visit the Barrett Defense Calendar to view upcoming defenses.