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Snowball Awards

Every year, the CS Society hosts our annual awards gala, Snowball. In an effort to make future events' organization smoother, below is documentation on the awards given out each year.

Faculty-Given Awards

Society-Given Awards
The Root Award


Faculty-Given Awards

Each year, the Faculty of Computer Science gives out a number of awards at Snowball. Some require recipients to be nominated by other students, some are based on academic performance, and the co-op award is based on its own criteria.

Nomination-Based Awards

All these awards are given to students based on nominations recieved by the Faculty. An e-mail is typically sent out to all CS Students asking for nominations, which can be submitted to Kate Millar in the front office. At some point, the Undergraduate Committee will hold a meeting to determine the winners of these awards. The CS Society is usually asked to have one student on the committee to help provide input in the selection process.

All students must be in good academic standing, and have completed at least 4 credits in the previous year as an undergraduate, OR be in good academic standing, and be a registered graduate student.

Ada Byron Award

This award is given out once per year to a female student, and is worth $3000.00.
From the faculty's page:
The Ada Byron Award recognizes the leadership and contributions of an individual to increase and promote the involvement of women in computer science. Individuals must demonstrate leadership in and significant contributions towards increasing and promoting the involvement of women in computer science. For example, students may demonstrate this by playing a leadership role in events which encourage women to pursue careers in computer science. Secondary Selection Criteria: Providing a positive role model for women in computer science; contributing voluntarily to the life of the Faculty of Computer Science and/or the broader Dalhousie University community; being known as a congenial, reliable, mature person who is respected by peers and Faculty; exemplifying motivation and encouragement; demonstrating strong academic performance.

Leadership Award

This award is given out once per year, and is worth $2000.00.
From the faculty's page:
The Leadership Award recognizes the leadership and contributions of an individual in building a community atmosphere within the Faculty of Computer Science. Individuals must demonstrate leadership in and significant contributions towards building a community atmosphere within the Faculty of Computer Science. For example, students may demonstrate this by showing leadership in and contributing voluntarily to the life of the Faculty of Computer Science and/or the broader Dalhousie University community. Secondary Selection Criteria: Being known as a congenial, reliable, mature person who is respected by peers and Faculty; exemplifying motivation and encouragement; demonstrating strong academic performance.

Citizenship Award

This award is given out once per year, and is worth $1000.00. Multiple recipients per year are allowed
From the faculty's page:
The Citizenship Award recognizes the contributions of an individual to build a community atmosphere within the Faculty of Computer Science. Individuals must demonstrate contributions towards building a community atmosphere within the Faculty of Computer Science. For example, students may demonstrate this by contributing voluntarily to the life of the Faculty of Computer Science and/or the broader Dalhousie University community. Secondary Selection Criteria: being known as a congenial, reliable, mature person who is respected by peers and Faculty; exemplifying motivation and encouragement; demonstrating strong academic performance.

Academic Awards

These awards are given automatically to the students with the highest academic performance in the previous year. Specifically, the nine 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year students with the highest performance in the previous year (Three students per year) are given the awards. The Gold Award, given to the top student of each year, is worth $2500.00. The Silver Award and Bronze Award are similarly given to the second- and third-best students, and worth $2000.00 and $1500.00, respectively.

Other Faculty Awards

Co-op Award.

This award is given out once per year, and is worth $500.00.
From the Co-op office's page:
Here are the eligibility requirements in order for the co-op student to be nominated:

  • the student must be an Undergraduate, full-time, senior Engineering or Computer Science registered in co-op who has either completed three work terms or is a recent co-op graduate
    the student must be nominated by a co-op employer. The nomination must be supported by a member of the faculty.
  • the student must have two performance appraisals rated at a minimum of above average and two work term reports rated at a minimum of above average
  • If you feel that your student should be recognized as the Top Co-op Student of the Year, you are asked to submit a letter of nomination on company letterhead commenting on the student’s performance in the workplace.

Your letter of nomination should cover the following points:

  • The student’s duties and responsibilities;
  • The student’s performance in comparison to your expectations or in comparison to other co-op students;
  • The impact and contribution that the student made to your organization. How did they add value (cost savings, process / quality improvements, design / development innovations, improved customer service, significant research or other initiatives etc)?
  • If the co-op student was invited to return for another work term or offered permanent employment with the company
  • If the co-op student was invited to present his/her work to other employees and management or if the student’s work was published in or outside the company;
  • How this co-op student have benefited your department or company.

    • After nominations close in January, they will be compiled and rated. The Awards are targeted for an event to be held in conjunction with Cooperative Education Week.

    Society-Given Awards

    The Society-itself gives out three major awards each year. These awards are given based on votes from the student population. The best way to collect such votes is to create a small ballot form asking students for their CS username, and their votes for the three awards. Keep in mind that these are simply the awards given out on a regular basis; other awards can be created at the council's discretion, added to the ballots, and given at Snowball.

    To get votes, a supply of ballots should be provided to the Society Desk, with an e-mail sent to csannounce about it. Also, take ballots around to the various classes, ask profs for a few minutes' time, and get the students to vote. Most students will be more than happy to vote if you take five minutes out of their regular class time for it.

    The voted awards are the Srini Award, the Staff Appreciation Award, and the Best TA Award.

    The Srini Award

    The Srini Award for Teaching Excellence is the CS Society's biggest award for professors. This award is to be given to the professor who has done the most to improve Students' learning experience in the Faculty of Computer Science, as determined by student voting. The award itself is in two parts: An individual award given to the recipient, and a plaque in the front of the CS Building with the names of all recipients.

    See Here for the plaque, and here for an example of approximately what the individual awards should look like/say.

    The Staff Appreciation Award

    The Staff Appreciation Award is given to the staff member who has done the most to help students in their time here in the Faculty, through stellar job performance, going above and beyond what any employer could ever really expect, or even simply through making the building a nicer place to be.

    See Here for an example of what the award should look like.

    The Best TA Award

    This award is similar to the previous two, with a similar plaque given, and is awarded to the best Teaching Assistant, as chosen by student voting.

    The Root Award

    The Root Award is the single highest honour the CS Society gives out. This is not an annual award; it is given only when a student has reached such an incredible level of accomplishment that they leave a lasting impression on the Faculty and the Society for years to come. It has been said that "This is the award for when we run out of awards to give". To be eligible for a Root Award, a student typically must have already graduated (though students who subsequently return for another degree are generally still eligible), and who meets the following criteria:

    1. Has continued to be involved in the society after graduation.
    2. Has made enormous leadership contributions during their time with the society (often reflected by winning the CS leadership award twice, or the leadership once and citizenship or Ada Byron).
    3. Had an exceptional academic record while at Dal, perhaps reflected by one or more of the Gold/Silver/Bronze academic awards.

    Note that while the criteria above are a very good guideline, a student merely reaching those goals should not automatically be given a Root Award; the award is specifically for those students who have gone far above and beyond any reasonable expectations in helping the Society, the Faculty, and even the University, and whose names will be spoken years after they graduate.

    As a result of the rare circumstances in which a Root Award should be given, they typically only occur once every 3-4 years. To date (2011), only the following four students have recieved the Root Award:

    • Mike Smit
    • Sean Smith
    • John Doucette
    • Mike Porter