The Carleton Computer Science Society (CCSS) wants to bring out the inner geeks of incoming computer science students this fall with targeted frosh week activities.
“N00b_Frosh” will take place a week after Carleton University Students’ Association and university-run frosh activities so that students can participate in all events, CCSS frosh committee chair Connor Hillen said. N00b_Frosh is not affiliated with any of the other frosh events.
One activity the committee is considering running is a LAN party (connecting computers or game consoles in a Local Area Network for multiplayer gaming) with PC, console, role-playing, and tabletop gaming sessions.
They also plan to host a “geeky movie” marathon and have spontaneous water gun fights, Hillen said.
“We’ll hopefully be running a few outdoor events to introduce the different honours streams in CompSci in more fun and interesting ways,” Hillen said.
“I’m hoping to run some academic workshops to introduce first-years to computer science and the different courses they’ll be taking over the next few years.”
The idea has been in motion for some time, he said, beginning when he was a first-year computer science representative and said he saw first-years needing more direction.
“My intent was to make a different frosh experience from what is currently offered, specifically for computer science,” Hillen said. “The CCSS is the largest society in science and I thought it would be great to find a way to connect its members and make the opening week something that the more nerdy and geeky of us can really enjoy.”
Membership is extended to all students enrolled in computer science, CCSS president Simon Pratt said. The program had 854 full and part-time students registered in the fall of the 2012-13 school year, according to the Carleton student records database.
Pratt said he expects the frosh week to lead to an increase in CCSS participation.
“If I’d had the opportunity to participate in CompSci frosh my first year, I would have been involved much sooner,” he said.
The committee continues to plan the upcoming frosh week and keep prospective students up to date via their Facebook group.
“We’re just super excited to get first-years involved, welcome them to the CS family in ways we haven’t before, and above all get geeky,” Hillen said.
