Annual Leadership Awards and Banquet

The Student Leadership Awards & Banquet is an annual event hosted to recognize and honor Dalton State’s most distinguished student leaders, student groups, faculty and staff who contribute to the quality of student life on Dalton State’s campus.

Individual Awards

The Advisor of the Year award will recognize the outstanding service and leadership of a faculty or staff advisor of an official student group (RSO’s, Club Sports, any other official student group) who has made a significant contribution to both the student members and organization as a whole. The nominee should demonstrate strong advising skills, is readily available to students, and takes great strides to help the organization’s leadership development. Past recipients are eligible for this award again three years after recognition.

Spence Higgins Hall of Leaders Award

This award is named in honor of the first elected Student Body President of Dalton State College, Spence Higgins. The Spence Higgins Hall of Leaders Award is given to a select group of graduating seniors earning a baccalaureate degree who have demonstrated excellence in campus involvement and who, through this service, have exemplified a commitment to the positive enhancement of Dalton State College. Students must have a 3.0 or higher GPA.

The Outstanding Student Leaders award is given to student leaders with two or more years of leadership experience who have shown dedication to involvement in campus life and who have exemplified a commitment to enhancing Dalton State College. Students must have a 2.75 or higher GPA. Students may only receive this award once.

The Emerging Leaders Award is given to students with two or less years of leadership experience who have shown dedication to involvement in campus life and who have demonstrated initiative, motivation, and potential for student leadership at Dalton State College. Students must have a 2.5 or higher GPA. Students may only receive this award once.

The President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) is the premier volunteer awards program, encouraging citizens to live a life of service through presidential gratitude and national recognition. The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes United States citizens and lawfully admitted, permanent residents of the United States who have achieved the required number of hours of service over a 12-month time period (February 28 - March 1) or cumulative hours over the course of a lifetime.

Along with the ultimate honor of presidential recognition, recipients will receive a personalized certificate, an official pin, medallion or coin and a congratulatory letter from the president of the United States.

All volunteer hours must be submitted and verified through RoadrunnerServe no later than 11:59 pm on February 28 of each year for consideration. Students, faculty, and staff are eligible for recognition. One student recipient of The President's Volunteer Service Award will be recognized as Dalton State's Volunteer of the Year. The student will have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to his/her community through a minimum of 100 hours of service with non-profit organizations. 

This award is named in honor of Melvin Truett Lomax who was instrumental in the founding of Dalton State College and spearheaded a public relations campaign to raise awareness of a college’s value to Dalton. His innovation, determination, and ability to pull together a community led to the donation of four adjoining parcels of land making way for Dalton State College as we know it today. Melvin Truett Lomax is the unsung hero of Dalton State College. 

The Unsung Hero Award is presented to one Dalton State faculty or staff member and one student who puts his or her heart and soul into everything he or she does, but often goes unrecognized. These individuals work “behind the scenes” demonstrating determination and hard work going above and beyond as a member of the Dalton State Community. Nominees must be a faculty/staff member at Dalton State College.

This Award is named in honor of the longtime Dalton State College basketball coach Melvyn Ottinger who built the foundation and framework for the birth of Roadrunner Nation. His hard work and dedication to Dalton State set the standard for Roadrunner pride, camaraderie, and community. This award will be presented to one student who embodies and exemplifies the true qualities of a Roadrunner – confidence, success, fearlessness, and boldness. Students must have a 2.5 or higher GPA. Students may only receive this award once.

Group & Programmatic Awards

This award is granted annually to a person or group at Dalton State who actively serves as an advocate for the interests of under-represented student populations through advocacy, diversity programming, or other diversity and intercultural engagement efforts.

This award is presented in honor of Jason Ramos and his contributions towards establishing the Birdfeeder Food Pantry to ensure that no student went hungry.  The recipient(s) should be a person or group within the Dalton State community who has completed a project exemplifying the courage and vision to actively advocate for positive change on campus and/or in the world. The project completed should leave a lasting impact and successfully empowers others to act.

This award is presented to a new or ongoing event, project, or program at Dalton State College exemplifying innovation and creativity while benefiting the Dalton State community and contributing to the on-campus experience. The program should have originated, been planned, or implemented by a student or group of students. An event, project, or program may only be recognized once for this award.   

This award is presented to an outstanding organization that has made significant contributions to the Dalton State Community. The organization has set goals and furthers its mission through its work demonstrating the initiative to further advance the collegiate experience of Dalton State students beyond the classroom. The recipient of this award has gone above and beyond through programming, service, and leadership.  The recognized organization has raised the bar for other student groups and strives for excellence in all of its endeavors. Nominated organizations may be a club sport team, a college affiliated organization, or a recognized student organization.