In an effort to celebrate and promote effective teaching and mentoring, the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs are launching CyThx. 

Iowa State undergraduate and graduate students can directly express their gratitude to someone on campus that makes them feel like a significant individual of the Iowa State community. Students can share their CyThx notes to an instructor, mentor, staff member, adviser or peer leader through a short survey.

“It’s a small act, but it can make a big difference,” said Sara Marcketti, director of CELT and Professor of Apparel, Events and Hospitality Management. “At Iowa State, lots of people work very hard, so this will be a good way to acknowledge and award these people.”

Marcketti said Iowa State peer mentors, learning communities and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs did a similar program a few years ago.

“They invited students to send thanks to anyone who made them [feel] valued,” Marcketti said. “So I thought it would be wonderful to combine these efforts.”

When talking about the meaning of CyThx logo, Marcketti said CyThx looks more inclusive than something similar to “thank a teacher.”  

“I hope people will take a minute, to think about someone who makes a difference in their lives,” Marcketti said. “It can be in a class [or] a formal peer-to-peer setting, it is a good time to send a simple thank you to someone,” 

Marcketti said if it works, they plan to have CyThx every semester for a short period of time.

“We want to see the logistics of it and see if [there’s] anything we need to change,” Marcketti said.

CyThx is effective from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30. Students can submit their thank you notes via http://bit.ly/cythx.