The Daily Bulletin Archive

Many of our students face economic, academic, and social pressures. These conditions often compromise their academic achievement and affect their ability to stay in school.

Kognito At-Risk for University and College Faculty is an online, interactive gatekeeper training simulation used at more than 300 campuses nationwide. In this 45-minute training, faculty and staff members learn how to recognize when a student is exhibiting signs of psychological distress and how to approach and connect the student with support services on campus. As a part of a SAMHSA grant, “Buffalo State Cares: A Call to Bystanders to Prevent Suicide on Campus,” this training is free to the first 100 faculty or staff members who sign up below. Faculty members who attend this seminar will be introduced to an interactive training by Kognito. Kognito is an award-winning developer of role-playing training simulations and games in the areas of health and behavioral health. Users of the online training will learn effective communication tactics for managing challenging conversations by practicing speaking with intelligent, fully animated, and emotionally responsive avatars that act and respond like real humans.

Avatar-Based Learning
Users engage in conversations with emotionally responsive student avatars who exhibit signs of psychological distress. Participants practice and learn to use open-ended questions, reflective listening, and other motivational interviewing techniques to effectively

• broach the topic of psychological distress;
• discuss their concerns with the student;
• avoid common pitfalls, such as attempting to diagnose the problem or giving unwarranted advice.

Workshop participants will be guided by members of the Counseling Center and SAMHSA grant team and will conduct the training in the computer lab on Tuesday, April 8, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 318. We hope you attend this session. Please register through the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System.

If you would like to take this workshop on your own time and would like to learn how to identify students who may be at risk of suicide and what you can do about it, please create an account at www.kognitocampus.com/faculty to take this interactive training. Enter enrollment key buff816.