Veteran Resource Center encourages faculty to take Kognito training


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Provost Michael Gealt and University President George Ross receive certificates for having their entire staffs complete the Kognito Interactive Training on March 30.

The three-year contract of an online role-playing simulation training called Veterans on Campus is available to faculty and staff of Central Michigan University, but will expire in the fall of 2016.

“I’m trying to challenge everyone to take this one step to support our troops,” said Veterans on Campus Training Program Manager Tamara Hullender.

Developed with Kognito Interactive, the training program is an interactive online service funded by CMU’s Global Operations. The user of the virtual training can pick different ways to react to scenarios and watch which actions cause negative or positive repercussions. It is designed to educate on the value student veterans bring to campus, obstacles they may face at college, techniques for managing discussions on sensitive topics and the best practices for connecting the student veterans with appropriate support services when necessary, according to the Kognito Interactive website.

“It helps you understand what (a student veteran’s) situation is, but also how every student has something unique about them,” Hullender said. “It helps everybody regardless of who their students are.”

The training is self-paced and takes about a half hour to complete. There are three virtual scenarios with a student veteran and faculty avatar the user must navigate through: a classroom setting, an administrative office setting and a faculty office setting.

“It was developed with the national level of Student Veterans of America, so it has their stamp of approval that this training is relevant for real life situations student veterans face in college,” Hullender said.

Senior Associate Dean of Education and Human Services Elizabeth Kirby said as a teacher, there are always ways she can keep learning about her students and how to serve them best—it is the reason she went into education.

“It is important for so many reasons,” Kirby said. 

On March 30, the Provost and President’s offices received a certificate for having 100 percent of the staff in their department take part in the training. The Registrar’s Office and Faculty and Personnel services, as well as some Global Campus offices, also have complete participation amongst their staff.

“I thought the program would fit well with my overall retention and student success strategy,” said Veterans Resource Director Steve Rellinger, who first implemented the program on CMU’s campus. “After receiving rave reviews from participants, we purchased a full three-year license in 2013 that will end by fall 2016. The license allows all faculty and staff to participate in the program.”

Each faculty or staff member who completes the training can print out a certificate from the Veterans on Campus Training. This form of diversity training shows CMU is trying to understand all students on campus, Hullender said.

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