Launch of Kognito: A New Mental-Health Education Resource at Tufts

February 26, 2020

Dear colleagues,

We are excited to announce the launch of Kognito, a mental-health education platform, for all faculty, staff, and student leaders. Kognito is a simulation-based online educational program that allows users to practice conversations designed to help students build resilience, strengthen relationships, and develop connections with campus resources. The platform has also been designed to support academic performance, student retention, and campus safety. It has been used by over 100 colleges and universities, training almost 60,000 faculty and staff and two million students.

We are happy to offer this resource to you and strongly encourage all faculty and staff to create an account with Kognito. You may use the platform at any time to help expand your knowledge and develop skills around student mental health and support.

• All faculty and staff can learn more and access Kognito at go.tufts.edu/kognito.
• We also encourage you to offer Kognito as a resource to any student leader with whom you or your department may work, including graduate assistants, teaching assistants, residential staff, and student employees. All students may create an account and access the platform using the same webpage: go.tufts.edu/kognito.

Our partnership with Kognito responds to recommendations for enhanced faculty and staff awareness from both the Mental Health Task Force and student advocates. We are glad to implement the Kognito tool university-wide as a two-year pilot. This is the first time Tufts has implemented an interactive training tool of this kind on such a wide scale. We look forward to receiving feedback from faculty, staff, and students to help assess the potential strengths and weaknesses of this avatar-based tool.

Please join us in extending our thanks to Michelle Bowdler, executive director of health and wellness for Medford/Somerville and Boston SMFA campuses, for her efforts in bringing the platform to Tufts, and in thanking the many students, faculty, and staff members who reviewed the platform. We hope you will all take advantage of this new resource at Tufts for supporting student mental health and wellness.

Sincerely,

Anthony P. Monaco
President

Nadine Aubry
Provost and Senior Vice President