Supporting Higher Education in Refugee Resettlement (SHERR) – Building capacity of US colleges and universities to engage in refugee resettlement.

The Presidents’ Alliance is a member of a consortium, led by World Learning and including ECDC and Welcome.Us, that has been awarded a capacity building grant focused on higher education engagement in refugee resettlement–how colleges and universities can work with resettlement agencies to provide support and services for recently arrived refugees in their communities. Supporting Higher Education in Refugee Resettlement (SHERR) identifies and strengthens “pathways of engagement” for U.S. colleges and universities to participate in resettlement; develops a suite of resources, tools, and training to support the work of the institutions; and creates networks for institutions to share best practices.

The Supporting Higher Education in Refugee Resettlement (SHERR) project aims to:

• Contribute to improved outcomes for refugees, in their first 90 days in the United States and beyond, by:
• Expanding and coordinating a network of higher education institutions across the United States committed to engagement in refugee resettlement.
• Identifying ‘pathways of engagement’ for higher education institutions to directly support refugee resettlement, including working in partnership with the nation’s 10 resettlement agencies.
• Designing and coordinating toolkits, curricula, briefings, webinars, virtual trainings and communities of practice to support those pathways of engagement.
• Administering small grants to support collaborative initiatives that strengthen refugee resettlement.

The Presidents’ Alliance role will be focused on facilitating some topic-specific communities of practices (such as student enrollment), providing technical assistance, and, in coordination with partners, hosting and maintaining a refugee-focused landing page on the Higher Ed Immigration Portal as a comprehensive “one-stop” resource hub for college and university engagement with refugees. 

The program is funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.