Service learning and volunteer engagement are opportunities to leverage campus communities to support newcomers while providing students with professional development and unique experiences of learning and interacting with newcomers. They also provide a strong opportunity for collaboration between higher education institutions and resettlement agencies.
Learn the basics of refugee resettlement to support newcomers success in the U.S. Please visit this page, to find basic information about refugees and resettlement.
Bringing the World to Campus through Refugee Resettlement – Opportunities for Student Service Webinar
This SHERR webinar showcased examples of service learning, volunteer, and internship opportunities for students to support refugee resettlement. It was co-hosted with Refugee Welcome Collective. You can watch the webinar and access the slides here.
Engaging with Refugee Resettlement through Student Service-Learning and Volunteering
Engaging with Refugee Resettlement through Student Service-Learning and Volunteering
This guide presents tips, ideas and perspectives for diverse stakeholders seeking to begin or expand student service-learning and volunteer initiatives and programs that support student engagement with refugee resettlement. The guide emphasizes partnership and collaboration between campuses and resettlement organizations. Access the document here.
The ECAR PPSE minor formalizes the educational components of the initiative and engages students in disciplinary, interdisciplinary and place-based experiences that facilitate: 1) learning about forced displacement and (im)migration 2) centralizing the voices, agency and perspectives of (im)migrants and forcibly displaced individuals 3) participation in the place-based educational processes of resettlement and community building 4) emphasis on the nature and significance of organizing and advocacy. In short, the ECAR PPSE minor will engage the students in learning about the issues of forced displacement, the individuals who experience it, and the methods by which some of its various problems can be addressed. Access the course here.
Higher Education Partnerships in Refugee Health Webinar
This Supporting Higher Education in Refugee Resettlement (SHERR) webinar showcased examples of refugee health partnerships between higher education institutions and refugee serving organizations to help meet refugee healthcare needs and improve health outcomes while achieving key educational goals. It was co-hosted with the Society of Refugee Healthcare Providers. You can watch the webinar here and access the slides here.
- Kansas City University Student Health Advocates Program
- Georgetown University Health Navigators
- Clinical psychological services through doctoral psychology program at DePaul University
- Resettle Together Higher Ed Program: IINE, UMass, and Northeastern collaborative transformational service-learning curriculum
- Middlebury College Center for Community Engagement: Jiran
- University of Denver Ready for American Hospitality (RAH)
- Russell Sage College’s Intercultural Café: a welcoming and inclusive environment for practicing English conversation skills
- The University of Tulsa: a service learning course to support students’ participation in its ECAR Chapter.
- WSU Health Navigator Program: pairing nurses and newcomers
The Refugee Welcome Collective (RWC) is a community sponsorship (CS) technical assistance (TA) and training provider funded by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM). RWC aims to improve outcomes for refugees resettled through the U.S. Refugee Admissions program by building capacity and expanding community sponsorship.
RWC collaborates with partners to provide in-depth training programs, weekly learning sessions, learning resources, and on-demand technical assistance for sponsors, community sponsorship staff, refugees paired with sponsors, and community and institutional partners to support quality community sponsorship programs across the United States.
RWC training, technical assistance, learning sessions, and resources are designed based on input from national and local resettlement agencies, sponsors, and refugees paired with sponsors. We work closely with a network of national and local community sponsorship experts to identify priority areas. Contact RWC.