Lead by Global Affairs at UC Davis and in collaboration with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, AACRAO established the "Article 26 Backpack," a cloud-based portfolio to help refugees
and other vulnerable young people continue education and seek employment, empowering academic and employment mobility.
On its own, the backpack is an outstanding project. Ideally, a student, or backpacker, would have this cloud- based ecosystem in place before an education disruption. The reality, however, is that most have incomplete documentation if any at all housed
in the system when disaster strikes. With this in mind, AACRAO brought together the U.S. Higher Education International (HEI) community to develop a framework for admitting displaced and vulnerable students. This framework not only lays out best practices
for reconstructing an educational history but promoted a pledge from the U.S. HEI community to commit to these practices and share the stories of these students and their receiving institutions.