Wisconsin in Washington
Information for alumni, internship organizations, and program supporters
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Wisconsin in Washington program integrates academics with an internship to equip Badger students of all majors with the knowledge and professional skills to confidently meet the challenges and opportunities of the modern professional world.
During a semester or summer in the nation’s capital, students gain real-world professional experience while completing coursework designed to complement their internship, including expert guest speakers and visits to major institutions. The program provides a robust and enriching experience for students, with significant operational coordination, onsite advising and support, and a full calendar of events and networking opportunities.
Quick facts
Wisconsin in Washington students are:
- Degree-seeking undergraduates from all majors and minors (certificates) with varied interests and skills
- Upperclassmen and exceptional sophomores who have undergone a rigorous application process to the program
- Full-time, degree-seeking students, taking courses in DC relevant and scheduled according to internships.
- Available to intern 20-32 hours per week (Monday-Thursday business hours) during the semester, and 32-40 hours per week (Monday-Friday business hours) during the summer term.
- Able to complete internships for pay, stipend, or unpaid.
The Wisconsin in Washington program provides:
On this page
Get involved
Engagement from alumni worldwide and other individuals and organizations in the Washington, DC metro area is critical to the success of the Wisconsin in Washington (WiW) program. Thank you for your continued support!
Mentor
Each term, every student is paired with a designated alumni mentor who provides professional advice and career ideas, assists in networking as appropriate/applicable, answers any questions about DC life from their own perspective, and serves as a friendly face in DC. When pairing students with alumni, we consider their studies, career goals, interests, DC internship, and more to create a helpful connection.
Mentors are required to meet with their mentee twice during fall and spring terms, and once during the summer terms, though more meetings are always encouraged. To take advantage of being in the nation’s capital, we strongly encourage in-person meetings. Mentors and mentees often meet over coffee, on a walk, or at a museum.
To serve as an alumni mentor, please complete our Engagement Interest Form to add your name to the available mentors list. Program staff will always email you for confirmation with a specific term and student in mind before you are committed. The Mentoring Agreement specifying further guidelines and expectations will be shared at this time. We understand alumni may need to decline for a certain term, and we are happy to still consider you for future terms and students.
Guest speaker
A big part of Wisconsin in Washington’s success comes from our guest speakers every semester.
Guest speakers at orientation, in class, and for panels and events are often cited as the favorite aspect of Wisconsin in Washington for students. Whether you’re broadly explaining your work or introducing the nuances of a policy area, students are inspired when you can connect real-world experiences to their areas of study and internships. We like to feature alumni across a variety of career stages and professions so students are able to learn from a range of experiences.
To serve as a guest speaker, please complete our Engagement Interest Form add your name to the available speakers list. Guest speakers may be contacted by program staff or instructors, and will always be asked via email for your confirmation for a specific date and time before you are committed.
Events
Each fall and spring, Wisconsin in Washington hosts a networking reception, and each summer a networking ice cream social (with Wisconsin’s Babcock Dairy ice cream!) to recognize the current student interns, and thank internship hosts, alumni mentors, and program supporters. These events may also feature a partnering campus unit, including visiting representatives from campus.
Join us at the next event for an evening to cheer on these rising Badger alumni, learn more about the program, receive thanks for your support, and the opportunity to meet and connect with new people. Update your contact information to make sure you receive event details via email.
Share Events
If you know of events happening in the Washington, DC metro area that you think the current cohort of student interns may be interested in attending, please share them with the WiW Program Coordinator. These extra events help enrich the Wisconsin in Washington program for students.
If you know of any events that you think DC-based alumni would be interested in attending, please share them in the LinkedIn group.
Organizations
Coordinate a visit
Help us move our learning outside of the traditional classroom by inviting students to your organization!
Learning about organizations directly is often a favorite aspect of the program for students. A visit to an organization can manifest in many different ways: a facility tour, overview of the organization and its work and staffing structure, hearing from individual or a panel of staff (bonus if they are Badger alumni) about their positions and career paths to date, observing an organization function (e.g. presentation or event), or some other aspect applicable to the organization.
If your organization can welcome a visit, complete our Engagement Interest Form to get in touch.
Host an intern
Students participating in the Wisconsin in Washington program take a semester of university credit while interning between 20-32 hours per week (spring and fall semesters) and 32-40 hours per week (summer). The actual daily work hours are to be worked out by mutual agreement between the sponsor and the student, and should allow for related program activities such as seminars, field trips and attendance at symposia, panel discussion, and other events when appropriate. We ask that supervisors informally monitor the hours per week, since this is a basic course requirement.
Past internship hosts include: Atlantic Council, Brookings, CBS, Center for International Environmental Law, Department of Commerce, Medstar Health, National Center for Health Research, NBC, Ocean Conservancy, Save the Children, State Department, UN Foundation, Vital Voices, Voice of America, and more!
Host’s role
To ensure a successful internship experience for the student, the internship agency will be asked to:
- Designate a supervisor who will take responsibility for the student: providing a link to the agency,discussing operations and policy, answering questions, monitoring activities, evaluating performance,and generally seeing that the student has meaningful, substantive responsibilities.
- Provide clearly defined tasks and projects appropriate to the student’s status and experience.
- Provide an orientation session and the resources and training necessary to complete assigned projects.
Student’s Role
To ensure a successful internship experience for the host organization, the student intern will be expected to:
- Apply knowledge and skills beyond the classroom, show initiative and willingness to learn, and complete assignments in a timely and professional manner.
- Behave professionally: observe agency rules, including punctuality and decorum; avoid involvement in office politics; respect and maintain confidentiality; and dress in an appropriate manner (the“appropriate” dress, of course, will vary from agency to agency).
Do internships need to be paid?
No, internships do not need to be paid. Of course, we hope and strive for WiW student interns to receive compensation for their work, but it is not a university or program requirement. Every term, we have students completing internships that are paid hourly, paid with a stipend, or unpaid. Please note that students earn college credit for participating in the Wisconsin in Washington DC internship program.
Do internships need to be in-person?
Because students are moving to DC for either the semester or summer, we have found that in-person or hybrid internships tend to be more desirable and impactful for student interns. As many jobs are now hybrid, the majority of internships are now hybrid, which is perfectly acceptable. We strive for students to have some sort of in-person experience with their internship to really take advantage of being in the nation’s capital. That said, if you know of a good remote internship, as long as it has a tie to the DMV metro area, students are able to complete such an internship. In situations of a fully remote internship, we encourage organizations and the students to think creatively about in-person activities, whether that is attending Congressional hearings or think talk research presentations, conducting research at the Library of Congress, or meeting a locally-based staff member at a coffee shop.
Do only political science majors participate in Wisconsin in Washington?
No! Although we are proud to have many active and passionate political science students participating in the program, and appropriately so for DC, the program is open to qualified undergraduate students of all majors and minors [certificates]. Every major belongs in DC because many sectors are represented in our nation’s capital. Students often have academic backgrounds and interests in health, agriculture, legal/judicial, journalism, environment, data science, marketing and communications, consulting, and more.
Share opportunities
Because the DC internship landscape is extremely competitive, the program and students are extremely grateful to receive any leads on internship opportunities. Please share any of the following via email to the WiW Program Coordinator:
- Your organization’s internship application
- Any other organization’s internship application that you know of, whether you have a connection to it or not
- A volunteer opportunity that could be elevated to an internship experience
- A professional or research project that could be organized into an internship experience
- Any questions about creating an internship at your organization
Program alumni
Whether it’s memories with your cohort, on-the-job snapshots from your internship, or exploring DC, we would love to highlight your experience.
Support a scholarship
Students should be focused on their courses and internships, not whether they can afford their program. Please consider donating to the Wisconsin in Washington Scholarship Fund, so students of all financial backgrounds have access to this program.
“This program has allowed me to grow on an individual level. I am much more confident in myself as both an employee and a student. I have developed incredibly useful professional skills and experience, which will make me a more valuable employee in the future…This fall has highlighted the fact that I am an extremely hard worker, responsible, and flexible, and all these skills have allowed me to have an amazing and successful internship experience.”
Connect with us
Stay in the loop with all things Wisconsin in Washington by following the program on Instagram and Facebook.
There is also a private LinkedIn group for program alumni (of any iteration of the program – International Studies fall semesters, Political Science summer terms, or WiW today), where program alumni can intentionally connect and share opportunities.
Join our mailing list to receive regular program emails, including invitations to program events! When sharing your contact information, you can specify which type of emails you would like to receive.