UW-Whitewater is home to one of the top business schools in the midwest, and that doesn’t stop at academics. 

While students can set up their own individual plans for the summer, UW-W’s College of Business and Economics’ (COBE) different  departments offer a specific class and curriculum for students to earn credit while getting paid for their time, by vetted and reputable local and regional businesses.

These businesses are often repeat customers to UW-Whitewater looking for talent to run their new age technology driven businesses.

Sharon Roy, the marketing internship coordinator for UW-Whitewater, works with students daily on the process of finding the right internship for the student and the hiring companies needs.

“I think our department does a good job with a structured program where the student does assignments every few weeks and I come back and give them feedback, and students thank me for it.” said Roy.

Unlike some internships that might have you getting coffee or doing the grunt work these internships set up through COBE are vetted for quality. Often these companies are established, but not massive in size which allows for students to work right in the line of fire daily with the employees of the workplace.

“A lot of small businesses contact me and they are looking for help,” said Roy. “Often times its the new businesses that come to me and based on reputation want our students.” said Roy.

The coordinators for their respective departments are focused on coupling work experience with an added curriculum placed alongside their work.

“We are trying to improve internship awareness through videos and committees that are planning on placing them into and internship” said Roy.

Students are invested in the program as they find that working with companies that have affiliation with university can offer a higher retention rate than others because of the built in trust between companies and UW-Whitewater.

Having the resources are important to finding the right internships, but knowing the right people falls into the right situation.

This is consistent with the amount of UW-Whitewater alumni that are contacting COBE’s specific internships coordinators that are looking for students that can carry on the UW-Whitewater lineage.

One of the most important things that students are stressed to focus on when applying for any internships through COBE is a deep technology based education.

This and other focuses are keys when UW-Whitewater creates its curriculum. They hear from these businesses what skills are desired and they try and reciprocate them into lessons in the classroom.

If interested in looking into more about UW-Whitewater’s internship opportunities through COBE  go to your specific departments office and ask for your internship coordinator.