Internships

Political Science and Public Policy & Administration

Political science students have an opportunity to complete an internship for academic credit in addition to their regular course work. Interns, at the local, state or national level, have long been a part of the political science curriculum. In some areas, former interns have risen to a level in their organizations where they are employing current interns. National internships are arranged in cooperation with The Washington Center.

Each Public Policy and Administration major is required to complete an internship for academic credit as part of the integrative experience portion of the major. Internships are available in a wide range of city, state and national government offices, private businesses and non-profit organizations. Recent public policy and administration majors have served in district congressional offices and in numerous Wisconsin city management offices, including those in Whitewater, Janesville, and New Berlin.

Among the varied internship opportunities are:

• State legislative office
• Congressional offices
• Area city managers and city government
• Area district attorneys
• Area judges
• Area attorneys
• State agencies such as the DNR

Government Internships

Federal:

• US Senator Russ Feingold
• US Senator Herb Kohl
• US Representative Tammy Baldwin
• US Representative Paul Ryan
• US Representative Jerry Kleczka (retired)

State of Wisconsin:

• Former Governor Tommy Thompson
• Former Governor Scott McCallum
• Several State Senators (including Judy Robson & Dale Schultz)
• Several State Assembly people (including Steve Nass, Mike Powers & Sheryl Albers)
• Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Local Governments:

• Whitewater
• Janesville
• Beloit
• Lake Geneva
• Delevan
• Lake Mills

Potential Internship Opportunities:

• Common Cause
• The Washington Center
• Madison Equal Opportunity Commission
• Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Citizen Action
• Capital News Service
• Public Policy Forum
• Walworth County Sheriff's Office
• NAACP
• Wisconsin Housing Alliance

Legal Studies

Students in legal studies supplement their course work with an internship experience. Internship opportunities can occur at the national level through the Washington Center and locally at area law firms, district attorneys' offices, and with county judges. Among the varied law-related internship opportunities are:

• Walworth County Courthouse
• Jefferson County Courthouse
• Rock County Courthouse
• Walworth County District Attorney
• Jefferson County District Attorney
• Rock County District Attorney
• Milwaukee County District Attorney
• State of Wisconsin State Public Defender program (& other PD offices)
• Several local attorneys (Whitewater, Jefferson, Madison, Milwaukee, Mukwonago, Janesville and other southeast Wisconsin law offices)

Additional information about internships may be found at the Career & Leadership Development Internship Resources site.