Hire Badgers: Student Staffing Opportunities for Small Business
Did you know that the UW-Madison Work-Study Program, previously reserved for on-campus and non-profit organizations, has been expanded to small businesses – and, as of September 2023, even covers 50% of the wages earned? Or that many UW-Madison students pursue internship opportunities as a way to develop new skills and explore career pathways while they are studying at UW?
By providing internship and work-study opportunities for UW-Madison students, businesses can:
- Increase staff diversity
- Focus on back-burner projects
- Engage with talented, enthusiastic students
- Give back to the community through mentorship
- Hire affordable staff who can make a true contribution to the organization
- Provide management experience for current staff and career development opportunities for students
- Gain access to skillsets not currently on your staff
- Contribute to community/university relationships
- Develop a potential recruitment pipeline (with lower cost/risk)
- Have new perspectives and enthusiasm
If you’ve ever wondered about hiring a UW-Madison student, this session is for you! We’ll discuss the differences between the Work-Study Program and student internship opportunities and help you understand more about how to make the experience a successful one for both you and the student.
Throughout the session, we’ll cover:
- How the Work-Study and internship programs work, and how businesses can participate
- How to create an engaging internship opportunity that offers interesting, meaningful work
- The mechanics of how to post jobs, interview, and hire
- An overview of who our students are and what they are interested in
- How to establish appropriate tasks for students and set everyone up for success
- Details of who is eligible to offer internships and work-study opportunities, and what qualifies as an internship
Registration Information
Date: October 8, 2026
Schedule: 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm CST
Location: Live Virtual
Who is eligible to hire UW-Madison students?
Internships: Non-profits, start-ups, and small businesses from all industries and sectors are strongly encouraged to consider hiring interns
Work-study: Non-profits and small businesses can apply for the work-study program to hire UW-Madison work-study students. Currently, work-study students can work anywhere in Wisconsin.
Registration Fall 2026
Date: October 8, 2026
Time: 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm CST
Location: Live Virtual
Course Registration Closes: 10/7/2026
The cost of this course is being paid by the Main Street Bounceback Program for eligible businesses. Eligible businesses must be in business (not pre-venture), located in the state of Wisconsin, and employing fewer than 500 employees. These businesses may register here:
Nonprofits, pre-venture (not yet started) businesses, and those participants from a company of over 500 employees, register below:
Cancellation Policy: Due to program costs and space limitations for these programs, participants are expected to cancel their registration at least 24 hours ahead of the program. Cancellations that occur less than 24 hours prior to the start of the program will be considered no-shows and may be removed from future programming and/or charged a course fee.
Disability Statement: Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact the UW-Madison SBDC office at sbdc@bus.wisc.edu to request accommodations.
Heather Ferguson, Presenter
For more than 10 years, Heather Ferguson has been helping professionals transition into new roles and build transferable skills. During her time working with the SOAR (new student orientation) program, Heather supported more than 75,000 students and families transitioning to UW-Madison. In that role, she established partnerships, organized program logistics, and created comprehensive leadership training for her 11-person staff. Heather has also worked with operations, marketing, recruitment, and more through her past roles with the UW-Madison Office of the Registrar, Dane County Farmers’ Market, Kishwaukee College, and through several media outlets.
In addition, Heather has presented on giving effective feedback, leadership, organizational operations, conflict transformation, and partnership development at the local, regional, and national levels and has taught university career and seminar courses. Heather has a B.A. in English and Journalism from Northern Illinois University and an M.S.Ed. in Higher Education from Western Illinois University.
Brett Jones, Presenter
As Director of Employer Engagement with the UW School of Business, Brett Jones supports the exploration and career development of undergraduate business students through developing partnerships and engagement programs for a diverse set of industries and companies seeking UW talent. Brett works closely with companies to understand their internship and full-time recruiting needs and to develop customized engagement strategies to meet their goals. Brett has worked within the School of Business Undergraduate Career Engagement Team for over 4 years, and has previously worked at Northwestern University, as well as in the private sector, supporting partnerships with startups/small businesses and local government entities.
Kristina Rittel, Presenter
Kristina Rittel serves as the Student Employment Manager for the Office of Student Financial Aid at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In this role, Kristina supports the Federal Work-Study program and the student employment experience. Kristina is passionate about working with students and enhancing the employment experience for all students at UW-Madison.
The Wisconsin SBDC Network is a proud part of the Office of Business & Entrepreneurship within the Universities of Wisconsin. It is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison is also part of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Hub at UW-Madison.
The Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison helps entrepreneurs succeed at any stage. We offer no-cost, confidential consulting and business education across a wide region, primarily serving Dane, Sauk, and Columbia counties. SBDC services are provided in a nondiscriminatory way to all legal residents and citizens in the US.
Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact us at sbdc@bus.wisc.edu or call (608) 263-2221.