Our externship program offers direct access to professional practice and serves as a strong pathway to post-graduation employment. An externship is a short-term placement in architecture and urban planning organizations during winterim and spring break. You’ll benefit from exposure to a variety of firms and experiences, networking opportunities, and mentorship while expanding your network.
Immersive Learning
Externships are typically one or two weeks, offering you impactful and immersive experiences in bite-size pieces.
You can extern during winter break, spring break or both. Plus, you can choose to extern with multiple firms during break to gain insight from a wide variety of firms and deepen your understanding about professional practice.
Extern duties could include:
- Job shadowing
- Conducting research
- Building physical models
- Preparing competition boards
- Designing charrettes
- Creating maps or renderings
- Observing city planning or client meetings
- Attending site visits
Before completing my degree, I accepted a full-time position at a firm I was connected to as a student. I’m grateful for the mentorship, opportunities and support UWM provided to help launch my career with confidence.
Externship Host Firms
Each year, close to 100 students are placed in externships regionally in Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago and nationally in cities like Houston, New York and Los Angeles. Students have also found host firms as far away as Tokyo.
- AG Architecture
- Barrientos Design & Consulting, Inc.
- Berners Schober Assoc Inc
- Break Form Design
- Brininstool+Lynch
- Building Service Inc
- BWBR
- Cadence Consulting
- Christopher Kidd and Associates, LLC
- Continuum Architects and Planners
- Dan Beyer Architects
- Deborah Berke Partners
- Deep River Partners
- Design Fugitives
- Dimension IV Madison LLC
- Engberg Anderson Architects
- EUA (Eppstein Uhen Architects, Inc.)
- FGM Architects
- Foundation Architects, LLC
- Galbraith Carnahan Architects
- GGA
- Goettsch Partners
- GREC Architects
- GROTH Design Group
- HDR Inc.
- HGA
- HNTB Corporation
- Holabird & Root
- Iconica
- ISG
- JGMA
- Johnsen Schmaling
- Kahler Slater Architects
- Korb & Associates
- Lakeside Development Company
- Lamar Johnson Collaborative
- Leese & Associates
- Mortenson
- MSA Professional Services, Inc.
- MSI
- Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation
- Potter Lawson, Inc.
- Quorum Architects, Inc.
- Ramlow Stein
- Saavedra Group Architects
- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
- Studio Gang
- TKWA
- Tredo Group Architecture
- Valerio DewaltTrain
- Vetter Architects
- Workshop Architects
- Zimmerman Architectural Studios
Interested in hosting an extern?
Sponsoring firms benefit from the introduction to capable and motivated students and the skills and fresh ideas they bring. Many sponsors view the extern experience as a mentoring opportunity. We’d love to welcome you to our network of sponsoring firms.