National Student Employment Week 2025

• Schedule a creative art activity through the Wheelhouse Studios!
  • Wheelhouse Studios at the Memorial Union offers groups the opportunity to schedule their own private group class or activity – and it is up to you and your team to decide what that will look like! Some options include painting, pottery, jewelry-making, DIY crafting, etc. To host a group event for your team, click the link here.
  • You can also sign your team up for existing classes that the Wheelhouse offers – link here!
• Rent a bowling lane or the climbing wall at Union South!
  • Sett Recreation offers a variety of games and activities for group rental or private use! For more information, click here.
• Attend a Wisconsin Union Theater performance!
  • The Wisconsin Union Theater offers a handpicked selection of shows, events, and performances that suit a variety of interests and backgrounds. Check them out here.
• Attend a live music show at Memorial Union!
  • The Wisconsin Union Directorate Music Committee hosts artists and music shows at Der Rathskeller, the Memorial Union Terrace, and The Sett at Union South on a weekly basis. Click here for more information!

• Schedule a high ropes course, low ropes course, or teambuilding workshop through ALPs for your team!
  • Adventure Learning Programs (ALPs) offers a variety of outdoor and in-person teambuilding activities that you can explore here, on their website. Be sure to fill out a Workshop Request Form if you or your department is interested!
• Schedule an Outdoor Group Experience or an Outdoor Explorer workshop with Outdoor UW!
  • Outdoor Group experiences may look like a team hike or snowshoeing excursion! Check out your options here!
  • Outdoor Explorer workshops are meant to build leadership skills, learn new outdoor skills, and try new things! Check them out here!
• Take a guided tour through UW-Madison’s Allen Centennial Gardens!
  • You can find more information about group tours here!
• Attend an event or class at UW’s Arboretum!
  • You can find a calendar with descriptions of each event/class here along with registration forms, if applicable!

Virtual campus offerings:

• Set up a virtual group class through RecWell
• Set up a virtual team building activity through Adventure Learning Programs (ALPS)
• Set up a virtual Accapella performance featuring local UW-Madison student groups
  • Pitches and Notes

Free virtual games & events: 

• Play online Pictionary
• Host a trivia night
• Create a Jeopardy! trivia game
• Host a virtual BINGO game
• Do a virtual escape room
• Play the virtual mystery game: Among Us (mobile download required)

Pay for virtual games & events: 

• Host a virtual game night through JackBox Games
• Reserve a virtual Game Night In experience 
• Host a virtual guided painting session

Show appreciation for your student employees in a Tweet, Instagram, or Facebook post! We have included examples below but as always feel free to create your own appreciation content to be shared on your department or division’s social media. We encourage you all to engage with any student responses that you receive on social media as well.

Twitter

Share your appreciation on Twitter using the hashtag #ThankyouUWstudentemployees! Feel free to add this graphic to save some of your 280 characters!

Instagram

Create your own post in appreciation of your employees or share this shoutout on your Instagram story! Be sure to add the hashtag #ThankyouUWstudentemployees!

Coming soon!

Facebook

Make a Facebook post on your department or division’s account using this graphic to share your appreciation with the rest of the UW community!

Coming soon! 

If you would like to contact your student employees more directly, consider sending an individual email message! To help you get started, take a look at the following items you could address in your message:

• Extend your gratitude for the work that they do to support the UW-Madison community and be specific! Citing specific instances of outstanding work will mean more than broad statements.
• If the student is graduating, wish them well in their future endeavors.
• If the student is not graduating, express your excitement about the opportunity to continue working together in the summer and/or fall.

Example messages may look like the following:

Hi (Graduating Student Name),

We hope your week is going well! In celebration of National Student Employment Week we wanted to thank you for all you do to support our team. Your hard work, adaptability, and dedication to your work is recognized and continues to make a lasting impact on our UW-Madison community. While we are sad you are graduating this semester, we are so excited to see all that you will accomplish and we wish you all the best in your future endeavors!

Thanks again,

Hi (Returning Student Name),

We hope your week is going well! In celebration of National Student Employment Week we wanted to thank you for all you do to support our team. Your hard work, adaptability, and dedication to your work is recognized and continues to make a lasting impact on our UW-Madison community. We are so thankful to have you returning next semester and we look forward to seeing everything you will accomplish both in and out of work!

Thanks again,

Should you choose to send a video, we encourage including multiple supervisors and members of leadership within the department or division as multiple “clips” in the same video. This is a simple and effective way to showcase the importance of student employees to your team. Consider creating a video with leadership answering the question “what do our student employees mean to you?” A video message can be linked in an email to your student employees or shared at an all team gathering!

Example video message scripts may look like the following:

• Introduce yourself:
  • Name, title, unit/department

• Introduce the student or team receiving the specific recognition or award: (if applicable) 
  • The student(s) names
  • Student(s) current job title/unit
  • How long the student(s) has worked for your unit/department

• Provide a few paragraphs on why this student or team is being recognized
  • Be specific! Adding details or real examples of their work can be meaningful.

• Share the student(s) next steps
  • Student(s) year in school
  • Student(s) major/degree they are pursuing
  • If they are graduating, their future plans (if known) – i.e., grad school, career employment, accepted to an academic program, etc.

• • You can also include a few sentences acknowledging their next steps, wishing them luck in future endeavors (if graduating), or that you’re looking forward to them continuing to have a positive impact in their unit/dept.

Final sentence: On behalf of the [department], we would like to thank you for the exceptional work you have done this past year, and would like to congratulate [name/team] on being an outstanding [student employee/team].