Wisconsin Experience Bus Trip

WEBT logo

Our Mission

Wisconsin Experience Bus Trip’s mission is to foster leadership skills through a five-day tour through Wisconsin where students learn from one another and engage with Wisconsin communities, industries, and leaders.

What is WEBT?

The Wisconsin Experience Bus Tour (WEBT), is a fully-funded, five-day leadership journey through the state of Wisconsin open to UW undergraduate, graduate, and professional students! WEBT offers UW students unique insights into the state’s culture, history, and industries while learning practical leadership skills to bring back to UW-Madison and beyond.

By exploring new perspectives and engaging in critical reflection, students deepen their learning beyond the classroom while building connections with peers and local leaders. This year’s tour runs from May 12th, 2025 – May 16th, 2025.

The 2025 WEBT Application closes on March 4th, 2025.

 

Apply to WEBT Today!

Contact Us

3164 Student Activity Center (3rd Floor)
333 East Campus Mall
608-263-0365

webt@studentaffairs.wisc.edu

GOALS

The Wisconsin Experience Bus Tour, or WEBT, is a five-day journey through the state of Wisconsin open to UW undergraduate, graduate, and professional students! Since it’s beginning in 2014, UW students get to experience some of the greatest sights Wisconsin has to offer, learn from diverse communities, and get a glimpse of the inner workings of the state’s industries and organizations. It is an adventure, taking students to new sights everyday, from urban centers to the great outdoors. To be as accessible to as many students as possible, WEBT is fully-funded and comes at no cost to the students participating!

The WI Experience Bus Trip is a space where participants:

  • Practice and develop leadership skills
  • Engage in peer-learning by fostering connections with other students across disciplines, differences, and commonalities
  • Gain a deeper knowledge of the cultural, industrial, social, and political realities of Wisconsin
  • See and experience the University’s connections to the state
  • Understand the public service mission of the University

FRAMEWORK & STRUCTURE

WEBT’s program uses the UW-Madison Leadership Framework to help students articulate ways of engaging in the act of leadership as an individual, group, or community; highlight critical leadership concepts that can be connected across contexts to deepen learning; and inspire purposeful action that results in positive change. Participants will engage in individual, small group, and large group reflection using the Leadership Framework to reflect on each day’s experience.

Additionally, each day of the five-day tour is dedicated to 1-2 of the WI Experience values to provide structure to the learning experience. The WI Experience is UW-Madison’s vision for the total student experience combining learning in and out of the classroom by engaging on four areas of intellectual and personal growth:

  1. Empathy & Humility
  2. Relentless Curiosity
  3. Intellectual Confidence
  4. Purposeful Action

The 2025 WEBT Application will open on January 21st, 2025, and close on March 4th, 2025.

The application is a series of short essay questions asking about your leadership experience, collegiate and post-collegiate goals, and interest in the trip. We strongly recommend writing your answers in a separate Word document first, then copy/pasting them into application’s text field. The total length of the application is ~1000 words or less. You can apply to WEBT by filling out the following form: https://win.wisc.edu/submitter/form/start/669412

Timeline:

  • January 21st, 2025: Applications Open
  • March 4th, 2025: Applications Close
  • March 31st, 2025: Offers sent to approved participants
  • Early April: Participant list finalized

 

WI Experience Bus Trip Spring Info Session
Wednesday, 1/29 3 PM – 4 PM  | Student Activity Center, Caucus Room (4th Floor)

Join this info session if you are thinking about applying to the WI Experience Bus Trip. At this session, we will give a preview of this year’s trip and help prepare your application. RSVP Link: https://win.wisc.edu/event/10816094

WI Experience Bus Trip Spring Info Session
Tuesday, 2/18 11 AM – 12 PM | Student Activity Center, Caucus Room (4th Floor)

Join this info session if you are thinking about applying to the WI Experience Bus Trip. At this session, we will give a preview of this year’s trip and help prepare your application. RSVP Here: https://win.wisc.edu/event/10816097

WI Experience Bus Trip Spring Info Session
Friday, 2/21 5 PM – 6 PM | Student Activity Center, Caucus Room (4th Floor)

Join this info session if you are thinking about applying to the WI Experience Bus Trip. At this session, we will give a preview of this year’s trip and help prepare your application. RSVP Link: https://win.wisc.edu/event/10816089

WI Experience Bus Trip Spring Info Session
Monday, 3/3 5 PM – 6 PM | Student Activity Center, Caucus Room (4th Floor)

Join this info session if you are thinking about applying to the WI Experience Bus Trip. At this session, we will give a preview of this year’s trip and help prepare your application. RSVP Link: https://win.wisc.edu/event/10816087

The WI Experience Bus Trip aims to provide students to an opportunity learn, foster, and apply their leadership skills. In collaboration with the Leadership Certificate Program, WEBT provides workshops, trainings, and civic engagement opportunities eligible for the Leadership Certificate.

The 2024 WI Experience Bus Trip was eligible for 13 hours. Please check back later for updated details on this year’s trip.

WEBT was recently featured in Terrace News, the official blog of the Wisconsin Union!

Read: Travel, Learn, and Lead on the Wisconsin Experience Bus Trip on Terrance News