domtri33
cs11
The only criticism that I’d raise was one from my fiancée who mentioned that the JV career panel was not as helpful as it could have been. Her two take aways from that particular panel were to file for unemployment and that the best job resource was a local nanny organization. She’s got some specific concerns about employment in Chicago, so take that with a grain of salt, but it was something that she flagged.
My wife had the same opinion. She also found that the housing tour was a little lacking. I think more than anything though, she had a hard time swallowing the whole "JV" monicker (she was a division I varsity athlete)

. Anyway, I definately think that there is an opportunity for incoming "partners" to take charge and make some changes next year. I will say though, overall, my wife had a really good time and made some really good friends. There are definately a lot of great opportunities for partners (KWEST, GIM, audit classes, clubs, etc).
As sad as it may seem the JV stuff supposedly much better than last year. I guess they got busses instead of walking all over evanston and they did the housing tour themselves instead of last year when it was run by realtors who really were only trying to show places they were attempting to sell. The career panel is a tough one too, my wife had the same issue last year since no one was remotedly related to her field. Honestly, the hardest thing about the JV thing is they really are doing it just because they love the community and try their best. Most of them are working fulltime and unlike current students this is not a resume building activity or something that benefits them at all.
I know several JV's who were busy or weren't asked, I think some of that was due to a very tight budget compared to the student portions and the number of prospective JVs was far higher than ever before, so they were afraid to bring in a bunch of volunteers and then not even be able to give them a lunch. I think the thing with the panel is they tried to find people in a variety of areas but focus on the ones more people are in. I believe a few of our friends who work in education or are nurses took part in it because those are the more common jobs and I know they were trying to get a couple of girls who work in HR to come. The JV's I know come from a huge variety of fields, so its tough to get a a real representation when there are so many things that people do. I know wives who are engineers, corporate finance, unemployeed, lack visas, nannys, teachers, nurse practitioners, office managers, stay at home moms, advertising/marketing and various other professional positions.
Send me a pm with what your wife does and is looking for. I will pass it along to my wife and see if she knows anyone who actually does the same thing or is in the same industry. A personal connection will be a lot better than a short career panel aimed at a room of 60+ people doing god knows what.
If you have housing questions I think myself, steel, and mgoblue2 all live in different buildings. I have gone to tons of different apartments and have a pretty good idea what a lot are like from hanging out at my friends places. If you have specific questions/requirements just ask and we probably can point you to some good places. Budget probably is the biggest factor too.