Graduating students from the University of Chicago are weathering the economic crisis without a large drop in employment so far, according to Career Advising and Planning Services.

As of mid-May, 57 percent of graduating seniors reported that they had found full-time employment or were pursuing graduate studies. That is only 4 percent less than last year-CAPS' best year since it started recording the numbers in 2003-and is in line with other nationally prominent schools. It was a welcome result, considering how much the job market has changed in the last year.

"Given the economy, our on-campus recruiting employer base contracted this year," said Meredith Daw, Director of CAPS. "We had to create new relationships with a variety of organizations to meet the student demand for fulltime positions."

Alumni support was essential to helping students find jobs, with 550 alumni volunteering at CAPS this academic year, Daw said. They lent their support through providing full-time job opportunities, giving informational interviews and industry-specific guidance. In all, 25 percent of this year's job and internship opportunities came from alumni contacts.

"Our greatest resource has been our alumni," Daw said. "They know the strength of a University of Chicago education and the difference U of C graduates can make at an organization. They have been phenomenal at giving leads. And when they have been in the position to hire, they have tried to hire U of C students."

This year, when graduating College student Brittany Luberda started job-hunting, she turned to CAPS for help. Luberda, who received her diploma in Art History, begins work in the fall at the Dallas Museum of Art-a success she credits in part to CAPS and a good alumni network.

"At the time I interviewed I was interning at the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the several opportunities the Art History Department and CAPS had a hand in orchestrating," said Luberda. "The research assistant was a past PhD candidate at UChicago, and I'm sure the good word put in by her and the curator made a difference in the selection process."

Michael Frankel (AB'90, AM'90, MBA'95, JD'95), Senior Vice President, Business Development and M&A, LexisNexis Group, says his goal in working with CAPS as a member of the University of Chicago Alumni Board of Governors is to strengthen the alumni support network and create a sustainable cycle benefiting both University and alumni.

"Career, along with family and friends, is one of the most important components of most peoples' lives," said Frankel. "Having an impact on someone's career is one of the most powerful tools for creating and fostering a bond." Frankel said he wants to help forge "a stronger network of career support among alums and students."

"Supporting CAPS is one of the ways that I try to help create that spider web of support and connection," Frankel said.

In addition to relying on alumni support like Frankel's, Daw said CAPS pursued every angle this year to help their students find employment by following trends, researching federal government stimulus money recipients, receiving support from the College Visiting Committee, convening an Economic Crisis Task Force and aggressively turning their focus to just-in-time hiring in the late winter and spring.

CAPS offers its careers services to undergraduate and graduate students in the arts and sciences, as well as University alumni.