For students interested in continuing their education by attending a graduate school, there is a gentleman who wants to help you.

Dr. Patrick Palermo is the director of the Center for Graduate Guidance and Post-Baccalaureate Scholarships at Alumni Hall. There, Dr. Palermo helps mainly juniors and seniors who are looking for more information and direction on their path to attending graduate school. Whether he is assisting them make the strongest application possible, copyedit and critique entrance essays, or provide resources to assist faculty in creating the most informative letters of recommendation, Dr. Palermo is sharing his knowledge and expertise with the University of Dayton's soon-to-be graduates.

The Center for Graduate Guidance is 'meant to support students who are interested in graduate school. It helps them know where and how best to apply to best facilitate success,' according to Dr. Palermo.

The center officially 'reopened' this year after being revamped to include the Honors Center, which Dr. Palermo helped found almost 30 years ago. The Honors Center was a lesser form of the Center for Graduate Guidance.

'We have a student culture where the environment is supportive for graduate work,' said Dr. Palermo.

Graduate programs are much more sharply focused than undergraduate programs. The process of application and review is much more clearly distinctive in a specific area. Whereas an undergraduate can somewhat easily switch majors, graduate students must depend on their history and strong points to be accepted and succeed in a program.

The facility also ministers to students interested in prestigious awards for graduate or undergraduate work.

Scholarships like the Fulbright Prestigious Award require essays that take months to prepare. The essays are often miscalculated as easy, but in reality take numerous revisions to be able to compete against the many students who apply every year. Dr. Palermo suggests that second semesters juniors are best to start on awards like the Fulbright now, because senior year, like in high school, is full of dead lines that come by very quickly.

'Writing essays is very hard to do, and it really doesn't come easy to anyone,' said Dr. Palermo.

With his years of experience, however, Dr. Palermo mentioned that he is always willing to help scholarship-seekers and proofread essays with a 24 hour turn around.

Along with a revamped structure, the Center for Graduate Guidance and Post-Baccalaureate Scholarships also is working on a new website to provide information to students. The site, available at http://postbacc.udayton.edu/, includes information on upcoming fellowships and scholarship deadlines, information on the GMAT and other graduate admissions tests, and tips on selecting the right school to attend for graduate study.

So far this year, around 100 students have found assistance in some way from the Center for Graduate Guidance, whether it be from a quick question over the phone, or full-out assistance in writing an application for admittance. The numbers are fine by Dr. Palermo, though, as long as 'no students that graduate from UD can come back say and say that they left without the knowledge of the opportunities out there for them.'

And with the Center for Graduate Guidance and Post Baccalaureate Scholarships, he is making that initiative come true ' one student at a time.