GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

One credit point corresponds to 8 hours of lessons. For the first three semester courses of Bachelor Programs the Course Director can request to add:

• a maximum of 2 additional hours per credit point for the Matematica/Mathematics course;
• a maximum of 1 hour per credit for the other courses.

These complementary learning activities include practical exercises and other class activities that help the understanding of the subject matter discussed in the classroom without adding new topics to the course content.

Attendance
Class attendance at lessons is not compulsory however it is strongly recommended as it meets the proposed educational model designed to favor gradual learning, the active participation of students in class and the creation of a dialog between students and teachers.
For some courses the assessment methods may be different for attending and non attending students.

The educational activities are organized into class groups. For the 2014-2015 academic year 22 class groups structured as follows:

• in the first year of studies: 120 students for the program taught in Italian and 100 students for BIEM and BIEF;
• in the second and third year: about 125 students
  

Specifically:

Class groups for compulsory courses are allocated before the start of lessons and each class group is assigned a specific classroom. All students belonging to the same class group attend lessons in the same classroom and have the same teachers.

To facilitate educational activities planning (class group numbers and classroom capacity) students cannot change their assigned class group.
The class groups remain the same for the entire academic year.

For some educational activities (lessons taught in English or applying specific teaching methodology, and for courses organized in modules), the class groups are divided into smaller groups. Students are advised to follow the indications given by teachers during lessons on sign-up methods for the single groups and for running of the learning activities. If registration is required, students may consult the yoU@B student Diary for a list of activities and sign-up method.

The educational offer for the 2014-2015 academic year will include also an e-learning class group for some elective courses.

Traditional educational activities in class are replaced, in the e-learning class groups, by the participation in specific on-line activities, both asynchronous (i.e. students' individual activities) and synchronous (i.e. videoconference).

On-line activities are set and scheduled by the Course Director. They may include, for instance:

• participation in synchronous activities with teachers and other students. Such activities may consist in debates or question and answer periods regarding course subjects, on-line real-time exercises/on-line lessons etc;
• on-line consultation of specific material (slides, documents etc.);
• participation in on-line forums;
• drafting of electronic documents, both individually and with other students, which may be based on material available on-line.
  

For further information check the course profiles.

Recipients 
Since e-learning is the only opportunity which allows students to participate virtually in the course, this method provides new services and options compatible with the great mobility required to study abroad and/or to take part in internships in Italy and/or abroad.

Such learning methods are offered only to students unable to attend lessons regularly; however, the traditional methods have preference and are recommended by the University since they are the most effective.

Method of choice 
For method of choice see "Administrative rules, procedures and deadlines".

Course profiles and exam assessment methods
If a course includes both traditional class groups and e-lerning ones, the course profiles are identical. However due to different teaching approaches, teachers can diversify supplementary exercises and/or other related activities by offering e-learning students alternate activities.

The exams are held at the university, following traditional methods (in class); the exam calendar is the same for the two class groups. Distance exams are not offered by the university.

Students enrolled in e-learning class groups can take partial exams, if available.

For information relating to credit points, language of instruction, semester, and Degree Programs offering these courses please check course profiles published on the website at: www.unibocconi.eu/courses.

Math Crash courses are courses which last some weeks, they are held at the beginning of first year courses.

Math crash courses are designed to reinforce a few mathematical concepts at a pre-university level. This helps students to start university with greater confidence and comprehension. The main topics covered include: equations, inequality, coordinate geometry, trigonometry, power functions, exponentials and logarithms.

Enrollment in the crash courses is not needed, however attendance is highly recommended; there is no exam at the completion of these courses. The class timetable and the class group are published on the Internet at the address www.unibocconi.eu/classtimetable.

The  course profiles of math crash courses are published on-line at www.unibocconi.eu/courses in Crash Courses (Math).

Some courses also include repeat class groups for students who are behind normal academic progress, that is, students who have not yet passed their exams for the previous year or years. These students, if they wish, must follow the lessons in the class group dedicated to them.

For the course profile and learning methods of repeating class group students are advised to follow the instructions given by the teachers. Detailed information on teaching of these courses (course syllabuses, exam methods, professor consultation hours) can be requested at each Department.

Students who wish to attend these courses must choose the class groups they are interested in until the maximum number of places available is reached.

The list of repeating class groups along with any sign-up methods (code of the activity, deadline to sign up and number of places available) is published on the appropriate Bulletin Boards located on the ground floor of the University Building of Via Sarfatti 25 and published on the website at www.unibocconi.eu/classtimetable.

If students must sign-up, they can view in their yoU@B student Diary the activities they can sign up for.

Students admitted to these class groups receive a personalised message via yoU@B student Diary.

In order to let the students attend the lessons also for the courses for which no repeating class groups are scheduled, students who have not yet passed their exams for the previous years can attend the lessons and sit for the partial exams, if scheduled, in previous years class groups; in this case students must contact beforehand the Secretary's Office of the Department and the Course Director.

The class timetable has been planned so that educational activities are mainly concentrated in either the morning or the afternoon, in order to make it easier for students to dedicate the other part of the day to individual study.

In the first semester of the first year, for example, CLEAM students have lessons on 3 mornings (Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays) and 2 afternoons (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) per week, while CLES, CLEF, BIEM, BIEF and CLEACC students have lessons on 2 mornings (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and 3 afternoons (Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays) per week.

In second semester, those students who had lessons on 3 afternoons and 2 mornings in first semester will have lessons on 3 mornings and 2 afternoons, and vice versa for the second group.

Unlike the first year, the following years are structured in a more complex way as the study plan also includes compulsory courses to be chosen by the students (in the second and third year of studies) and elective courses in the third year of studies.

The class timetable includes timetable slots - different from the first and second semester schedule structured in the same ways for all Bachelor Programs, completely dedicated to specific types of activities (compulsory courses, foreign languages and elective courses). This ensures that compulsory courses, language courses and electives do not clash with each other.

However it not possible, as for the complexity of the timetable structure, to exclude any lessons overlap between elective courses. Students are therefore recommended to verify the class timetable of the elective courses before making the choice of the courses to be included in their study plan.

In addition, there may also be some complementary learning activities scheduled aimed to review some of the concepts dealt with during the normal teaching sessions. In general, they are held at different times from lessons (usually in the evening from 6:00pm to 7:30pm).
No educational activities are scheduled from 1:00pm-2:30pm on Fridays, both in first and second semester, this period being reserved for student group activities. 

The general class timetable and any changes are published on the yoU@B student Diary and on the University's Internet site www.unibocconi.eu/classtimetable.

After students have enrolled in the academic year, they can view the personalized class timetable and the the daily timetable from the student Diary.

The teaching activities for the 2014-2015 academic year will follow the schedule below:

First year

• I semester:
  
  • Monday 1 September 2014 to Friday 5 September 2014: first day of activities, is dedicated to "Welcome first-year students" the presentation of the program by the Dean of the Undergraduate School and by the Directors of the Bachelor Programs.
  • From Monday 8 September 2014 to Friday 5 December 2014: teaching activities in class.
    

Second and third year

• I semester: from Monday 8 September 2014 to Friday 5 December 2014;
  

• II semester: from Monday 9 February 2015 to Friday 15 May 2015.
  

Please note that language lessons begin on 8 September 2014 in first semester and on 9 February 2015 in second semester, just like all other courses.

In addition, the student Diary yoU@B allows students to integrate their personalized class timetable with other educational activities that may interest them and to see and print all the other information recorded in their you@B student diary for the desired period (daily, weekly, monthly, and so on).

During graduation days listed below, lessons for all courses and all programs (Bachelor Programs, MSc programs, Combined Bachelor and MSc in Giurisprudenza [Law]) are suspended as follows:

• Friday 17 October 2014;
• Saturday 18 October 2014;
• Friday 12 December 2014;
• Saturday 13 December 2014;
• Wednesday 8 April 2015.
• Thursday 9 April 2015
• Friday 10 April 2015

During the partial exam periods listed below, lessons in all courses are suspended:

• I semester: from Monday 20 October 2014 to Tuesday 28 October 2014;
• II semester: from Monday 23 March 2015 to Wednesday 1 April 2015.

In addition, lessons are also suspended on the following days: 

• Saturday 1st November 2014;
• Monday 8 December 2014;
• From Thursday 2 April to Tuesday 7 April 2015;
• Saturday 25 April 2015;
• Friday 1st May 2015.

During office hours students have the opportunity to consult teachers. This gives students the chance to seek further explanations or clarifications of topics not fully understood during lessons.

The office hours timetable can be found on the Internet site at http://www.unibocconi.eu/officehours or in the yoU@B student Diary, which provides a direct link to the page.

If decided by the professor, the office hours could be carried out only upon reservation by the student: in this case the reservation must exclusively be made through the yoU@B student Diary.

As per Professor’s discretion, students are invited to check in advance the office hours carrying out methods.

The professors are assisted by the teaching assistance that provide assistance to teacher and students; this includes student assistance in comprehension of the main topics of the course, case studies, projects and exercices and manage the online community.

Teaching assistants can also provide assistance in class during lessons including the use of softwares or cases’ discussion.

For information about courses and teaching assistantship (teaching assistants) see:

• Teaching assistants list 2014-2015 academic year.
  

As of years, Bocconi uses a detailed evaluation system designed to check the educational quality of each course which is based on the student's direct active input. Including:

• checks carried out through "class group representatives", appointed to represent the entire class group by liaising with the teacher, acting as their spokesperson with the task of presenting their observations and suggestions and outlining any difficulties that may arise during lessons. For evaluation purposes, the role of class representatives is to create an environment which favours more interaction between teachers and students. As a matter of fact, the Course Director is invited to periodically meet with these students, and at the end of the semester, discuss with them the general outcome of teaching. The Program Director can also, upon his own initiative, meet class representatives in order to check their opinions on the methods of the different courses in which the educational path is structured. Further details on the class representatives and on student representatives can generally be found on the Internet site at http://www.unibocconi.eu/ in "Students Reps and Student Associations";
• gathering opinions through questionnaires (generally distributed through an online procedure on the yoU@B Diary) includes different surveys taking place in specific periods of the student’s academic career:
  - mid-semester evaluation of teaching (so called "mid-term evaluation") carried out voluntarily by students at teacher's request, to gather information on the teaching quality and course progress and shedding light on any problems in a timely fashion which allows corrective action to be implemented before the end of the course;
  - end-semester evaluation of teaching carried out close to the end of lessons; it involves all curricular courses in the degree programs (including foreign languages and computer skills) and all students enrolled in them, no matter the course attendance (in case of no attendance or attendance in few lessons students must fill out a shorter questionnaire not including specific aspects involving the classroom activities);
  - evaluation of year of study progression (teaching and exams) carried out at the beginning of the academic year (starting with the second year)  to gather information on the students global opinion on the activities carried out in the previous year, on organizational aspects relating to them and on exams, on some elements involving the process of preparing for an exam and on exam results as well as logistical aspects; on this occasion students must also express their ideas on some University services (e.g. Orientation, Admissions Office. One-Stop Service Center)
  - evaluation of the overall university experience questionnaire, involving systematically all the students who are about to complete their studies (when making the graduation reservation). It is aimed at gathering information on students' global impressions regarding the quality and effectiveness of the program attended, on their study experience and on other support services (e.g. international mobility, Career Service, ISU Student Assistance and Financial Aid).