GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

 

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 there can be different methods for attending students and non attending ones. In some cases, faculty members can adopt a procedure to record student attendance online.

As for the continuous innovations in the teaching methods adopted, using personal computer might be a condition essential to attend lessons of some courses, therefore each student should be equipped with a personal laptop. 

The educational activities are organized into class groups. For the 2015-2016 academic year, the class group assigned for WBB Program is the number 24, including about 45 students. In addition to courses reserved to them, WBB program students share some courses with students enrolled in the second year BIEM program and with third year BIEMF stuents.

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 general course profiles are published on the Bocconi website at www.unibocconi.eu/courses.

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.

The timetable slot 1-2:30 pm on Friday, in both the first semester and in in the second one, is 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.

Students can view the personalized class timetable and the daily timetable from the student Diary once they are regularly enrolled in the current academic year.

The teaching activities for the 2015-2016 academic year will follow the schedule below:

• Monday 31 August to Friday 4 September 2015: first day of activities, is dedicated to "Welcome Week" the presentation of the program by the Dean of the Undergraduate School and by the Directors of the Bachelor of Science Program.
• First semester
  • From Monday 7 September 2015 to Friday 4 December 2015: teaching activities in class.
  • From Monday 8 February 2016 to Friday 13 May 2016

• II semester:
  
  • from Monday 8 February 2016 to Friday 13 May 2016.

Please note that language lessons begin on 7 September 2015 in first semester and on 8 February 2016 in second semester, just like all other courses.

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

• Friday 16 October 2015;
• Saturday 17 October 2015;
• Friday 11 December 2015;
• Saturday 12 December 2015;
• Wednesday 6 April 2016.
• Thursday 7 April 2016
• Friday 8 April 2016

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

• I semester: from Monday 19 October 2015 to Tuesday 27 October 2015;
• II semester: from Monday 21 March 2016 to Tuesday 5 April 2016.

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

• Monday 7 December 2015;
• Tuesday 8 December 2015;
• From Thursday 24 March to Tuesday 29 March 2016;
• Monday 25 April 2016;
• Thursday 2nd June 2016.  

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.

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 2015-2016 academic year (available in September.

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 fourth 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 etc).