GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

In addition to traditional lessons, teaching for mainly MSc courses may also include case study discussions, practical exercises for which students are asked to prepare beforehand and active class participation. Teachers can also assign individual and/or groups assignments, if necessary assisted by a tutor.

Student workload is expressed in credit points. Each credit point corresponds to an average of 25 hours work for the student, 8 of which are dedicated to classroom teaching activities. Such activities include:

• for undergraduate programs a maximum 2 additional hours of complementary learning activities for each credit point. These complementary learning activities are practical exercises and other class activities that do not add new topics to the course content;
• for MSc programs a maximum of 2 hours where the class group is split into 2 smaller groups for each credit point.

Attendance at lessons is not compulsory however is strongly recommended since it is consistent with the proposed educational model designed to favour gradual learning, the active participation of students in class and the creation of a dialogue between students and teachers. For some courses the assessment methods may be different for attending and non attending students.

The educational activities are organised into class groups.

Each class group is assigned a specific classroom.

All students belonging to the same class group follow the lessons in their assigned 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 methods), the class groups are divided into smaller groups (the number of these class groups is between 51 and 99). Students are recommended to follow the indications given by teachers during lessons and to consult the Institute bulletin boards that display the smaller group sign up methods and the relative educational activities of these groups.

Some courses, in addition to the assigned class groups, may include one or more class groups that apply specific teaching methodology. Among the most common of these are the "LearningSpace" method or lessons taught in English, usually by visiting professors.

The list of such classes together with any sign-up methods (extra activity codes, sign-up deadlines and number of places available) will be posted well in advance on the "General Notices" bulletin board which is located on the ground floor of the University building at via Sarfatti 25, and will also be published on the Internet at http://www.unibocconi.it/classtimetable. In addition, the student may consult the yoU@B student diary for a list of activities to which he may sign up.

Students admitted to these class groups receive confirmation through a personal message in their yoU@B student diary. Students who attend "LearningSpace" class groups will be authorized to follow the online course. Further information on authorization for the class groups can be obtained either from the secretary's office of each Institute or can be read on the Internet site at http://www.unibocconi.it/weblearning.

The class timetable and relative changes are posted on the dedicated bulletin boards, which are located on the ground floor of the University buildings at Piazza Sraffa 13 and Via Sarfatti 25. In the same place students can also find the computer skills bulletin boards.

It is possible to print the class timetable for the whole semester or the class timetable for individual courses from the website at http://www.unibocconi.it/classtimetable^*.

There are two options:

• in order by code
• in alphabetical order.

The personalised class timetable can be displayed and printed from the yoU@B student diary.

The start of lessons for the 2007-08 a.y. will follow the schedule below:

• First semester:
  - from 12 September to 21 December 2007 Undergraduate courses (codes 5000-6999);
  - from 17 September to 21 December 2007 MSc courses (codes 8000-8999); 
• Second semester:
  - 18 February to 29 May 2008 MSc courses (codes 8000-8999);
  - 18 February to 6 June 2008 Undergraduate courses (codes 5000-6999)

* N.B.: Students are advised to always make sure that they are checking the information that relates to their assigned class group for each course. The assigned class group is indicated on the enrolment receipt.

On the graduation days, listed below, lessons in all courses for all programs are suspended:

• Friday 5 October 2007;
• Saturday 6 October 2007;
• Friday 14 December 2007;
• Saturday 15 December 2007;
• Thursday 27 March 2008;
• Friday 28 March 2008;
• Friday 30 May 2008.

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

• For all the undergraduate courses (codes 5000-6999)
  
  - I semester: from Thursday 25 October 2007 to Saturday 10 November 2007;
  - II semester: from Monday 14 April 2008 to Thursday 24 April 2008.
  
  
• For all the MSc courses (codes 8000-8999)
  
  - I semester: from Monday  29 October  2007 to Saturday 10 November 2007;
  - II semester: from Monday 14 April 2008 to Thursday 24 April 2008.
  

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

• Thursday 1 November and Friday 2 November 2007;
• Friday 7 December 2007;
• From Friday 21 March to Wednesday 26 March 2008;
• Friday 25 April 2008;
• Thursday 1 May and Friday 2 May 2008;
• Monday 2 June 2008.

The Course Director appoints tutors after receiving approval from the Director of the associated Institute. Tutors are teachers who provide support to students, either individually or in small groups, with regard to the understanding and learning of the subjects dealt with during lessons. Tutoring is only provided for some courses.
It is important to underline that tutors:

• are not responsible for the exercises already contained in the course program for students, but that they are available for activities that are complementary to the subjects dealt with in the course; such activities may be exercises;
• do not replace the consultations between students and course teachers that continue to be available to promote student-teacher integration.

Tutoring is carried out under the supervision of the Course Director and normally through the Institute that runs the course, and is subject to student evaluation as part of the teaching evaluation program. More information about courses and the relative tutoring services (names of tutors, student consultation hours and location) can be found on the "Tutors" bulletin board situated on the first floor of the University building at via Sarfatti 25.
The list of courses that offer a tutoring service can also be found on the University Internet site http://www.unibocconi.it/tutordidattici (Italian version).

For some MSc courses (codes 8000-8999) tutoring is proposed by the Course Director and approved by the Program Director. This type of tutoring includes support for groups of students working on case studies, realisation of the projects, in class practical exercises, and management of the online community. It could also involve lectures that require the use of software ad hoc.

The opportunity to consult teachers is designed to integrate the dialogue that students establish with their teachers during the educational activities carried out in the classroom.
These meetings give students the opportunity to ask for further explanations or clarification of the topics that were not understood in depth during the lessons.
The scheduling of these meetings is displayed on the Institute bulletin boards and can also be found on the Internet site at http://www.unibocconi.it/ricevimentodocenti (Italian version) or in the yoU@B student diary, which provides a direct link to the page.