GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

Student performance evaluation includes exams and other assessment items that are designed to assess whether students have reached the required levels so that they can be awarded the credit points that correspond to the various educational activities. Assessment items are marked out of 30. Exams and assessment items are always individual.

Exams, like lessons, are based on the topics described in the course program that is available in 2 versions: the course profile and the course syllabus.

The course profile includes the main topics dealt with in the course and is divided into four distinct sections: Course Objectives, Course Content Summary, Textbooks and Detailed Description of Assessment Methods. Students can access the course profiles on the Bocconi Internet site at http://www.unibocconi.it/profiles where students can read, print or save the profiles on file by following the indications given on the site. To help students in choosing courses on the basis of the course contents, the course profiles are published on the site well before the start of lessons. Substantial variations to the course profiles are not envisaged during the year, except for some changes to the textbooks that may be made as a consequence of new publications or updated material that were not available when the profile was finalized.

The purpose of the course syllabus together with the information published online is to explain in more detail the topics covered. For every learning session of the course, if possible the reference materials necessary for an in-depth appreciation and consolidation of the concepts dealt with or referred to in lessons and assessment methods are specified and tutors are available (see paragraph 6.6). The course syllabus is prepared by the Course Directors in conjunction with the views of the Program Director. The syllabus is generally distributed during lessons and is also available from the secretary's office of the Institute responsible for the course. 

The assessment methods are indicated in a summarised form in the course profiles and are explained in detail in the course syllabuses. In addition, they are also explained by the teachers during lessons and posted in the notices issued by the Institute Secretariat responsible for the course.

The assessment methods may be different for attending and non attending students and/or some exams can only be taken by attending students.

Students are considered attending if they fulfil the course presence requirements as set by the instructor.

For courses that are taught in both Italian and English, written exams are presented in both languages so that students can choose the version according to the class group they attended.

Exams may be entirely written or entirely oral or a combination of a written exam with either an obligatory or optional oral part.

Generally the course assessment methods include both partial exams (one or more) and a single general exam.
Partial exams are not compulsory, although they are strongly recommended.

The results of partial exams are taken into account when calculating the final mark in order to be awarded the relative credit points; passing two partial exams can, if the assessment methods allow, be equivalent to passing the general exam.

Oral exams are open to the public, while for written exams (either general or partial exams) students are guaranteed the right to inspect their exam paper, which they are advised to do before the mark is registered.

Courses that are organised in modules may include assessment at the end of each module, although credit points are not awarded for each single module. Credit points are awarded for the whole course only when students have completed all the programmed modules.

With reference to courses that form part of the MSc programs (codes 8000-8999) it is important that exams are taken straight after the end of teaching. This is due to the fact that the overall mark is determined by a combination of the following assessment elements:

• active class participation;
• quality of individual assignments completed during the semester;
• quality of group assignments;
• result(s) of exam(s), written and/or oral (oral compulsory or optional) scheduled by the Course Director, that may take place during the course (partial exams) and/or at the end.

In fact, the education model adopted by the MSc degrees is characterised by teaching activities aiming to encourage interaction between students and teachers.
In addition to the traditional lessons, teaching also includes 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. Therefore, the written and/or oral exam merely represents the final element because the assessment process takes into account diverse elements.

The individual Course Director will decide on the availability of past exam papers, together with the correct answers. If a Course Director decides to distribute past exam papers, a copy is placed in either the University bookshop or with the relevant Institute Secretariat.
Students can photocopy this material on presentation of their ID card (which must be left as a deposit while they make copies).
Past exam papers released are available for 12 months, unless otherwise stipulated by the Course Director.

In order to sit exams and have marks registered/certificated students must register for exams written, oral and partial exams. Registration is carried out at any of the Punto Blu terminal or through Virtual Punto Blu up to the fourth last working day before the exam itself.

Registration for written, oral and partial exams can be carried out at any one of the Punto Blu terminals or through Virtual Punto Blu up to the fourth last working day before the exam itself.

The following days and periods are classified as non-working days and therefore are not included:

• Saturdays and Sundays;
• holidays and periods when the University is closed, as indicated below:
  
  - for 2007 1 and 2  November, 7 December and from 24 to 31 December;
  - for 2008 (up to the September period): 1 January, 24 March, 2 June.

To register for general exams and partial exams students must have paid the 1st instalment of the university fees and tuition and have no academic penalties.
To register, select IP exam registration: a list of the un-passed courses included in the study plan appears. Students should select the type of exam they want to register for (O = oral; S = written; I = partial exam). It is possible to register or cancel for the current date (first date available for that type of exam) or for the next date (second date available for that same type of exam), however, it is not possible to register for both at the same time.
If general exams (O or S) are on the same day as partial exams (one date only), students must choose between the exam types as it is not possible to register for both at the same time.
If the exam timetable shows both a date for the written exam and a date for the oral exam, students must register for both of them (even if they are on the same day). If students do not register for both of them, they cannot sit the exam.

In some cases when registering for an exam students will be asked to make a specific choice from among a group of alternatives ("registration to the groups"), for example "attending students", or integrative oral, etc. After selecting the type and date of exam for which they want to register/cancel, a window will automatically appear giving students the possibility of selecting the group they want to register for.
The registration/cancellation operation is carried out only if all confirmation prompts asked for by the system are given. If confirmation is not given, registration for the specific activity will NOT take place.

It is possible to display and print the operations carried out for all active exams (that is for the next exams scheduled at the transaction date) at Punto Blu terminals. In addition, students can display all the operations carried out over the last 90 days, including information regarding exams that have already been held.
If the system does not allow you to register for or cancel from an exam, it may be as a result of one of the following:

• the registration deadline has passed;
• the course is not included in the study plan;
• the exam has already been passed;
• the student is suspended for non-payment of university fees and taxes;
• the student does not have the right to sit the exam because the exam is scheduled before lessons finish (end of semester); this does not apply to partial exams.

When the registration to the session has closed, the above criteria will be checked again. If the criteria has not been met the student cannot sit the exam. Students who are suspended after registering for one or more exams and/or partial exams are sent a message on their yoU@B student diary and via SMS informing them that they cannot sit the exam. Students who clear up their position before registration closes have the right to sit the exam. Once students clear up their position they will receive a message via the above channels.

As far as partial exam registration is concerned, students have to follow the instructions given by the teachers and by the Institutes Secretariats responsible for the course. In some cases, for exam mark registration students are required to register for both the partial exam and the first exam session available after the partial exams while in some other cases registration for partial exams is enough.

The exam calendar and timetable for the period October 2007 - September 2008 are published in the second half of September 2007 on the University Internet site at http://www.unibocconi.it/examtimetable.

During the year the date or time of an exam session may be changed (only to a later date or time), in which case students do not need to re-register for the exam since their registration is automatically transferred to the new date/time.
Exam dates are updated daily on the Internet site, so that if the date or time is changed, the new date or time is displayed and students may check the original date or time of the exam session by clicking on the relative exam icons.

Personalised exam timetables can be printed out at any Punto Blu terminal and also from the yoU@B student diary, which can be accessed from the Bocconi homepage. Through yoU@B students can integrate their personalised exam timetable with the deadlines of other educational activities and/or personal interest activities, and organise and print all the information recorded in their diary for the desired period (daily, weekly, monthly etc.).
Changes to the exam timetable are displayed on the "Exam timetable changes" bulletin board located on the ground floor of the University building at via Sarfatti 25.
The different types of exams are identified in the exam timetable by the following letters:

• PI Partial exam
• S Written exam
• O Oral exam

Classroom allocation

The list of classrooms assigned for exams is generally published in the afternoon of the working day prior to the exam date, on the Internet site at http://www.unibocconi.it/classrooms.
 

They are also posted daily:

• on the ground floor of the University building in via Sarfatti 25 on the "Today's exams and activities" bulletin board;
• on the ground floor of the University building in piazza Sraffa 13, on the monitors and on the bulletin boards.

Students can also check exam dates and classroom allocations by mobile phone using the SMS Bocconi service.

Student allocation

If a breakdown of students in the classrooms is necessary for exams and partial exams, this is displayed online on the yoU@B  student diary; the subdivision is displayed on the bulletin boards "Exams - breakdown of students", located on the ground floor of the University buildings in via Sarfatti 25 and piazza Sraffa 13.

Students can sit all exam sessions if they satisfy the attendance requirements (the semester of the course included in the study plan must be finished) however, exams must be taken by and not after the last session of the academic year of enrolment (e.g. for the 2007/2008 academic year the last session is held in December 2008).

Lessons are suspended at mid-semester in both the first and second semester for 1st partial exams. 2nd partial exams are held at the end of the semester (*).

The dates of "partial exams" may coincide with the dates fixed for "general exams".

The exam calendar is organised in periods that do not coincide with the periods when lessons are held. In each period there is at least one session.

The exam periods and exam sessions (reference period: October 2007 - September 2008 for all undergraduate courses (codes 5000-5999) are scheduled as follows:

 Note

•  "Session" refers to both the exams of the current year and the previous years;
• prior to the January-February session 2008, there is an early session scheduled during the 10-21 December 2007 period for those students who are incoming (exchange and single courses for visiting students) in the first semester

 Please note that for the early session students CANNOT sit exams for previous year's courses.

For undergraduate courses (codes 6000-6999)  there are 4 sessions scheduled throughout the year. The exam periods and exam sessions (reference period: October 2007 - September 2008 are scheduled as follows:

Note

• The fourth exam session for II semester courses will be held in February 2009;
•  "session" refers to both the exams of the current academic year and the previous years;
• exam sessions for the foreign language courses are scheduled for: June, July, September, October/November 2008; January and April 2009. 

For all MSc programs related to Economics and Management (codes 8000-8999) 3 exam sessions scheduled during the year. Exam sessions are distributed as follows two at the end of the teaching semester and the third and last one are considered as repeat sessions. The exam periods and sessions are scheduled as follows:

Note

• "Session" refers to both exams of the current year and the previous years;
• the third session for II semester courses will be held in the  October - November 2008 period;
• the sessions for foreign languages will be held in: January, February, April, June, September 2008;
• in addition, prior to the January-February session 2008, there is an early session scheduled during the 10-21 December 2007 period , organized for those students who are incoming (exchange and single courses for visiting students) in the first semester.

Please note that for the early session students CANNOT sit exams for previous year's courses.

For  MSc programs  related to Law (codes 8000-8999) the exam periods are scheduled as follows:

• all compulsory courses have 4 exam sessions;
• elective courses that are the same as Master of Science programs related to Economics and Management have 3 sessions;
• foreign languages have 5 sessions.

Note

•  "Session" refers to both exams of the current year and the previous years;
• the fourth session for II semester courses will be held in the February 2009 period.
• the sessions for foreign languages will be held in: January, February, April, June, September 2008;
• in addition, prior to the January-February session 2008, there is an early session scheduled during the 10-21 December 2007 period , organized for those students who are incoming (exchange and single courses for visiting students) in the first semester

          Please note that for the early session students CANNOT sit exams for previous year's courses.

Examining boards are appointed by the Rector or one of his delegates and consist of at least two members, including a President, and are presided over by the Course Director. When necessary, examining boards may be divided into sub-examining boards.

Examining professors are: the Course Director and the official course teaching team, as indicated in the annual teaching activities program, together with those teaching assistants who have the necessary qualifications and have been proposed by the Course Director.

A mark of between 0 and 17 out of thirty is considered unsatisfactory.

A mark of between 18 and 30 out of thirty is considered satisfactory.

Exam commissions may award "lode" (cum laude) to students who obtain thirty out of thirty.

Exams that are awarded a satisfactory mark are considered to have been passed and cannot be retaken (whether they are partial exams or general exams).

Exams that are awarded an unsatisfactory mark are considered to have been failed and must therefore be repeated (this applies to both partial and general exams).

Students must come to exams equipped with their unofficial academic transcript and ID card as well as a valid proof of identity document (e.g. identity card, passport).

Students must sign in order to certify their presence at the exam (this does not refer to mark acceptance).

For written exams, students certify their presence by signing the exam paper.

For oral exams, students certify their presence by signing the appropriate documents used to register the exam mark*.

During exams students may decide to withdraw, in which case their papers are not considered valid and the exam result is not registered.

For written exams students are deemed to have withdrawn if they do not hand in their exam papers at the end of the exam, or if they hand in their exam papers with "withdrawn" written on them. For oral exams, students may only withdraw before the teacher declares the mark. Withdrawing from an exam is equivalent to not taking the exam.

Handing in written exam papers (whether they are partial or general exams) means accepting the mark the teacher gives the paper, no matter what it is.                    

*^{The exam record is indispensable for the mark registration and following mark certification. Students are advised to verify with the professor that the completion of the exam record is correct and complete.}               

Exams are official assessments which must be taken in full compliance with the rules.

During an examination students:

• cannot offer or receive any assistance from students or any other party, nor can they use notes unless authorized by the teacher;
• cannot attempt to obtain confidential information about the specific questions of the exam;
• cannot assume the identity of another nor allow others to assume their identity during an exam; nor can students present as their own a piece of work which has been copied, entirely or partially.

Violation of the above rules or the instructions given by the teacher during exams, is cause for cancellation of the exam, and the start of disciplinary procedures. The disciplinary sanctions applied in this University include:

• official warning;
• temporary ban from one or more courses;
• exclusion from one or more exams for one or two sessions;
• temporary suspension from the University and loss of exam sessions (not more than three years).

All disciplinary sanctions are registered in the student's scholastic records, written in the transfer form, and in all university documents used in determining the student's graduation mark. A disciplinary sanction more serious than a warning precludes any benefits (scholarships, housing etc.).

These rules do not substitute the university in the monitoring of the exams. The university will maintain strict exam procedures. At least one teacher will be physically present at each exam. The university moreover will do its best to ensure that the exams are taken in adequate rooms, with enough space and silence to allow students to concentrate. Teachers are required to set clear questions and to mark exams following clear rules, allowing students to show their ability and degree of understanding of the subject area

The final results of exams are recorded with a mark out of thirty and are registered in the student's academic career by the Student Administration Centre.
Each student's "Official academic" transcript contains all the exams chosen by the student, together with the date when the exam was passed, the marks and the credit points awarded for the exams that have been recorded.
The unofficial academic transcript contains only those exams that have been passed, that is the exams for which students have been awarded a sufficient mark.
Only the exams passed are certificated.