GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

To be admitted to the graduation session students must have gained all credits for the educational activities provided for in the program structure, except for the credit points for the final exam.

The degree is awarded when the final exam has been passed and at least 180 credit points have been earned.

The final paper for all the Bachelor Programs is worth of 2 credit points

The final paper preparation stages are the following:

• assignment;
• graduation reservation;
• submission of the final paper;
• admission to the graduation session and communication of the results;
• ceremony.

NOTICE see the "Guide for writing the Final Paper" published on the Guide to the University 2009-2010.

For each Bachelor Program additional information could be provided for in, for the peculiarity of the courses of the Program. Any additional information will be given by each Bachelor Program Director and will come out when writing the final paper  from the contact between Tutor Professor and student.

Università Bocconi offers a Final Paper Service structured as follows:

- in each Department the Service follows the student in the orientation phase. Graduating students can go to the Final Paper Service in the tutor Department of reference.
- in the Secretary's Office of the Undergraduate School (Via Roentgen Building, Rooms E3-01 and E3-02) the service helps the graduating students during the IT procedure management phase (inserting of the assignment and, once completed, the submission of the final paper).

The formal assignment of final papers can take place only after students have enrolled in the third year of studies.

In order to be assigned the Final Paper the student must print the "Choice of Final Paper title" form (for CLEAM, CLES, CLEF, BIEM, CLEACC students  or for CLSG students),have it signed by the tutor  and bring it to the Secretary's Office of the undergraduate School  to enter it in the IT procedure.

Assignment procedure

Graduating student must:

• download from the Bocconi website 2 copies of the "Choice of Final paper Title"form (for CLEAM, CLES, CLEF, BIEM, CLEACC students or for CLSG students);
• fill out the form by specifying his student ID number, Surname and Name, Degree Program, academic year, year of studies;
• go to the tutor to complete the form by specifying the final paper title, final paper language, tutor , tutor Department;
• go to the Secretary's Office of the Undergraduate School and hand in a copy of the completed form  (to be entered in the IT procedure) and keep the other copy. 
  
  

Final papers may be cancelled by the Secretary's Office of the Undergraduate School:

• if students request so;
• if the allotted time for the assignment has expired.

Students can make the graduation reservation via Punto Blu or Virtual Punto Blu by reserving a graduation session from the Graduation Calendar.

Students can sit exams during this period.  Students do not need to have passed all exams in order to make the graduation reservation.   Therefore they are advised to apply before submitting their final papers.

When making the graduation reservation, the system will check online that both the student's financial and administrative positions comply with the graduation session.

In addition, the system also checks that students:

• have been assigned a valid final paper title in the SOLF system;
• have paid the graduation fee (using  the MAV payment slip sent by the University to the permanent or temporary address);
• have valid qualifications for admission to the University.

Third-year students enrolled in the 2008-2009 a.y. who intend to graduate by the graduation session of December 2009, are not obliged to enrol in the 2009-2010 a.y.

When making the graduation reservation students :

• must also declare that they do not have any pending obligations with ISU and that do not have any outstanding obligations with the Library by the end of the graduation reservation.
• make any changes in their temporary addresses (i.e. the address where the degree diploma, - the DVD of the Graduation Ceremony and the Diploma Supplement should be sent if the graduate is not present at the Graduation Ceremony.)
  
  

After making the graduation reservation students are asked to fill in the following forms in the yoU@B student diary:

• the placement form which goes into a "CV Book". Following graduation this CV Book   will be sent to Bocconi contacts which include companies, public and private organizations as well as professional studios, with the aim of enhancing recruitment opportunities;
• the evaluation of university experience questionnaire, that forms part of a nation-wide survey aimed at gathering feedback on university study from graduating students.

Graduating students after interacting with their tutors for writing the final paper must enter the final paper abstract autonomously, have the approval by the tutors and hand in the approval and the final paper CD-ROM to the Secretary's Office of the Undergraduate School (Via Roentgen Building, Rooms E3-01 and E3-02).

Submission procedures
Graduating students:

1. should access the SOLFET - Servizio Lavori Finali e tesi (Final Paper and Thesis Service ) procedure and enter their final paper abstracts (which summarizes the final paper's main topic) autonomously. It is possible to make changes to the abstract by the deadline for making the graduation reservation.
2. download and print (two copies) the approval form (for the submission of the final paper) which is generated by the SOLFET  procedure. This form includes:
   - Final paper title;
   - Name of tutor ;
   - Tutor's Department;
   - abstract of the final paper
3. Fill out and print declaration of conformity (i.e. that the contents of the CD ROM conform to what the student has written and approved by the tutor);
4. submit:
   • the approval form for the final paper submission to the tutor who checks if the abstract is correct and make any changes to the title of the final paper and sign the form;
   • hand in to the tutor, if the tutor request it, copy of the Final Paper in paper or in electronic format;
   • hand in to the Secretary's Office of the Undergraduate School (Via Roentgen Building, Rooms E3-01 and E3-02) the approval signed  by the tutor and the final paper CD-ROM following the formatting specifications indicated in the following paragraph and the final paper PDF file;
5. pick up the receipt of the final paper submission.

Third parties can submit the final paper but only under presentation of their ID, delegating paper and complete copy of the ID of the graduating student.

Submission is considered to be final. Once the final paper has been submitted, no requests for any modifications of any type will be accepted.
The deadlines for submitting final papers are indicated on the Graduation Calendar.

Each Department sets the maximum period of time from assignment to submission; this period cannot be greater than 6 months.

• Paper size: cm 29x21 (A4)
• Lines per page: from 26 to 30 lines
• Recommended font: Arial/Tahoma/Verdana
• Font size (body):12 points
• Pages numbered
• Cover sheet including: student ID, surname/family name, name, Bachelor Program, final paper title and tutor

It is not possible to use the Università Bocconi seal on the cover sheet or within the Final Report.

After the period for submitting the thesis has closed, the Student Administration Centre will verify that:

• the final paper has been uploaded into the procedure;
• all educational activities provided for in the student's study plan have been recorded in the academic career (with the exception of the credit points relative to the final paper);
• students do not have any pending obligations with  ISU;
• students do not have any outstanding obligations with the Library.
  

Final papers will be submitted to the Degree Board for assessment only if all of the criteria to graduate above are fulfilled.

Students will receive notification of acceptance to graduation via an online message sent to their http://www.unibocconi.it/agenda student diaries. This message will also contain the student's GPA.

If students for any reason wish to withdraw from the reserved graduation session, they have to cancel their graduation reservation by handing in the renouncement in writing to the Teaching Services and Organization Desk. In order to graduate in a later graduation session they must re-submit the graduation reservation within the time-frame provided for by the Graduation Calendar.

After reserving a graduation session students can no longer enrol in the new academic year unless they cancel the graduation session that they have reserved. This must be done by handing in the renouncement in writing to the Teaching Services and Organization Desk.

The graduation grade is awarded by the Degree Board. Students are not required to make an oral dissertation of their final paper.

The Degree Boards are appointed by the Rector or by his delegates, and are presided over by a tenured professor. The Boards are comprised of professors, researchers and experts in the subject of the final paper.

The Boards are made up of at least 3 members, shared out as follows: 2 teachers, one of which is elected President, from the Department which has supervised the final papers, and a teacher outside the Department.

Calculation of the graduation grade:

•  Grade Point Average, weighted on the credit point values and converted into a mark out of 110, of all the "educational activities with marks expressed out of 30" indicated  in the study plan,

to which is added:

• from 0 to 4 points (out of 110) for the assessment of the "quality of the final paper";
• 1 point (out of 110) for:

-    participation in a curricular internship and/or

-    participation in the International Exchange Program (if student received credit for at least one exam passed abroad).

Points earned for both activities are not cumulative.

With reference to the "GPA" it should be noted that:

• a mark of 30 "cum laude"is expressed as 31;
• a maximum of 2 additional exams are taken into consideration (in cases where students have passed more than 2 additional exams, the  2 best results will be used);
• if students have passed exams at other Italian or foreign universities with a mark not expressed out of 30, it is converted on the basis of a specific conversion table.

With reference to the quality of the final paper it should be noted that:

• 4 points (out of 110) are awarded for excellent work;
• 3-2 points (out of 110) for good work;
• 1-0 points (out of 110) for satisfactory work (final papers that are judged to be unsatisfactory cannot be presented).

Based on the points proposed by the teacher following the final paper   the Board assesses the quality of the final paper.

The minimum graduation grade is 66 and the maximum grade is 110. The Board calculates the rounding of the graduation grade; if the decimal is equal to or higher than 5, then the graduation grade is rounded up, if the decimal is lower than 5 it is rounded down.

The Degree Board may unanimously award lode (cum laude) only if the total of the 3 elements used to calculate the graduation grade is greater than or equal to 111.

The graduation ceremonies are generally organized according to Bachelor Program and are led by the Program Director or his/her delegate in the presence of the graduates and their families and friends. At the ceremony graduates are awarded their degree diplomas.
If the graduate is unable to attend the ceremony, the degree diploma will be sent to the mailing address provided when making the graduation reservation.
The Graduation Ceremony Calendar can be consulted on the website in the section dedicated to graduations www.unibocconi.it/graduationcalendar).

The Graduation Calendar is displayed on the bulletin board of the Student Administration Centre, located on the ground floor of the University building at via Sarfatti 25 and the University Internet site at www.unibocconi.it/graduationcalendar. The following information is given:

• dates of Degree Board meetings;
• period for reserving the graduation session;
• deadline for submission of the final paper;
• deadline for taking the last exam;
• date of the graduation ceremony .