GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

Assessment methods such as exams and tests are designed to assess the students' required level of preparation in order to be awarded the credit points for the various educational activities. Assessment items are marked out of thirty (exams) or given a pass/fail grade and are always individual.

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

The course profile includes the main topics dealt with in the courses and is divided into 4 distinct sections: Course Objectives, Course Content Summary, Textbooks and Detailed Description of Assessment Methods and were applicable, prerequisites. Students can access the course profiles on the Bocconi Internet site at www.unibocconi.it/profiles. To help students in choosing elective 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 "Tutors"). 
The course syllabus is prepared by the Course Director in conjunction with the views of the Program Director. The syllabus is generally distributed during lessons and generally is available online (yoU@B Student Diary, in the course profile, e-learning).

The assessment methods are indicated in a summarized form in the course profiles and are explained further in the course syllabus.  They are also explained by the teachers during lectures and generally available online.
The assessment methods may be different for attending and non-attending students. Furthermore, some exams can only be taken by attending students.
Students are considered "attending" if they fulfil the course attendance requirements established by the teacher.

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

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

The results of partial exams are taken into account to pass the complete exam and to be awarded the 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.

For courses with multi-class groups in the same  program, the exams are organized in the same way.

It is important to always check how exam marks are registered  either with the teacher or with the secretary's office of the Department  (whether or not it is necessary to register for other exams to complete the requirement, etc) and to check the expiration date of the mark of those written exams that are followed by an oral exam.

The 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 he can do it through the following channels:

• The Teaching box, in the yoU@B student Diary;
• His own Personal Page
• The e-learning platform.

The exam timetable is organized in periods that do not coincide with the periods when lessons are held. Each exam period consists of one or more sessions.
The exam timetable (October 2010 - September 2011) allocates 4 exam sessions for all courses and when necessary also includes partial exams. For foreign language courses 6 exam sessions are scheduled.

Students can take exams in all sessions as long as they satisfy the attendance requirements (the semester of  lessons in the study plan must be finished).

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 of lessons (1st semester course exams are held after the Christmas holidays). 
The dates of partial exams may or may not coincide with the dates fixed for general exams.

The exam periods and exam sessions (reference period: October 2010 - September 2011) for the 5-year Combined Bachelor and Master of Science in Giurisprudenza [Law] (CLMG) are scheduled as follows:

Note

• "session" refers to both the exams of the current academic year and the previous years;
• the fourth exam session for II semester courses will be held in February 2012;
• exam sessions for the foreign language courses are scheduled for: October/November 2010; January , April, June, July, September 2011;
• If students choose a course relating to the Master of Science programs as an elective course, they must follow the exam calendar of such Study Program. An additional exam session has been scheduled in December (13-22 December 2010), for 1^st semester courses, reserved for students who:
  1. are participating in: Exchange and Free Mover programs in the 2nd semester 2010/2011 academic year;
  2. are participating in the Campus Abroad (Winter) program;
  3. are Incoming 1st semester (Exchange and single courses for visiting students);
  4.are participating internships abroad or in Italy in January/February 2011 period.
  5. Are participating in the Moot Program.        
  Please note that for the additional exam session:
• only those students whose teaching activities described in points 1,2,3,4 and 5 will start before the end of the February exam period (12 February 2011) are admitted to participate in such session
• students CANNOT sit exams for previous year's courses which have not yet been passed.

There is NO overlapping between compulsory course exam sessions of the same year and same degree program; therefore no two exams on the same day are usually scheduled.
Such overlapping rule refers only to compulsory courses of the year in which the student is enrolled and do not refer to previous years' exams which have not been passed yet and/or elective courses.

The exam timetable for the October 2010 - September 2011 period is published in the second half of September 2010 on the University Internet site at www.unibocconi.eu/examtimetable.
During the year the timetable 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 timetable.
Exam dates are updated daily on the Internet site, so that if the timetable is changed, the new date or time is displayed and students may check the original timetable of the exam session by clicking on the appropriate exam icons.
In addition, any changes to the exam timetable can be viewed on the yoU@B student Diary.

Personalized exam timetables can be printed at Punto Blu and from the yoU@B student Diary. Via yoU@B students can integrate their personalized exam timetable with the deadlines of other educational activities or personal interest activities, and organize and print all the information recorded in their diary for the desired period (daily, weekly, monthly etc).

The different types of exams are identified in the exam timetable by the following letters:

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

Students can check the classroom assigned for their exam via yoU@B student Diary as a general guide in the afternoon of the working day prior to the exam date.

If the exam is held in more than one classroom, students are allocated following criteria set by the Department the course refers to.

In any case the classroom published on the yoU@B student Diary is the one the student has to go to to sit for the exam.

The list of classrooms assigned for exams is also published on the website (following the same timelines explained above) at www.unibocconi.eu/classrooms.

It is 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.

Classrooms and student allocation are 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.

Registration for written, oral and partial exams can be carried out at 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 2010: 7 and 8 December and from 24 to 31 December;
  - for 2011 (up to the September exam period): 1 January,6 January, 25 April, 2 June.

To register for exams and partial exams students must have paid the university fees and tuition and have no academic penalties. After accessing, via yoU@B to the Punto Blu, students must select Exams>Exam Sessions function where they can find a list of courses not yet been passed included in the study plan and the exam sessions.
By clicking on the appropriate icon besides an exam session students can carry out the following operations:
- Register for an exam
- Cancel an exam registration
If the exam calendar includes different types of exams on a same date for a course code, students must choose  the exam type they want to register for.
If  the exam timetable shows both a date for the written exam and a date for the oral exam, students must register for both (even if they are on the same day). If students do not register, 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 (for example "attending students"). 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 confirmation prompt asked for by the system is 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 at Punto Blu terminals. By using the function Exam>Exam Sessions by clicking on the appropriate icon besides the selected session.

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 tuition;
• 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 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.

Examining boards are appointed by the Rector or one of his delegates and consist of at least 2 members, including a President, and are presided over by the Course Director. When necessary, examining boards may be divided into sub-boards.

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

Students will generally sit exams with the teacher(s) of their assigned class group if they take the exam in the first exam period after the end of the course. In successive exam sessions, exams may also be organized in various class groups, in which case student may sit exams with either a teacher or teachers of one of the class groups, or with an expert in the subject. The class group may not be the same as that  assigned to the students.

Students must come to exams equipped with:

• unofficial academic transcript;
• personalized Bocconi ID card;
• valid proof of identity document (e.g. identity card).

Students must sign in 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 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 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.

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;
• cannot keep mobile phones on their desks.
  

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 more periods;
• temporary suspension from the University and loss of exam periods (not more than three years).

All disciplinary sanctions are registered in the student's academic career, written in the transfer form, and in all university documents used in determining the student's graduation grade. 

A disciplinary sanction more serious than a warning precludes any student 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 allowing students to show their ability and degree of understanding of the subject area.

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.
Examining boards may award "lode" (cum laude) to students who obtain thirty out of thirty (30/30).
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 taken again.

The results of written exams are available from the Secretary's Office of the Department responsible for the courses.
The results are also generally published on the Bocconi Internet site, where they can be accessed via the yoU@B student diary. Marks are communicated for informational purposes only, therefore once the result of an exam has been registered, students are advised to check that it has been correctly recorded in their academic career by using the Administrative Area>Certifications menu at Punto Blu terminals.

In addition, if students have entered their mobile phone number in the yoU@B Diary, results are also sent via the SMS Bocconi Service.

The final results of exams are recorded with a mark out of thirty and are registered in the student's academic career by the Office for Study Planning Program.

The exams of courses subdivided in modules are considered passed, and may be recorded in the academic career and certified, only after passing both exams of which the course is made up. The final grade is obtained by the grade point average (compared to the credits of each module) of the two marks achieved.

Each student's "Official academic" transcript contains all the exams included in the study plan, together with the date when the exam was passed, the marks, the credit points awarded and subject groups for the exams that have been recorded.

The unofficial academic transcript contains all the exams, including those that have been passed, that is the exams for which students have been awarded a sufficient mark. The positive partial mark achieved in the exams of each module (if included in the program structure) can be viewed. Such document (NOT valid as certification) is valid only within the University (e.g. ISU Scholarship ranking, exchanges, etc.).

Only passed exams are certified.

For the first and second foreign language courses, a list of international language certifications (the mark will be converted into a mark out of thirty) are recognized as an alternative to Bocconi exams.
For more detailed information see "Method of assessing foreign language knowledge".

The Grade Point Average (GPA) is calculated by the mathematical average weighted on the credit point values of all courses with marks expressed out of thirty recorded in the student's academic career.

A mark of 30 "cum laude" is awarded the value 31.

A maximum of 2 additional exams can be included in the calculation of the GPA. If a student has passed more than 2 additional exams, the 2 best results are considered.

The exams ratified for students transferring from other Italian universities are assigned the mark awarded by the university where the exam was originally taken.
 

The exams ratified for students transferring from universities abroad are assigned the mark awarded by the university where the exam was originally taken. If the original marks are expressed in different numerical scales or in letters, they are converted to marks out of thirty on the basis of the specific conversion table.
 

The exams taken at other universities that have an agreement with Università Bocconi are assigned the mark awarded by the university where the exam was originally taken. If the original marks are expressed in different numerical scales or in letters, they are converted to marks out of thirty on the basis of the specific conversion table.

In order to guarantee that students acquire advanced knowledge it is essential that they have a solid preparation, therefore for some courses prerequisites are required. Exam sequence indicates the sequence that must be followed in preparing exams and obliges students to pass some exams before sitting for others.

Students can sit for prerequisite exams in the same period of exams. At the end of every exam period checks will be carried out  to ensure that the regulations have been adhered to. Any exams taken in breach of the sequence will be annulled.

The tables of prerequisites referring to the different initial enrolment years are presented below. 

In addition, for the first foreign language the first-year exam is a prerequisite of the second-year exam and the second-year exam is a prerequisite of the fourth-year exam.

It should also be noted that the complete ECDL certification is the prerequisite of exam of Informatica per Giurisprudenza [Computer skills for legal studies], positioned in the first semester of the second year (see "Computer Skills").

For those courses that do not have any prerequisites students are advised to follow the sequence of the teaching activities for the exams (first or second semester, years of studies of the courses).

Furthermore, in order to continue studies in the second year, students must have earned a minimum of 24 credits in the first year of studies by the July exam period (see "Administrative procedures, regulations and deadlines").

• with reference to the above-mentioned activities abroad, students can receive credit for a maximum of 30 CP for  the Exchange Program,Themis and  Free-Mover Semester Program;
• students cannot take part in more than one of the following programs as part of the Combined Bachelor and MSc Program: Exchange, Themis, Free-Mover Semester;
• credit can be granted for both compulsory (except for those included in the list below)and elective exams - either in full or after integration of part of the program;
  
• List of compulsory courses which cannot be recognized if taken abroad.  

(*) Exams passed as part of the Campus Abroad Program do not come under the "Credit for exams passed at universities abroad" section, as they are Bocconi courses.

Credit recognition for exams taken as part of the Exchange,Themis and  Free-Mover Semester is not usually automatic and depends on the following credit approval procedure.

To obtain approval, students seeking credit must present the course program before departure to the Course Director of the corresponding Bocconi course.
If the elective courses do not correspond to any courses offered by Università Bocconi, students must apply to the Program Director or one of his/her delegates before departure. This is limited to particular cases.

In case of courses automatically recognized (see the lost published at www.ir.unibocconi.eu/exchange) students have not to follow the above procedure.

To start the credit approval procedure students should contact the Markets and External Affairs Division which will receive the academic transcript from the host university abroad. Based on this document and the student's request, the "Summarized credit approval report" and "Individual exam report" will be prepared. These will be used for exam conversion.

Students must go to the Course Director of the Bocconi equivalent course (or the Program Director or his/her delegate for courses that do not have a Bocconi equivalent) with the "Summarized credit approval report" and "Individual exam report" in order to have the exam mark recorded. Exam registration via Punto Blu is not necessary.

The Course Director (or the Program Director or his/her delegate) will send the "Individual exam report" to the Office for Study Planning Program.

Once this process has been completed students hand in the "Summarized credit approval report" to theMarkets and External Affairs Division. They will then go to the Academic Affairs Division Desk to make any elective course changes that have not yet been included in the study plan.

The normal credit approval procedure does not apply to some courses (indicated on the Internet site at http://www.ir.unibocconi.eu/exchange). These courses are automatically recognized. Therefore, it is not necessary to submit the course profile before departure to the Course Director or Program Director or one of his/her delegates. Nor is it necessary to submit the individual exam report to have the course registered.

Credit is granted for all exams taken as part of the Campus Abroad Program.
On completion of the program, Academic Affairs Division sends a list of students who have passed exams along with marks to the Office for Study Planning Program.The course is automatically registered in the student's academic career, if it conforms to the program structure regulations.