GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

The final paper is a concise paper written in either Italian or English (DIEM students must write it  in English). It develops a topic which may be purely theoretical or supported by empirical evidence, taking as a starting point work experience (internships) or study periods in Italy or abroad (preferably abroad for DIEM students).

For the program requirements of:

• CLEA, CLAPI, CLEFIN, CLELI, CLEACC, DES, CLEMIT the final paper is worth 6 credit points;
• DIEM the final paper is worth 10 credit points;
• CLSG the final paper is worth 4 credit points.
  
  

As a general guide, the paper is around 30 pages and may require about one month of work.

The contents of the final paper must be related to one of the subject areas of the Università Bocconi Institutes. However, it does not necessarily have to be related to one of the courses in the student's study plan.

Final papers are written under the supervision of a tutor.
If students want to base their final papers on either an internship or a period of study abroad, the tutor and student must agree on the topic before the student starts to write the final paper.

The final paper preparation stages are the following:

• orientation;
• final paper reservation (if required by the Institute);
• assignment;
• cancellation;
• submission.
  

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.

Every Institute offers a Final Paper Service (SOLF - Servizio Orientamento Lavoro Finale)   which is responsible for:

• coordinating orientation activities for students on possible topics for final papers and teachers who are available as tutors;
• supervising the IT procedure for final papers.
  
  

The online orientation application is available on the website at http://www.unibocconi.it/solf, where students can also see the names of SOLF contact teachers.

NOTICE: See the updating in use starting from the Graduation Session of July 2008.

Some Institutes manage both the reservation and assignment phases of final papers online. Students can reserve the final papers through the IT procedure. All those final papers that have been reserved will not be available for other students.

Alternatively, some Institutes opt for direct contact with students because they do not offer online reservation, and as a consequence the registration of final papers is part of the assignment phase.

NOTICE: See the updating in use starting from the Graduation Session of July 2008.

NOTICE: See the updating in use starting from the Graduation Session of July 2008.

This phase is divided into 3 parts.

Graduating students:

1. When final papers are nearing completion, they should access the SOLFET - Servizio Lavori Finali e tesi ( Final Paper and Thesis Service ) procedure and enter their final paper abstracts autonomously.
   
   
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;
   - declaration of conformity (i.e. that the contents of the CD ROM conform to what the student has written and approved by the tutor);
3. submit, by the deadline for the graduation session:

• the approval form for the final paper submission to the tutor
• the approval signed  by the tutor to the Secretary's Office of the Department to which the tutor belongs
• the final paper in electronic format to the Secretary's Office of the Department which will issue a submission receipt. 
  

For the July 2008 graduation session students who wish to submitt their Final Paper from 11 to 17 June 2008, must go to the Servizio Ritiro Lavori Finali in the Velodromo lobby  (opening hours: 9.00am-4.00pm) with:

- Final Paper Cd Rom;
- Copy of the approval signed by the Tutor.

(The approval signed by the Tutor must always be handed in to the Secretary's Office of the Department of the tutor before submitting the final paper).

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.

Instructions for the submission of the Final Report to SOLF Secretaries

1. The Final Report must be submitted to SOLF in electronic format on disk or CD-ROM.
2. If the Final Report size is less than 1.44 MB it can be submitted on disk (floppy) or CD-ROM.
   If the Final Report size is greater than 1.44 MB it must only be submitted on CD-ROM.
3. The Final Report must be submitted in one complete file only in PDF format, and the name of the file is LF followed by the student ID e.g. if the student ID is 1234567 the name of the file is LF1234567.PDF
4. Students must attach a label to the disk (floppy), or to the CD-ROM cover, including, clearly printed and in BLOCK LETTERS: student ID, surname/family name and name.
5. Students, in addition to the electronic copy of the Final Report submitted to SOLF, may by request of the tutor; have to submit to the same tutor a printed or electronic copy of the Final Report.

If students have to submit a printed copy of their Final Report they must respect the following formatting specifications:

• 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, undergraduate degree, final report title and tutor

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

Final papers may be cancelled by SOLF:

• 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 reminded 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.
Third-year students enrolled in the 2006-2007 a.y. who intend to graduate:

• by the graduation session of December 2007, are not obliged to enrol in the 2007-2008 a.y.;
• in the 1st graduation session after December 2007, are obliged to enrol in the 2007-2008 a.y. and to pay the 1st installment of University fees and tuition;
• in the 2nd graduation session after December 2007, are obliged to enrol in the 2007-2008 a.y. and to pay the 1st and 2nd installments of University fees and tuition;
• from  the 3rd graduation session after December 2007 on, are obliged to enrol in the 2007-2008 a.y. and pay the total amount of university fees and tuition.
  
  

Third-year students enrolled in the 2007-2008 a.y. who intend to graduate by the graduation session of December 2008 are not obliged to enrol in the 2008-2009 a.y.

In addition, the system also checks that students:

• have been assigned a 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.
  
  

Students must also declare that:

• they do not have any pending obligations with ISU;
• they will not have any outstanding obligations with the Library by the end of the graduation session.
  
  

The application to graduate allows students to:

• view the titles of their final papers;
• 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.)
  
  

All "educational activities not expressed as a mark out of thirty and all other elements in the students academic career" are registered automatically in the "Student's Academic Career" database and will be placed in the graduation folder. Therefore, students do not have to hand in any documents to the Student Administration Centre.

Students are asked to fill in the following forms in the yoU@B student diary by the set deadline :

• the placement form, which is available one day after the graduation reservation has been made, 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. The survey is made available after the graduation reservation has been made, i.e. one month before the deadline for making the graduation reservation.
  

Once the period for making the graduation reservation has ended, the Student Administration Centre will verify that:

• the final paper has been uploaded into the system;
• 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.
  

Students will receive notification of acceptance to graduation via an online message sent to their yoU@B student diaries. This message will also contain the student's GPA and score for educational activities not expressed out of 30.

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

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 Examining Board. Students are not required to make an oral dissertation of their final paper.
The Examining 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 4 members, shared out as follows: 3 teachers from the Institute which has handled with the final papers, one of them takes the President role, and a teacher extraneous to the Institute.

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"  which are foreseen 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";
• from 0 to 2 points (out of 110) for the "time required to graduate";
• from 0 to 2 points (out of 110) for assessment of the "educational activities not expressed in a mark out of 30 and for all the other relevant elements in the student's academic career".
  
  

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, their 2 best results will be used);
• if students have passed exams at other Italian or foreign universities with a mark that is not expressed out of 30, the mark is converted to a mark out of 30 on the basis of a specific conversion table.
  
  

With reference to the "quality of the final paper":

• 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 sufficient work (final papers that are judged to be insufficient cannot be presented).
  
  

Based on the points proposed by the tutor, the Board assesses the quality of the final paper.

With reference to the "time taken to graduate".

• 2 points (out of 110) are awarded for degrees obtained within the standard program duration; more specifically by the last graduation session of the third year of the program;
• 1 point (out of 110) is awarded for degrees obtained not more than 1 year after the standard program duration;
• 0 points (out of 110) are awarded for degrees obtained more than 1 year after the normal standard program duration.
  
  

With reference to "educational activities not expressed in a mark out of 30 and for all the other  elements in the student's academic career", a maximum of 2 points can be awarded in the following way:

• 1 point (out of 110) for:
  -  participation in the International Exchange Program (if student received credit for one exam passed abroad);
  -  participation in an internship or a similar program, in Italy or abroad, that lasted  at least 3 months.
  
  
• 0.5 points (out of 110) for:
  -  participation in the Free-Mover Semester Program (if student received credit for at least one exam passed abroad);
  -  Computer skills certificate of a higher level than the level foreseen by the program requirements, namely the complete ECDL;
  -  an international foreign language certification of a higher level than the exit level foreseen by the program requirements, which is recognized by the University (see 3.3.4: "International certifications") and which must be approved by the Language Centre;
  -  positive participation, attested to by the teacher, for foreign language and cultural courses (e.g. Arab, Chinese, etc; see paragraph 3.8.1);
  -  internships or similar activities in Italy or abroad that lasted between 2 to 3 months.
  
  
• 0.25 points (out of 110) for:
  - participation in the Campus Abroad Program (if student received credit for one exam passed abroad see paragraph 3.5.2);
  - positive participation in a library research course (organized by the University Library; see paragraph 3.8.1);
  -  active  participation in a course organized by CESDIA, from among those declared valid at the start of the academic year (see paragraph 3.8.1);
  -  active  participation in a Sapere a tutto campo interdisciplinary course, from among those declared valid at the start of the academic year (see paragraph 3.8.1);
  -  active  participation in the In-Company Training Program organized by the Career Service (see paragraph 3.7).
  
  

With reference to "educational activities not expressed in a mark out of 30 and for all the other elements in the student's academic career":

• 2 points may be cumulated by adding together the activities of different subsections.
  
  

It is not possible to add together points for activities which form part of the same subsection 2 or more times. For example:

• it is possible to obtain 0.5 points (out of 110) for a foreign language course and another 0.5 points (out of 110) for an internship that lasted less than 3 months;
• it is possible to attend different foreign language and cultural courses, however only 0.5 points (out of 110) will be awarded;
• internships can only be considered once, even if they are undertaken in different subsections.
  
  

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

During the working days immediately following the meeting of the Examining Board, the list of graduates and their respective graduation grades are released. This list will be posted on the  bulletin board located on the ground floor of the University building at via Sarfatti 25.
Graduates also receive a personalized notification of their graduation grade and information about the graduation ceremony through the yoU@B student diary.

In general, from the first working day following the publication of graduation results, graduates can print the graduation certifications which are described in chapter 8 at Punto Blu terminals (they'll need their Bocconi ID card).

The graduation ceremonies are generally organized according to undergraduate degree 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 Calendar can be consulted on the website in the section dedicated to graduations (http://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 http://www.unibocconi.it/graduationcalendar. The following information is given:

• dates of Examining 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 .