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 (for exams) or given a pass/fail grade and are always individual.

Exams, like lectures, 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 the following sections: Course Mission and Course Content Summary, Intended Learning Outcomes, Teaching Methods, Assessment Methods, Teaching Materials and where applicable, prerequisites. Students can access the course profiles on the Bocconi website at www.unibocconi.eu/courses. To help students choose elective courses on the basis of the course contents, the course profiles are published on the site well before the start of lectures. Substantial variations to the course profiles are not expected 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 teaching assistants are available (see "Teaching assistants"). 
The course syllabus is prepared by the Course Director in conjunction with the views of the Program Director. The syllabus is generally distributed during lectures and is generally available online (BBoard, in the course profile, in the yoU@B student Diary).

The assessment methods are indicated in a summarized form in the course profiles and are explained further in the course syllabus (in the Assessment Methods section). They are also explained by the faculty 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 meet the course attendance requirements established by the faculty member.

The assessment of knowledge involves evaluation during the course (possible only for the attending students) or only a final evaluation (possible for non-attending students and also open to attending students).

In general terms, the in-progress evaluation provides for more evaluation moments and possibly more methods, such as (depending on teaching and according to the proportions specified in the course profile) partial written exams, oral exams, evaluation of the student's active participation in class and individual and / or group assignments given by the faculty during lecture weeks (assignments that can only provide written output or even an oral presentation).
The final assessment, however, provides for only one evaluation time in written and / or oral form.

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 faculty member 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 it may be done through the following channels:

• the Bboard platform;
• the Teaching box, in the yoU@B student Diary;
• his/her own Personal Page.

The exam timetable is scheduled in periods that do not coincide with the lectures. Each exam period consists of one or more sessions. The exam timetable allocates 4 exam sessions; 2 of them are scheduled after the teaching semester, the third and fourth sessions are considered as supplementary exam sessions. For foreign language courses and Computer Science/Computer Skills 5 exam sessions are scheduled.

Lectures 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. Partial exam dates may or may not coincide with those fixed for general exams.

Students can generally take exams in all sessions as long as they meet the attendance requirements (semester course lectures in the study plan must be finished). For some types of exams and for some courses, there can be some exam access limitations.

The exam periods and exam sessions (reference period: October 2018 - September 2019) are scheduled as follows.

(*) In the period 10-20 December 2018 an exam session open to all enrolled students is scheduled for 1-2 compulsory courses per program/year of studies. This replace the January 2019 exam session which, as a consequence, will not be scheduled.

(**) For the compulsory courses and, compulsory courses chosen by the students, the second partial exam, if written, is generally scheduled in both sessions of the exam periods scheduled at the end of the teaching period.
As a consequence, for the course typologies above, a second partial exam is scheduled:

• with reference to the first semester, in the period 18 January to 2 February 2019 as an alternative to the one scheduled in the period 4 to 17 January 2019;
• with reference to the second semester, a second partial exam is scheduled in the period 17 June to 13 July 2019 as an alternative to the one scheduled in the period 22 May to 15 June 2019.

Notes

• "session" refers to both the exams of the current academic year and the previous years;
• the fourth exam session for 2nd semester courses will be held in February 2020;
• exam sessions for the foreign language courses are scheduled for: October 2018; February, June, July, September 2019;
• exam sessions for the Computer Skills for Law courses are scheduled for: October 2018; January , February, June and August/September 2019;
• 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.
• A reserved exam session has been scheduled in December (10-20 December 2018), for 1^st semester courses, open only to students who:
1. are participating in: Exchange, Themis and Free Mover programs abroad in the 2nd semester 2018/2019 academic year;
2. are Incoming 1st semester (Exchange, Themis and single courses for visiting students);
3. are participating in curricular internships abroad or in Italy in January/February 2019 period;
4. are participating in the Moot Program (as participants or as a coach). 

Please note the following for the reserved exam session:

• only those students whose teaching activities described in points 1, 3 and 4 can start before the end of the February exam period (2 February 2019) are admitted to participate in this session;
• students CANNOT sit exams for previous year's courses which have not been passed.

Due to the fact that second semester incoming students are supposed to sit all the exams by 31 May 2019, the Period IV exam session (22/05/2019-15/06/2019) is before that date. Should that not be possible, a reserved session for incoming students will be scheduled by 31 May 2019.

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 except for December, February (18 January to 2 February 2019), April and August/September exam periods as the available exam days are limited. This overlapping rule refers only to compulsory courses of the year in which the student is enrolled and does not refer to previous years' exams which have not been passed yet.

The exam timetable for the October 2018 - September 2019 period is published by the end of July 2018 on the University website at http://www.unibocconi.eu/exams.

The timetable of an exam session may be changed during the year (only to a later date or time). In that 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 website.
In addition, any changes to the exam timetable can be viewed on the yoU@B student Diary.

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

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

Students can check the day, time and classroom assigned for their exam via the yoU@B student Diary generally in the afternoon of the working day prior to the exam date.

If the exam is held in more than one classroom and in more than 1 timetable slot, students are allocated following criteria set by the Department the course refers to and informed via the yoU@B diary through an appropriate message. Students must follow the instructions relating to the day, room and time included in the message.

The list of classrooms assigned for exams is also published on the Bocconi 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.

• Register for an exam

• Cancel an exam registration

• the registration deadline has expired;
• 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 lectures finish (end of semester); this does not apply to partial exams.
  

1. Both a written exam and a partial exam or both an oral exam and a partial exam in the same day.
   If the exam calendar includes both a written exam and a partial exam or both an oral exam and a partial one on the same day students cannot register for both types of exams at the same time. Therefore students must choose which of the 2 types of exam they want to register for (written or partial exam; oral or partial exam).
2. Both a date for the written exam and a date for the oral exam in the exam timetable.
   If the exam timetable shows both a date for the written exam and a date for the oral exam (e.g. languages), students must register for both (even if they are on the same day). If students do not register for both, they cannot sit the exam.
3. Registration in groups
   In some cases when registering for an exam students will be asked to make a specific choice from among a group of alternatives ("registration in groups"), for example "attending students". After selecting the type and date of the 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.
4. Partial exams
   If the exam consists of different partial exams, students must pass all of them in order to pass the exam. If students do not sit for one of the partial exams they must take the general exam. For further detailed information on exam assessment methods for each individual course, please check the course profiles published on the website at www.unibocconi.eu/courses.
5. Rules for sitting/registering for the second partial exams
   With reference to the second partial exam scheduled in both exam sessions of exam periods at the end of the teaching semesters, there are the following rules and exam access limitations:
   • students can sit for the 2nd partial exam only once: students registered for the 2nd partial exam in the first exam session after the teaching period will not be allowed to register for the 2nd partial exam in the second exam session after the teaching period;
   • students registered for the general exam in the first exam session after the teaching period will not be allowed to register for the 2nd partial exam in the second exam session after the teaching period.
     

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

On the basis of a Proposal by the Head of the Department of reference of the subject, examining Board members can be:

• All members who have teaching commitments for the course in the academic year, excluding the Visiting Professors short-term and those only engaged in guest speaking or seminars;
• Teaching Assistants (with a Graduate degree) assigned to the course;
• All those who were part of the Examining Board of the previous years even if they do not teach in the current year;
• Other Bocconi teaching staff (tenured staff and not tenured) who are experts in the subject
• The Head of the Department of reference of the course.

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

ONLY students who have duly registered for exams can sit for them.

Students must come to exams equipped with their personalized Bocconi ID card and/or valid form of ID.

For written exams, students certify their attendance by signing the exam paper (this is not an acceptance of the grade). Students must write only with indelible ink pen in blue or black color for written exams.
For oral exams, attendance is usually certified by the faculty member using the related online procedure.

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. As a general rule, in case of written exams, students who withdraw must stay in the room until the end of the exam: 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) specifically 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 may not:

• offer or receive any assistance from students or any other party, nor can they use notes unless authorized by the teacher;
• attempt to obtain confidential information about the specific questions of the exam;
• 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;
• keep mobile devices on their desks (e.g. mobile phones, MP3 players, smartwatches, etc.).
  

Violation of the above rules or the instructions given by the faculty member during exams, is cause for cancellation of the exam, and the start of disciplinary procedures.

The disciplinary sanctions applied at 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. 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. Faculty members are required to set clear questions allowing students to show their ability and degree of understanding of the subject area.

Finally, students are strongly recommended to carefully read the content of the Honor Code where they can find a description of the unfair behaviours and the relating sanctions.

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 and are generally published on the yoU@B student Diary > Exams Results. 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.

In compliance with the Honor Code, the Bocconi teaching staff are committed to carrying out the assessment fairly and to be available to analyze the quality of the exam taken with the student. In this context, a date dedicated to reviewing the exam paper must be scheduled for written exams.

During the exam paper review, there is no negotiation between the teacher and the student regarding the awarded grade; at this stage, the student is required to maintain an attitude oriented to understanding any mistakes made, to take the opportunity to learn from direct confrontation with the faculty member.

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

The exams for 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.

The offices of reference periodically check the grades recorded in all students’academic career.

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, i.e. 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. This 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.

Activities in which only credits are awarded (e.g. internships, seminars, etc.) are not included in the calculation of the GPA.

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 (if grades are the same, the course worth the higher number of credit points is considered).

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

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.

Exams taken at other universities that have an agreement with Bocconi University 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. Prerequisites are therefore required for some courses. Exam sequence indicates the sequence that must be followed in preparing exams and requires students to pass some exams before sitting for others.

Students can sit for prerequisite exams in the same period of exams. Checks will be carried out at the end of every exam period 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 enrollment years are presented below. 

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

It should also be noted that the complete ECDL certification is the prerequisite of the exam 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 need to have earned a minimum of 24 credits in the first year of studies by the July exam period (see "Administrative procedures, regulations and deadlines").

Students enrolled in the Integrated Master of Arts in Law program may obtain credit (marks and credit points) for exams passed abroad as part of the Exchange and Themis programs, which are promoted and coordinated by the Study Abroad Office of the Markets and External Affairs Division and Free-Mover Semester.

Please note:

• with reference to activities abroad, students can receive credit for a maximum of 5 exams for  the Exchange Program, Themis and   Free-Mover Semester Programs and no more than 1 exam as Free Mover Summer program;

• students must convert a minimum of 1 exam in order for the international mobility experience to be recognized in the student’s academic career;

• the following exams, if taken abroad, cannot be recognized:
• banned courses;
• exams for computer skills.
• until the 2018-2019 a.y.: foreign language exams (only certifications can be converted).
  Foreign language exams taken as part of international mobility programs Exchange, Themis, Free Mover Semester (with the exception of Free Mover Summer) held starting in the 2019-2020 academic year can be converted in addition to certifications, upon approval by the language center faculty member responsible for the language; language credits are part of the maximum limit of 5 courses recognized;
• compulsory courses specific to other programs;
• students cannot sit for ‘in proctoring’ exams relating to courses attended abroad;
• exams passed with a grade that is not included in the scale on the conversion table used by the foreign university. In the case of Pass/Fail grades, when the grade is Pass, it may be converted into the minimum grade on the Bocconi scale.

Courses which cannot be recognized if taken abroad (available soon)

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.
After being selected (Exchange and Themis program) or authorized by the Study Abroad Office (Free Mover Semester) before departure, and after assessing the offer of the host university, students must check or request credit authorization from Bocconi faculty in advance for the courses they will attend abroad.

The courses can be:

• with Bocconi correspondence, if the course taken abroad has a corresponding Bocconi course;
• without Bocconi correspondence, if the course taken abroad does not have a corresponding Bocconi course.

• to the Course Director of the corresponding Bocconi course
• If the foreign course does not correspond to the Bocconi courses on offer, the authorization request must be sent to the Program Director or his/her delegate.

The advance authorization request must be sent through the appropriate procedure available on the yoU@B Diary ‘International Mobility' section.

Two or more exams can be merged to cover one Bocconi exam upon approval of the Course Director or the Program Director. One foreign exam cannot be used to cover two or more Bocconi exams.

The request of conversion of a foreign course with a Bocconi course (with or without Bocconi correspondence) DOES NOT allow any request of study plan change/structure. Such requests must be carried out in accordance with the rules and timelines published on the Guide to the University chapter 6 Administrative procedures, regulations and deadlines. For students enrolled in a major: further information is published at paragraph 6.4.1 Major Choice.

At the end of the mobility period, the University abroad issues certifications of the exams taken. On the basis of these certifications and upon request of the student, the Study Abroad office carries out the appropriate checks to prepare the grade recording of exams taken abroad that students wish to have recognized.

For more details, see the website www.ir.unibocconi.eu, 'Academic Recognition’ paragraph of the relevant section.

Exams passed at other universities by Bocconi students are assigned the grades of the university of origin. If the grade is expressed in other scales (letters or numbers), the grade is converted out of thirty on the basis of special tables of correspondence. In case two or more foreign exams covering one Bocconi exam, the final grade is obtained by the grade point average of the corresponding Bocconi grades obtained, by using the foreign credit points specified on the Transcript issued by the host University as the weighted coefficient.

Students can also recognize additional exams (see chapter 6.6 Additional Courses).

Please note: The program structure of programs taught in Italian include at least one course in English (compulsory or elective): this requirement is not applied if the student participates in the Exchange Program, Themis or Free Mover at a University where the language requested by Bocconi University with the purpose of selection/acceptance is not English.