GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSITY

During the academic year, teaching for the Integrated Master of Arts in Giurisprudenza [Law] will be organized in 2 semesters.
For the 2023-2024 academic year, teaching will be held during the following periods:

• 1st semester: from Wednesday 6 September 2023 to Wednesday 6 December 2023;

Wednesday 6 September 2023: the Welcome Day with a program presentation by the Dean of the School of Law and CLMG Program Director addressed to students of the first year

• 2nd semester: from Monday 5 February 2024 to Friday 17 May 2024.

One credit point corresponds to 8 hours of lectures. For compulsory courses in the Integrated Master of Arts in Giurisprudenza [Law], additional teaching hours consisting of practical exercises and other class activities that aim to improve the student's understanding of the topics covered in class without adding new topics to the course content may be required for each credit.

Regarding progressive changes in the learning methods used, using a computer is a compulsory condition to attend the lectures of some courses. Each student should therefore be equipped with a personal laptop PC. For further info, see paragraph 1.7.1. Student's personal laptop computer.

The 2023-2024 academic year will include the following three methods of delivering lessons:

• Synchronous Blended: Lessons will take place exclusively in synchronous mode in the classroom. However, at the discretion of the faculty, a limited number of lessons (for a maximum of one hour per credit) may be dedicated to distance learning to combine traditional teaching with the use of specific teaching methods. This standard model can be applied to both compulsory and elective courses.
• Advanced: Lessons will take place both in synchronous mode in the classroom and synchronous and asynchronous mode remotely. The Advanced mode implies the use of innovative teaching methods, combining exercises and tools of various kinds. The course structure and the activities will be communicated in detail in the course syllabus. The Advanced mode can be applied to both compulsory and elective courses.
• Fully Online: Lessons will take place exclusively in synchronous remote mode. This mode can be applied to elective courses and, in exceptional cases only, to compulsory courses.

Video recordings of lectures will not be available for any of the three teaching methods – neither in person, nor online, synchronous or asynchronous.
The teaching delivery method adopted for individual courses is indicated in the course syllabus that will be published in the website at www.unibocconi.eu/courses.

POSSIBLE EXCEPTIONS FROM IN-PERSON LESSON PARTICIPATION

One of the guiding principles of Bocconi's new educational model is that of ever-increasing inclusion. For this reason, in order to welcome and facilitate students afflicted with certain conditions that prevent them from physically attending lessons at the University, the following categories of students will be allowed to follow lessons remotely during the 2023-2024 academic year:

• students with serious certified illnesses that prevent them from coming to campus for a minimum period of 20 days;
• students unable to travel to Italy from their country of residence due to mobility restrictions (e.g. obtaining a visa);
• students participating in curricular internship programs both in Italy and abroad for the lessons scheduled during the period in which the internship takes place, provided that the internship has already been activated by the Internship Office at the time of the exception request; students may request online attendance for courses in the year of the program which includes the internship in the study plan. 

Video recordings of in-person lectures will be provided only for authorized students, and will remain available for 24 hours after the lesson.
The procedures for submitting your request will be published in the yoU@B Student Diary > Teaching widget, before the start of the semester.

Please note that there are no exceptions for exams which must still be taken in person.

Class attendance at lectures is not compulsory. However, it is strongly recommended, as it meets the proposed educational model designed to favor gradual learning, the active participation of students in class, and the creation of a dialog between students and teachers.

Some courses may include attendance recording. Depending on the student's attendance, there may be different assessment methods for attending and non-attending students: when attendance is a decisive element for assigning the “attending” status to a student, the only method available for recording participation is through Attendance, the University online procedure. When courses include Attendance recording, students must record their attendance at lectures in accordance with the principles of the University Honor Code and the Students Code of Conduct.

For the 2023-2024 academic year, where attendance is a determining factor for attributing the ‘attending’ status to students, classroom and online attendance will be counted only when the lesson is scheduled remotely for the entire class. If there are students exceptionally authorized to follow lessons remotely (see paragraph 6.1.2 Teaching Model and Lectures), the recording of their online attendance will not be counted for lessons that take place in person in the classroom for the rest of the class.

Educational activities are organized into class groups: in the 2023-24 academic year, for the compulsory courses included in the study plan of the first 4 years of studies there are 2 class groups (no. 19 and 20) which are made up of around 140 students each.

Class groups are allocated to each student for all compulsory courses of the year of studies in which the student is enrolled before the start of lectures and each class group is assigned a specific classroom for the majority of the courses. All students belonging to the same class group follow the lectures in their assigned classroom and have the same faculty members.
For course planning purposes (number of students and places available) the allocation to the class group is binding. The class group structure is the same for the whole academic year.

With reference to the educational activities, student allocation to the class groups include the following procedure:

• For compulsory courses the class group is allocated before the start of lectures;
• In the fourth and fifth year of studies, the program structure includes compulsory courses to be chosen by the students on the basis of the Major chosen. For such activities the class group is assigned before the start of the relating lectures;
• for electives, the class group is assigned when choosing the elective courses upon enrollment in the academic year (it can be viewed in the personalized class timetable after the period for choosing the electives is over);

Students are advised to follow the indications given by faculty members during lectures. If registration is required, students may consult the yoU@B student Diary for a list of activities and sign-up methods.

Quantitative Methods Preparatory Courses are courses which last several weeks and which are held during the first semester of lectures.
Math Preparatory courses are designed to reinforce a few mathematical concepts at a pre-university level. This helps students to start university with greater confidence and comprehension. The main topics covered include: functions, differential calculus and integral calculus, as well as elements of matrix calculus.

Attendance is highly recommended; there is no exam at the completion of these courses. The class timetable and any changes are available on the yoU@B student's Diary and at www.unibocconi.eu/classtimetable.
The course profiles of Quantitative Methods Preparatory courses are published on-line at www.unibocconi.eu/courses

The class timetable has been planned so that educational activities are mainly concentrated in either the morning or the afternoon, in order to make it easier for students to dedicate the other part of the day to individual study.
In the first semester of the first year, for example, CLMG students have lectures on 2 mornings (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and 3 afternoons (Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays) a week; in the second semester CLMG students have lessons on 3 mornings (Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays) and 2 afternoons (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) a week.

The years of studies following the first one have a different class timetable, which is more structured as the program structure also includes compulsory courses chosen by the students in the second, in the fourth and in the fifth years and elective courses in the fifth year.

The first, second, third year class timetable includes timetable slots - different in the first and second semesters - that are completely dedicated to languages. This ensures that other lectures and language lectures do not overlap each other.

In the same way, the timetable of the fifth year includes timetable slots - different in the first and second semesters - that are completely dedicated to elective courses; this is aimed at avoiding overlapping between the class timetable of elective courses.

Due to the complexity of the class timetable structure, it is not possible to exclude any class timetable overlapping between elective course lectures.

Students are therefore encouraged to carefully check the class timetable of elective courses before choosing the courses to be included in the study plan, specifically if they wish to choose compulsory courses as elective courses for fourth -or fifth year students or elective courses from the Master of Science programs open to the CLMG Program.

With reference to the fourth and fifth year of studies, students are free to choose between courses belonging to the same track or different tracks: the class timetable should be verified if choosing courses from different tracks, as it cannot be guaranteed they will not overlap.

In addition, there may also be some complementary learning activities scheduled to review some of the concepts dealt with during the normal teaching sessions. These activities are generally held at a different time from the lectures (usually in the evening).

In general, no educational activities are scheduled during the lunch break on Fridays, both in first and second semester, this period being reserved for student group activities.

The class timetable, any changes and information on how teaching activities are conducted are published in the yoU@B student Diary and on the University's website at www.unibocconi.eu/classtimetable.

After students have finalized their enrollment or after enrolling in the academic year, they can view their daily class timetable and the personalized class timetable from both yoU@B and on the University website at http://agenda.unibocconi.it/.

On graduation days listed below, lectures for all courses and all programs (Bachelor of Science and Master of Science programs and the Integrated Master of Arts in Giurisprudenza [Law]) are suspended:

• Friday 20 October 2023 and Saturday 21 October 2023;
• Friday 5 April 2024 and Saturday 6 April 2024.

Teaching activities are also suspended in the periods below for all courses, due to the exam sessions for partial exams:

• 1st semester: from Monday 23 October 2023 to Saturday 28 October 2023;
• 2nd semester: from Monday 11 March 2024 to Saturday 23 March 2024.

Teaching activities are also suspended on the following days:

• Wednesday 1st November 2023;
• from Friday 29 March 2024 to Thursday 4 April 2024;
• from Thursday 25 April 2024 to Saturday 27 April 2024;
• Wednesday 1st May 2024.

During office hours, students have the opportunity to consult with teachers. This gives students the chance to seek further explanations or clarifications of the topics that were not fully understood during lectures.
The office hours timetable can be found on the website at www.unibocconi.eu/officehours or in the yoU@B student Diary, which provides a direct link to the page.

If decided by the professor, the office hours may be carried out only upon reservation by the student: in this case, the reservation can be made exclusively through the yoU@B student Diary.
At the professor’s discretion, students are invited to check in advance the office hours methods.

For some courses, faculty members assisted by a tutor who also assists the students for a better comprehension of the topics covered in class, in case studies and in the exercises. The tutor also manages the online community. The tutor can also be an assistant in class during lectures which require the use of software or for case discussions.

For information about courses that include Teaching Assistantship (teaching assistance) activities, the following document can be consulted:

• List of teaching assistants 2023-2024 academic year (available on September)

Information regarding the 1st semester will be available by the end of September and information regarding courses offered in the 2nd semester will be available by the end of February.

For many years, Bocconi has used a detailed evaluation system designed to monitor the educational quality of each course, which is based on listening and the student's direct active input.

This includes:

• feedback from "class group representatives", appointed to represent the entire class group by liaising with the faculty, acting as their spokesperson with the task of presenting their observations and suggestions and outlining any difficulties that may arise during lectures. The role of "class representatives" is also to create an environment which favors successful interaction between faculty and students. For this purpose, the Course Director is invited to periodically meet with class representatives, and at the end of the semester, discuss with them the general outcome of teaching. Also, upon his/her own initiative, the Program Director can meet them in order to check their opinions on the methods of the different courses in which the educational path is structured. Further details on the class representatives and on student representatives can generally be found on the website at http://www.unibocconi.eu/ in "Student Representation";
• gathering opinions through questionnaires (generally distributed through an online procedure in the yoU@B Diary) includes the following surveys taking place in specific periods of the student’s academic career:
  • mid-semester evaluation of teaching (so called "mid-term evaluation"): carried out voluntarily by students at the request of faculty members, to gather information on the teaching quality and course progress and shedding light on any problems in a timely fashion, allowing corrective action to be implemented before the end of the course;
  • end-semester evaluation of teaching: carried out close to the end of each teaching semester, it involves all curricular courses in the degree programs and all students enrolled in them, no matter the course attendance (in case of no attendance or attendance to only a few lectures, students must fill out an ad hoc questionnaire reserved to “non-attending students”). This is the most important tool for students to express their opinions on how the various courses are organized and conducted. The evaluations provided, whose anonymity is protected, are essential for identifying which aspects should be corrected or improved for future editions of the courses in order to ensure increasingly higher quality standards. Questionnaires are completed electronically through the use of an online procedure, and can be accessed through a link on the yoU@B student diary and on the Blackboard platform;
  • evaluation of the overall university experience questionnaire: addressed to all the students who are about to complete their studies. It aims to gather information on students' global impressions regarding their study experience and the program attended, as well as the quality and effectiveness of the main facilities at the University and some support services (e.g. international mobility, internship, Employer Relations & Career Services). These questionnaires are also completed electronically through the use of an online procedure and are compulsory, as they are part of the requirements for completing the procedure for registering for a graduation session. The online questionnaire procedure can be accessed for a specified period of time through a special link communicated to the student when registering for the graduation session.