14 The Academic Program
Academic Advising
The Resident Director oversees all academic matters. Students will meet with him to determine which University of Bologna and BCSP courses they will take. University of Bologna course reviews written by former BCSP students are available in the program office. Students should use these prudently, remembering that many personal factors enter into the remarks offered by students of varying skills and expectations.
Check carefully with academic advisors on your home campus prior to departure to determine which courses or types of courses will meet your degree requirements. Use the University of Bologna website (www.unibo.it). Check various dipartimenti and scuole for course listings. The use of these listings, in conjunction with the advising sheet you submitted before departure, will result in a more effective advising session on-site. Course schedules for the academic year at the University of Bologna are not released until very shortly before classes actually begin in the fall term, so you will not be able to select courses until late September for fall and January for spring. There will be little time to write home for enrollment advice before classes begin.
All students will be required to take the BCSP Advanced Course in Italian Language & Culture offered each semester. Students should take the improvement of their fluency and accuracy in the Italian language as one of their primary goals during their year or semester abroad.
University of Bologna Calendar
Courses for most departments begin toward the end of September or beginning of October for the fall, and end of January or beginning of February for the spring. Each scuola of the university operates according to its own calendar. There is no common Schedule of Classes containing all the information about the academic year. Not all classes begin at the same time: the schedule depends on the particular department and on the individual professor.
As you can imagine, the lack of a common schedule of classes may create difficulties when you are trying to put your schedules together and when BCSP is scheduling program courses, so flexibility is necessary.
Course Load
Students choose a combination of BCSP courses and University of Bologna (Unibo) courses. All students will take 15 credits per semester.
Academic year students are required to take the BCSP Advanced Course in Italian Language & Culture in the Fall and at least one content course at BCSP during the spring. Over the course of the year, AY students must take at least three Unibo courses (usually six U.S. credits each). Most students will typically enroll in two Unibo courses during the Fall semester along with BCSP Advanced Language & Culture and one BCSP content course. This combination has been helpful in getting students gradually acclimated to the courses at Unibo.
Fall-only students and Spring-only students are required to take a minimum of 15 credits, including BCSP Advanced Course in Italian Language & Culture, and at least one Unibo course. Please note that fall students need to arrange to take only those courses at Unibo for which they may take the final exams prior to departure.
Note: Comparable figures for students on different academic calendars are 10 semester units for the academic year (five for a semester) and 40 quarter units for academic year (or 20 for a semester). Again, the course load will include a combination of University of Bologna and BCSP program courses.
Most courses at Unibo are taught in a single semester and meet six hours per week. BCSP students may enroll in courses offered by any department, across all fields of study. With the approval of the Resident Director, you will be allowed to take courses in English (offered by Unibo) especially if they are related to your major field of study.
Grading Policies
At the end of each semester, the Resident Director sends all grade reports and course titles to Indiana University, which in turn forwards them to your home institutions, each of which has its own system for reporting program courses and grades on its transcripts.
Pass/fail policies vary by school. It is the student’s responsibility to be in contact with
their home school to inquire about the pass/fail policy and deadlines.
Grading scale for BCSP students: Italians use a grading scale of 18 to 30. BCSP will apply the scale published in the academic handbook for Unibo courses.
Incompletes
All coursework must be completed and submitted by the end of the term and prior to your departure from the host country. No incomplete grades are permitted for overseas courses. Unfinished coursework will result in a grade of F for the course. Only documented illness is considered a legitimate excuse for missing a final examination.