Back to Class

The opening of the second semester marks the return into the yellow zone of pandemic emergency for Lombardy, so Milan and the Bocconi campus can come back to life. Classrooms are again filled with students (wearing masks and respecting social distancing, of course), after they were emptied out at Halloween due to a sharp worsening of the second wave of Covid-19. Lessons proceed according to the hybrid model which had already been adopted in September and which provides for face-to-face classes, albeit with 50% of students attending on campus and 50% attending online every other week. This will be the model for 68% of classes, with exclusively online classes at 22% and the remaining 10% blended. As in the first semester, there is the strong desire to return to live on campus and fully experience university education, while remaining in compliance with the health regulations dictated by the pandemic. In a recent survey, over two-thirds of students chose the hybrid model of attendance.

"The last year has profoundly changed our way of living and accelerated the digital revolution. This has also happened in the world of higher education and more generally in learning," comments Rector Gianmario Verona. «All of us, students and faculty, have become better at teaching and learning by exploiting the previously largely unexplored potential of digital. But at the same time, we have rediscovered the value of human relationships, of the continuous exchange between professor and student and among fellow students. This is why the quality of the time we physically spend together must keep improving. We must take advantage of this time for activities with the highest added value and teach online the more standardized and theoretical subjects. This is the educational model that we are implementing and that will become the standard of reference even after the health emergency ebbs".

The return to campus also coincides with the implementation of safety and security measures put in place by Bocconi to safeguard its community. Bocconi will be now smoking-free, not only inside its buildings, but also in the areas around campus buildings (piazza Sraffa, via Roentgen, via Sarfatti, via Gobbi, via Bocconi). In fact, a ban on smoking will be enforced in these areas, according to the new Air Quality Regulations of the Municipality of Milan, although Bocconi will be allocating certain marked areas to smokers, where individuals will be allowed to light up, always respecting interpersonal safety distance and avoiding gatherings. Sanitation of spaces and air, marked routes, use of personal protective equipment, temperature measurement, and an on-campus medical center, are all measures already implemented since the start of the academic year to allow a safe return to university life. (For more information, consult the FAQ section on the Bocconi website).