Academic Conversions and Regulations
1 university credit provides 6/8 hours of frontal teaching – and an overall learning experience of 25 hours
(which include homework, workshops, hands-on based components, fieldtrips, etc.)
1 university academic hour corresponds to 1 solar hour – i.e., 60 minutes.
While each university can allot an ascribed number
of credits to each course – depending on relevance, expertise, and academic coherence – courses usually hold a value of 6 credits (and therefore 36/48 hours of teaching and 900/1,200 hours of global learning experience).
While credits are conventionally marked as “CFU” (in Italian, Crediti Formativi Universitari), due to its nature (language based) Unicollege provides “CFM” (Crediti Formativi Mediazione Linguistica). Their validity and recognition are however internationally intelligible.
As part of the European educational system, each Italian CFM (credit) also corresponds to a European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), whereby 1 CFM = 1 ECTS. This correspondence facilitates global recognitions and validations.
The Italian university grading system is based on a scale, whereby 18 is the minimum grade to pass an exam (Pass/C or equivalent) and 30 the highest value (A or equivalent). However, Instructors can assign further merit – i.e., cum laude, A+, which holds a numerical value of 32 points out of 30.
The Grade Point Average (GPA) is calculated on a scale out of 30; however, the final graduation grade is expressed on a scale out of 110 points. Graduates receiving a grade >105 are ranked in the A/cum laude scale.
Candidates enrolled in UGS courses must attend at least 75% of the overall course duration. Candidates whose attendance rate does not meet such a ratio will not have access to the course exam and will not receive course transcription on the final official transcript.
Traditionally, the Italian university system provides the preference of oral examinations – which are dispensed at the end of each course. Written components usually serve as complementary assessments and can be assigned throughout the course.
While midterms are not contemplated, Instructors may however assign them.
Official examinations are therefore intended to be a final and global assessment experience. Unless otherwise indicated*, every course in the curriculum provides a grade. Upon conferral of the grade, candidates can either accept or refuse the assigned mark. In the latter case, candidates can re-enroll in a new exam session and re- take the exam until accepted.
*Workshops and miscellaneous exams may provide a PASS/FAIL grading policy.
The Unicollege Graduate School operates within Unicollege, a private university accredited by the Italian Ministry of Education, authorized to issue both BAs and MAs via the publication of ad hoc Ministry decrees on
the official Gazette. Upon completion of any course (Certificate, Advanced Diploma, Executive/Master), candidates will receive two titles: the former issued by the Unicollege Graduate School and the latter by Unicollege
– it is however Unicollege, a legally authorized university that will issue the official transcript.* As Italy is a signatory country of the Process of Bologna – an international agreement that standardizes and validates university credits worldwide – all credits issued by an accredited university are dually valid in the country and across all the countries that recognize the Process. For this reason, credits issued by Unicollege hold international validity.
*A transcript is an official document issued by the university Registrar (i.e., School of Records) that holds the list of all the courses, credits, and grades successfully completed by the candidate and valid internationally.
Unicollege Graduate School provides full academic freedom to all instructors who design, deliver, and assess courses – while keeping high standards of semestrial and annual review and monitoring.
At Unicollege Graduate School, assessment can be dispensed via a variety of exam formats, including – and not limited to:
- Quizzes
- Presentations
(individual and in group)
- Research
(i.e., historiographic, primary source based, journalistic, artistic, scientific, etc.)
- Written submissions
(journals, research paper, reports, creative writing papers, etc.)
- Artworks
(paintings, photographs, sculptures, etc.)
- Portfolios
(containing semi professional experiences, curated projects, photographs, documentational sources, etc.)
- Oral examinations
- Group discussions
(monitored, self-led, guided, prompted, topic-based, challenge-based, etc.)
- Projects
(individual or in group)
Assessments must be graded by designated instructors or authorized delegates and must comply with the grading scale outlined above (see the “Grades” section above). Unless otherwise indicated, courses at Unicollege Graduate School do not apply Pass/Fail grading grades.
Exam dates cannot be amended – unless approved by an authorizing body/representative – and only
in circumstances of emergency, proven need, and emergency.
Candidates experiencing proven and documented difficulties – i.e., hospitalization, major physical mental impediments, insuperable logistical issues – may be granted a second attempt (e.g., proctored exam) by an authorized body representative. Any appeal or request must be submitted to the Institution prior to the exam date.
Candidates wishing to start a potential grade dispute must primarily discern his/her academic diligence towards the course. Candidates whom after the first designated stage still intend to proceed and start the dispute process should, when applicable, mediate with the instructor and attempt to understand the academic reasons that generated the disputed grade.
If the mediation (candidate>instructor) fails and the candidate intends to start the formal grade dispute process, s/he should primarily gather evidence and any relevant documentation in support of the case. Such material should then be presented to the Institution, alongside a formal detailed request that officializes the beginning of the grade dispute process at a university level (whose forms will be issued by the designated academic office when requested). The university will thereafter start an internal investigation and deliver a final and indisputable decision within 6 weeks from the submission date. Such decision will be communicated to all the parties involved, including, when applicable, the School of Records – that will amend the grade accordingly.