New LM courses, POLIMI SPORT, AUIC school costs, canteens and spaces

We share a new account of the latest activities of the central bodies, always prepared by our Alessandro and Carlo.

Didactic Consultation

In the last sessions of the Didactic Council:

• Communication has been given about the Open Day 2019: it will be in Bovisa on April 6th (using both the Durando and La Masa campuses).
• There was talk of innovative teaching. The total fund supporting it currently amounts to € 3 Million, we summarize how they have been distributed in recent years.

The innovative teaching officially starts in the Academic Year 2018/2019. The economic programs of the first year had provided a loan of € 18 k per Study Course, which can be used for both Action 1 and Action 2 *. For the second year of activity ( A.A. 19/20 ), the next one, € 12 k have been provided for each Course of Study that has at least 1 compulsory CFU of Innovative Teaching. All Study Programmes have respected this parameter (the average is 12 innovative credits per Study Programme). For the A.A. 2020/21 the prerequisites required will be to confirm those of the previous year by adding another 5 innovative credits. After the first semester of Innovative Didactics courses, analyses have been made and the results seem positive. All the Study Programmes responded well to the initiative and the students appreciated the educational innovations. The Passion in Action program, for example, saw the available places completed quickly.

Obviously, there are several critical issues and the will is to carry out a complete panoramic analysis at the end of this Academic Year. It will be important to collect feedback from students and professors in order to improve this service.

* Action 1 are curricular credits, incorporated into existing courses; Action 2 are new courses, extra compared to traditional study plans, translated into the project ''Passion in action''.

Board of Directors

In the last meetings of the Board of Directors:

• The 2019-21 three-year budget was approved, which closes positively in the three-year period considered.

This year the University had to face problems regarding two great funding needs: the salary increments of teachers and the Right to Study. The first element refers to the salary increments of the teachers, who are at the total expense of the Universities and weigh about € 5.9 million in the 3 years. The Right to Study, on the other hand, is an important expense that has now become historic for the University.

The Rector declared that making all the assignees suitable is a moral and civic duty that the Polytechnic wants to pursue. However, the demand for the DSU has soared in recent years, requiring more and more effort to be met. Part of the necessary funds is provided by the Regional Government, but these are never sufficient to fully meet the demand. Universities are therefore forced, if they so wish, to add their own funds to bridge the gap between eligible and assignees.

Last year, during the 2018-2020 Three-Year Financial Statements, the Board of Directors decided to provide € 5.8 million per year for three years to finance all the scholarships. This year the surprise was great in learning the news that the total demand for scholarships for the Right to Study was € 22.2 Million (+ € 2.2 Million from the previous year, which made the funding already provided insufficient). The total expenditure was filled by € 15 Mln by the Lombardy Region (+€ 1.6 Mln compared to the previous year) and by € 6.4 Mln by the University (+€ 600 k compared to the previous year). In this way all the eligible have been made assignees.

Other charges (more than those expected last year) to be incurred were:

• € 2.6 Mln for Technical and Administrative staff contracts
• € 100 k for INPS contribution to PhD scholarships
• € 220 k for other taxes and various exemptions The total expenses to be incurred was about € 15 Mln.

Some cuts were needed to cope with this expenditure. Substantial cuts have been made by opening two new residences owned (Einstein and Pareto) and deactivating conventions of non-owned residences, too expensive, but increasing the total number of places available. Other cuts have been made to some Administrative Areas.

In the programming, a probable increase in FFO, an increase in total student fees (in line with the increase in the number of students) and an increase in funding for the DSU by the Lombardy Region were taken into account. In the assumptions on the charges, however, the high demand for the DSU, doctoral scholarships, scholarships and the POLIPSI service were considered.

Sums will also be invested for the Residences (interventions at the Student House and two new residences co-financed with the 338 call and to complete the Wi-Fi coverage in all the accommodations, in fact an intervention is still missing) and for the spaces (in particular on Bovisa).

Finally, the purchase of togas for graduation ceremonies is financed.

The three-year program of public works of the University has been presented, in this regard you can also find all the information here: https://www.polimi.it/fileadmin/user_upload/Trasparenza/amministrazione_trasparente/lavori_pubblici/2019_01_14_Programma_Triennale_OO_PP_2019_2021_ed_Elenco_Annuale_2019.pdf.

Senate Academy

In the last sessions of the Academic Senate:

• The 2019/2020 international mobility callwas approved, without any substantial change compared to that of the previous year if not the addition of an optimization in the rankings: there was in fact the inclusion of a further ranking of "repositioning" to which you must ask to participate in July and is published in September, with the aim of reducing the number of places left empty.
• The agreements for three new Master's degree courseshave also been approved: Master's Degree in Cyber Risk, Strategy and Governance (Class LM-91), Master's Degree in Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics (class LM-8) and Single-cycle Master's Degree in Medicine and Surgery – Class LM-41 with integrated path of Biomedical Engineering (Classes L / 8 and L / 9), with the issuance of the Joint Degree with respectively the Bocconi, Statale and Humanitas universities. These new courses will come into force from the next academic year, in collaboration with other universities.
• The report of the evaluation unitwas presented, which also includes the questionnaires completed during the last academic year by us students, which were previously examined at the level of the Joint Commission of School and Course of Study to draw the appropriate considerations from our reports.
• There was the appointment of three new professors emeritus:Sergio Bittanti, Roberto Camagni and Sergio Cerutti.
• The new TOLhas also been approved, as we had anticipated in recent months. The logic that has been applied is to be able to better plan the teaching, knowing by July how many students will enter with the cohorts of the following year. From this year in fact: as far as the fourth year test is concerned, everything will remain as it is already now, allowing access to the chosen course if you pass the TOL with more than 60. In the fifth year, however, there will be rankings to access the courses, while guaranteeing access to one of the University's courses and keeping the best grade of 3 possible attempts to take the test. At the end of the rankings, those who have the OFA will also be able to enter, in any places that may have remained free. Finally, there will be no tests in September.

Permanent Student Committee

In December the Permanent Students' Commission was also held, with some important discussions and topics addressed, which we summarize below:

• It has been announced that the next university student elections in May will be carried out in the polling stations with computer support. There will therefore be 15 total seats between all campuses (in greater numbers than before) and students will be able to go to one of these indifferently to vote.

• The allocation of funds for the cultural, social and sporting initiativesof the students for the relative call has been deliberated.

• The activities of POLIMI. SPORT were presented by the rector's delegate, submitting a request for funding to the call. The proposed activities are as always the POLIMIRUN, the tournaments of the study courses and residences and the new activities of Running@Giuriati.

• It was also requested by our Carlo and approved the purchase of a new volleyball net for the gym of the Student House, the poles to install it and two new volleyball poles, all regulated by the race,so as to obtain a better performance of the Polimi championships.

• Finally, about € 35 k have been advanced from the Call for cultural and sports activities. The Rector proposes to the student representatives to use a part of it for the POLIMI WINTER GALA,as a social activity for the students. It is decided to allocate € 10 k of these funds to finance the event.

• The costs of the AUIC Schoolwere also discussed, bringing the results of the questionnaire that had been submitted to the students of the School during last spring by the representatives. It is decided that we will work on Poliprint services, in order to improve existing ones and add new ones, such as laser printing and model material, and on a revision of the teaching methods of the teachers through the school board, with the aim of containing costs for the student (for example revisions on interactive whiteboards rather than on paper or printing in reduced formats for revisions).

• The problem of canteen queueswas subsequently discussed. The administration, confronting us student representatives, announced that the following measures will be put in place to improve the canteen service:

  • An automatic cash machine will be installed at Bar Leonardo.
  • Prepaid cards will be issued for the various menus of the canteen, with a free menu every 10.
  • A box for suggestions and feedback will be installed in each room.
  • In the complete menu of the canteen it will be possible to replace the water with a yogurt or a fruit.
  • The canteen in La Masa will be improved, during the summer, soundproofing the study room below and expanding the kitchens so as to improve the service.
  • Work is underway to improve the service on the Durando campus. By the month of March, it will be possible to take advantage of the current prices only with the Polytechnic card. For other customers the prices are 20% higher. This with the aim of favoring the students of the University, discouraging the use of outdoor canteens and reducing queues.

• An expansion of the spaces dedicated to PoliPSIhas been planned, which today is in building 22 on the ground floor. It is planned to build new offices for listening to students, so as to fully exploit the potential of the service, aimed at students. This addition will partially cut the waiting space of the secretariat on the ground floor of building 22, removing 20 seats.

• In addition, however, interventions are planned to obtain new study spaces and improve the current ones, using the University spaces also in a multi-purpose way. News will follow in the coming months.

• Finally, it was decided to carry out an experiment in the new Agora space for students in building 11, available approximately from March: there will be new electrified lockers, which will make timed management possible (even for reduced times) and will solve the age-old issue of students who do not free the lockers, uniting us with the most modern university campuses that already use this system.

For more information, clarifications or questions we are available. If you are particularly interested in some topic do not hesitate to write to us. Thanks for reading, to hear from you soon. Good luck for the next exams! Carlo (carlo.giovani@svoltastudenti.it) and Alessandro (alessandro.deiasio@svoltastudenti.it)