UNIVERSITA' CATTANEO AND THE ITALIAN REFORM
The Sorbonne Declaration, signed by Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom on 25th May 1998, underlined the central role of universities in the construction and development of a "Europe of Knowledge" and one year later on 19th June 1999, the Bologna Declaration, signed by 29 European countries, drew up a proposal for the creation of a European Higher Education Space.
The Bologna Declaration sets the deadline for achieving this goal by the year 2010 and calls upon the signatory countries to implement a clear set of objectives aimed at increasing levels of employability and mobility in Europe as well as improving the competitiveness of European Higher Education in the world. The main objectives are:- the design of a common framework of readable and comparable degrees
- the articulation of studies into undergraduate and postgraduate levels with first degrees no shorter than three years and relevant to the labour market
- the generalisation of ECTS-compatible credit systems
- a European dimension in quality assurance
Italy was quick to react as the year 2001/2 saw the introduction of a far reaching reform in higher education. The new system introduces two cycles; the first one durating three years will lead to an undergraduate degree called laurea and the second one lasting two years, will lead to a postgraduate degree called laurea specialistica. Students wishing to undertake doctoral studies will follow a further three year programme. Master programmes will be introduced both after the laurea and the laurea specialistica.
A national credit transfer and accumulation system has been introduced following ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) principles. One academic year is equivalent to 60 credits based on a full time student's average workload, including both contact hours and individual study (1 credit equals 25 hours). A first cycle qualification (laurea) is therefore worth 180 credits whereas 300 credits are required to complete the second cycle (laurea specialistica).
This process of reform is being accompanied by the granting of far greater autonomy to Italian universities in drawing up their degree programmes.
The Universitą Cattaneo has found the transition to the new system relatively straightforward since the objectives of the Italian reform – reduction of the drop out rate and time to degree as well as the creation of degrees relevant to the labour market – have always been part of the University's objectives. LIUC remains convinced that students should not over-specialise in the early stages of their academic career and will continue to offer a broad based education in economics, law and engineering in the new undergraduate degrees. While these degrees will be market relevant, the university nevertheless considers that students will receive a complete education if they continue their studies and opt for a specialisation in one of the new postgraduate degrees.