Academic Senate approves co-funding of Emilia-Romagna scholarships and gradual resumption of in-class activities

As Rector Molari’s campaign promised, the first sessions of the academic bodies under his governance stress the right to study and the gradual resumption of in-class teaching activities. “These two years of pandemic are taking a toll on Unibo students. At the beginning of the health emergency, the main goal was to give continuity to teaching activities, now the University makes a clear stand in support of the right to study”, says the Rector.

Rector Molari refers to today’s disposition of the Academic Senate that is waiting for the green light by the Board of Governors. The Emilia Romagna region has issued a call for co-funding scholarships through the Regional Authority for the Right to Study (ER.GO). The University of Bologna decided to reply to that call and will therefore give financial aid to the students that will meet the requirements established by ER.GO. Already towards the end of July, Regional Assessor for School, University, Research and Technologies, Paola Salomoni suggested that universities in the Emilia-Romagna region could take on some of the financial effort to fund scholarships. The Emilia-Romagna region has an outstanding reputation for being able to grant scholarships to all the eligible candidates. Following the outbreak of the pandemic, the region has been making universities aware of the need for a co-funding of 1 mln euro to address the increase in the number of students choosing the universities of our region.

Based on the costs of the scholarships, the University of Bologna received a co-funding proposal of 560,000 euro. Regional scholarships represent a fundamental aid for students and, in many cases, they have an impact on their access to higher education or to furthering their studies. This surely led the Senate to approve the Rector’s proposal.

During today’s session, the Senate also decided on another central matter: teaching activities during the second semester of a.y. 2021/22. Classes and workshops will continue to be carried out both online and in-person to meet the needs of those students who did not rent a room in the multicampus cities because of the extreme uncertainty of this period. Starting from the end of February 2022, classes, exams and graduation sessions will be primarily carried out in person, with the exception, of course, of specific categories of students. Those exceptions will be regulated by dedicated guidelines for each degree programme. “We intend to send a very clear message: a gradual resumption of in-class activities together with the necessary measures supporting the right to study on which we will also work at the national level” states the Rector.

“The right to study shall be our North Star”, adds Federico Condello, the Rector’s Delegate for Students. “We need to be aware that the Covid-19 crisis will have an impact on households’ income starting from 2022. We will be called to face unprecedented circumstances that we will need to match with an equally exceptional and joint effort. Online teaching activities cannot be the answer to the right to study”.

The Senate also undersigned a motion supporting the cause of the international day for the elimination of the violence against women. In Italy, 89 women a day fall victim of gender-based crimes perpetrated especially by husbands and partners (34%) or exes (28%). While keeping alive the memory of the student Emma Pezemo, the University of Bologna once again restates “its commitment to fight all forms of gender-based violence through training activities as well as public debates aimed at informing and raising awareness and any other suitable institutional tool”.

Finally, the Senate also appointed a committee for coordinating the projects and activities pertaining to Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). By ensuring an active participation of the University of Bologna in the challenge involving the entire country, this committee will support the university governance as well as other academic bodies and ensure that PNRR-related activities will fully blend with both the university’s ordinary and its strategic development plans. This committee will carry out investigations, coordinating and liaising with other institutions, agencies and third parties.

The following professors will take part in the committee: Loris Giorgini, Michele Bianchi, Patrizia Brigidi, Riccardo Brizzi, Angela Montanari; Alessandro Gargini, Lorenzo Marconi, Stefano Fanti, Giuliana Benvenuti, Gianluca Fiorentini; Filippo Turchini will represent the technical-administrative staff whereas Andrea Giua will participate on behalf of the student community. Professor Maurizio Sobrero will be the coordinator of the committee.