Luiss Open University: Classes resume in September

Luiss, an open university

In-person classes are back with new schedules, spaces, and opportunities to enjoy the university even on weekends.

Over half of the classes will be in-person for first-year students, with varied schedules and new spaces available for the entire student community to enjoy seven days a week. These are some of the measures that Luiss Guido Carli will implement when teaching resumes in September 2020. The university, which never stopped operating from the day after its campuses closed during the lockdown—shifting all teaching activities online and enabling over 10,000 students to attend classes, take exams, and graduate remotely, thanks in part to its partnership with Cisco—presented its plan for resuming operations for the 2020-21 academic year today. It also announced the return of in-person entrance exams for prospective first-year students in Bachelor’s and Single-Cycle Master’s programs. There are two dates for the admissions test: July 29 in six Italian cities (Bari, Cagliari, Catania, Milan, Naples, Rome, and Reggio Calabria) and July 30 in Rome only. The reopening of Luiss this summer also includes graduation ceremonies, which will be held in person starting next month.

Starting in September, about 70% of classes for first-year students in the Bachelor's degree programs of the Departments of Economics and Finance, Business and Management, and Political Science, as well as the single-cycle program in Law, will return to an in-person format. For students in years beyond the first, nearly 50% of classes will be held on campus. Teaching will continue, albeit partially, in a remote format, fostering interaction between students and faculty through synchronous sessions. This approach, which was used during the lockdown, ensured that neither professors nor students missed a single class hour.

Class schedules will be optimized to ensure all spaces are managed in a fully safe manner. For this reason as well, language courses and laboratory activities will all be conducted online, with most taking place on Saturdays. Additionally, to ensure a high-quality study experience, whether in person or remotely, all classrooms will be equipped with new interactive devices for team collaboration (digital whiteboards with intelligent 4K webcams). Students will also be able to book study rooms and computer stations for group work with a simple click.

The University is therefore reopening its doors to students, not only with new technologies and cutting-edge services, but also with new spaces. In fact, starting in September, a second marquee with over 160 seats will be inaugurated on the Viale Romania campus, providing a space for studying and attending classes.

For all other extracurricular activities—from workshops to tutoring for enrolled students, from sports to employability training to prepare for the job market—the University will open its facilities during dedicated hours in the late afternoon and on weekends. These initiatives reaffirm the values of inclusion, openness, and sustainability that drive the entire Luiss community.

“We are very happy to be able to see students again on our campuses starting next September. We never stopped during the emergency to ensure educational continuity, and seeing their faces again, listening to their questions, and interacting in person will allow us to regain the social dimension of our campus and in-person learning. The extraordinary complexity we faced during this period also allowed us to appreciate the potential of digital teaching. In September, the challenge will be to develop an integrated approach that combines classroom learning – the core of our educational model – with virtual learning. And our university will be fully committed to this challenge,” said Luiss President Vincenzo Boccia.