Preparing the Learning Agreement

The LA approval process takes place in the following stages.

1. SUBMISSION of the Learning Agreement by the student, in AlmaRM section of Studenti Online, according to your study plan (in Preparing the study section).

Once you have created your Learning Agreement on AlmaRM, you will be able to:

• Save provisionally the Learning Agreement and you will be able to edit it later on (“Salva provvisiorio”);
• Save and submit your LA so it will be forwarded to your Supervising Professor for validation (“Presenta il Learning Agreement”);
• Delete and not save the file (“annulla”).

Remember that the LA validation and approval procedures are handled by the DISTAL international relation service. YOU SHOULD NOT send the Learning Agreement to your Professor.

2. VALIDATION by your Supervising Professor for the exchange. The Professor can proceed to validation or request for some changes

3. APPROVAL by the relevant Degree Programme Board (Director). The Degree Programme Board (Director) will approve the LA or request for some changes

4. NOTIFICATION of the approval on your UniBo e-mail account (@studio.unibo.it)

5. Before leaving you will have to sign the Mobility Agreement

The mobility agreement governs the principal rights/duties of Erasmus+ students during the mobility period.

All students must read, complete, print, and sign the mobility agreement BEFORE LEAVING. Here, you will be asked to provide your bank account details, which we will use to deliver the scholarship.

Upload just one pdf file (max 2 Mb) consisting of a completed and signed “Mobility Agreement” to your AlmaRM homepage. Signing your Mobility Agreement implies the acceptance of the LA approved by your Degree Programme Board. Please, be aware you must upload all the pages of your mobility agreement!

This procedure is detailed in the guide for students who have won the mobility call, available on the UniBo website

6. As soon as your mobility starts, you can download the “Certificate of departures” of your AlmaRM page the officially confirms the start date of the mobility period. Then upload your signed and stamped certificate by the Host Institution as well as your Mobility Agreement.

The “Certificate of departures” is a document that it has to be filled when you arrive at the Host Institution to verify the period of stay in order start the payment procedure. You will have to reupload it at the end of your mobility with the correct data of your leaving.

7. If you need to modify your Learning Agreement during your mobility, you will have to upload on your AlmaRM page the final version of your LA with all of the signature (the Responsible in your Host Institution, the Degree Programme Board (Director) and yours). Without this document you will not be able to download the “Certificate of departures” (Certificato di Periodo).

8. At the end of the mobility, upload again the “Certificate of departures” with the correct data of your leaving.

9. Upload the Transcript of Records (ToR); this is the document that certifies the grades of the exams you attend abroad. This document will be released by the Host Institution at your departure or a couple of weeks later.

10. Fill on your AlmaRM page the Request for Recognition (Richiesta di Riconoscimento), the system will automatically load the activities in your Learning Agreement and you will have to specify if you have taken and passed the activities at the Host Institution (you will find your grades on the ToR, and the date of the exams, if you want). It is important to indicate if you want recognition on your UniBo Study Plan.

ONLY the “si, da riconoscere” activities will be recognized in your study plan, so it is important to carefully check the Request for Recognition before you submit it.

11. VALIDATION of the Request for Recognition by your Supervising Professor for the exchange. The professor will convert your abroad grades with our assessment system by using the ECTS tables and grading scale (for info https://www.unibo.it/en/teaching/enrolment-transfer-and-final-examination/the-university-system/ects-label/the-ects-grading-scale ).

12. APPROVAL by the relevant Degree Programme Board (Director) followed up by the update of your academic career.

Log in on Studenti Online, the in AlmaRM section (https://almarm.unibo.it/almarm/welcomeStudenti.htm) then you will have to choose your activity:

- “Studio” if you want to attend lesson and/or prepare your thesis abroad and you need the recognition of CFUs. If you selected “Studio” you can add boxes where you can enter the correspondence groups (“Gruppi di corrispondenza”). You need to add as many groups as the activities you will attend abroad. See the section: How to create correspondence groups “Gruppi di corrispondenza”.

- “Tesi” if you want to carry out activities related to the preparation of your thesis. This activity DO NOT allow you the recognition of CFUs (all you have to do is to indicate the title of the thesis or a small abstract approved by your UniBo professor). If you need the recognition of CFUs you should also select the “Studio” activity;

- “Tirocini” if you want to do an internship, previously agreed with the Host Institution. It is better to add the internship activities when you will arrive at the Host Institution and you are sure the you will be able to carry out the internship. On your LA you have to indicate the “INTERNSHIP” activity whit the correspondent code you can find on your study plan:

• if the degree has a compulsory INTERNSHIP/TIROCINIO the code is 15349,
• PROGESA: 90135 TIROCINIO – A SCELTA STUDENTE,
• STAG: 27090 TIROCINIO LM.

For the Study abroad for the final dissertation:

- 81354: IMAHS, EMSA, TA, PA, TAAF, STAAF, VOTP, STVP, PROGESA,

- 82462: PASA

A correspondence group is a set of learning activities to be performed at the Host Institution and a set of learning activities at our University which will be recognized if you pass all the activities indicated for the Host Institution. The differences between credits should be reduce to the minimum.

You should enter elective credits only if it has not been possible to identify a precise learning activity. In thiscase you must indicate the number of credits and the Subject Group (Settori Scientifico Disciplinari - SSD) these credits fall under. You can find the list of the SSD in the attachments of this page.

You should insert the foreign activities “Attività estere” in the left column whit the full name of the course and its ECTS.

You should insert the correspondent UniBo activities “Attività da riconoscere” in the right column, this activity will be recognized when your mobility will end and you will pass the final exam of the correspondent foreign activity.

Check Example 1 in the attachment Learning Agreement example

1 ECTS is equal to 1 CFU, so both are university educational credits.

It is not always possible to find exact correspondences between the total of foreign credits (ECTS) and the total of the UniBo credits (CFU) within the same subject group:

Check Example 2 in the attachment Learning Agreement example

If the foreign activities have a number of credits lower than the UniBo credits (CFU), it is possible to identify more than one foreign activity in the same field, creating a specific correspondence group.

Check Example 3 in the attachment Learning Agreement example

If there is a difference in credits, you should ask to your Professor if he can evaluate the content of the foreign activities and get you a supplement exam when your mobility end. This decision has to be insert in the "Note" section of the Learning Agreement.

Check Example 4 in the attachment Learning Agreement example

If the foreign activities have a higher number of credits than the UniBo credits (CFU), it is possible to create a correspondence group by associating an activity abroad with more activities from your study plan.

You can include:

• activities that you have not taken and passed yet, therefore not only the courses relating to the A.Y. in which you will carry out the experience abroad, but also those of previous year, if not yet passed, or the following year.
• Compulsory Learning Activity courses that you can find in your study plan
• Elective Learning Activity ONLY if you intend to insert them in your study plan by the dead line of submission. Check the page “Preparing the study plan” where you can find all the information you need about how to create your Study Plan and the submission period.
• Elective Learning Activity - Attività formative a libera scelta dello studente can be insert in you Learning Agreement in two different ways:

1) choosing the correspondent optional course ONLY IF you insert the activity in your study plan, check “Study plan” in your Studenti Online page

2) indicating the number of credits and the Subject Group (SSD) in the correspondent “Se vuoi che siano riconosciuti dei crediti a scelta” at the bottom of the right column “Attività da riconoscere”.

Check Example 5 in the attachment Learning Agreement example

ONLY for credits in the Subject Group (SSD), since you can’t find a correspondence between the foreign and UniBo activity, you can select the number of CFU in a specific scientific Subject Group – Settore Scientifico Disciplinare (SSD). In order to find the correct SSD you can find the list of the SSD in the attachments of this page.

SSD is a code with few uppercase letters, a slash "/" and two numbers, e.g. AGR/01

REMEMBER! You must ALWAYS fill your study plan with the Elective Learning Activity “Attività formative a scelta dello studente” that you intend to carry out in UniBo, if for any reason you are unable to complete all the exams in your LA.

This is a precaution that does not oblige you to carry out the exams when you return to Italy (if you pass the final exam abroad), but it is useful if you fail the foreign exam and you need to achieve the credits CFU necessary to obtain the degree.

When your mobility will end you need to complete the credits necessary for the degree: 180 (for 1^st cycle degrees) or 120 (for 2^nd cycle degrees) including the final exam. The extra credits will be canceled when the requirements are checked, after you have submitted your degree application.

All the information on the deadlines and how to complete the "Italian" study plan are on the website page Preparing the study plan. [link]

If you want to insert a “Language course unit” in your LA, check the Example 6 in the attachment Learning Agreement example, the activity will be recognized as Elective Learning Activity - “Attività formative a scelta dello studente”.

Check Example 6 in the attachment Learning Agreement example

“Tirocini”

If you are a winner of the scholarship for Erasmus+ Study, it is possible to include the internship among the foreign activities as you can see in the if the Example 7 in the attachment Learning Agreement example.

If you want to do an internship, previously agreed with the Host Institution. It is better to add the internship activities when you will arrive at the Host Institution and you are sure the you will be able to carry out the internship. On your LA you have to indicate the “INTERNSHIP” activity whit the correspondent code you can find on your study plan:

• if the degree has a compulsory INTERNSHIP/TIROCINIO the code is 15349,
• PROGESA: 90135 TIROCINIO – A SCELTA STUDENTE,
• STAG: 27090 TIROCINIO LM.

For the Study abroad for the final dissertation:

- 81354: EMSA, TA, PA, TAAF, STAAF, VOTP, STVP, PROGESA, IMAHS,

- 82462: PASA

IMPORTANT: these activities are not those internship activities related to the Erasmus + Mobility for Internship call, you can see examples of Training Agreements in Example 8 of the attachment attachment Learning Agreement example.

It can happen that the student, once he/she arrived at the Host Institution, is forced to modify his courses due to timetable reasons, modifications to the educational offer or simply because there is a course of greater interest. In those cases, it is possible to modify your Learning Agreement once a semester, following the same approval procedure as you can find above.

It is possible to modify your already approved Learning Agreement up to two times following the same approval procedure as you can find above. Go to the section: LEARING AGREEMENT APPROVAL PROCESS.

You will be notified of the approval of the new Learning Agreement on your UniBo e-mail account (@studio.unibo.it).

If during the mobility you need to return in Italy, you must notify via e-mail: International Relations Office Bologna – Settore Accordi e mobilità Erasmus+ “UE” (erasmus@unibo.it).

At the end of the mobility, the Host Institution will send to you a certificate called Transcript of Records (ToR); it will be release at your departure or a couple of weeks later. Always check that your personal data and evaluations of the foreign activities are correct.

The Transcript contains the list of foreign activities with grades together with an addendum with the matching ECTS grades.

Contact your Supervising Professor for the exchange in order to arrange your Request for Recognition (Richiesta di Riconoscimento - RR); the system will automatically load the activities in your Learning Agreement and you will have to specify if you have taken and passed the activities at the Host Institution. It is important indicate if you want the recognition on your UniBo Study Plan. Only the “si, da riconoscere” activities will be recognized of your study plan, so it is important to carefully check the Request for Recognition (RR) before you submit it.

The RR will be then validated by your Supervising Professor for the exchange and then approved by the relevant Degree Programme Board (Director) followed up by the update of your academic career by the Student administration office- Segreteria Studenti. You will be able to see the updated exam on your Studenti Online page in the session “On-line records book” with the phrasing “Replaced”.

REMEMBER: If will not obtain any recognition for at least one of the foreign activities (exams, internship or thesis) the scholarship could be revoked and you could have to return all the amount received.