Name: Communication Management and Channels
Code: A3120/A3121 / Edition: 1 / Date: 2004/09/13
APPLICANT IDENTIFICATION
Institution Name / ILMT – Milan Polytechnic
Application Code / xxx
Contact Person For This Form / Mrs. Ada Giannatelli/ Laura Nestani
Main parties involved in teaching process
· Milan Polytechnic:
§ Reference faculty (V Faculty – Computer Engineering);
§ ILMT (Innovative Learning Methods and Technologies - ILMT), designer of the format, learning content and manager of the Course
§ Board of Studies (BS). The following form part of the BS:
o Course Lecturers divided into 2 groups:
1st – professor and researcher members of regularly teaching 1 course module
2nd – all regular course module lecturers
o student representatives
o all subject tutors, but without voting rights
§ The Scientific Board (SB), given the innovative nature of the Course, has responsibility for supervising quality; it comprises 12 members, 4 of which are department directors involved mainly with the Course; there are other members from the academic board and a designated member from Somedia. The SB meets once a year at regular informal meetings;
§ The Professional Board (PB) is a body with consultation functions and which involves company representatives, in such a way as to increase and organise relations between the Course and the world of work and other interested parties.
§ The Management Board (MB) : is a body with organisational and management functions established for the purposes of punctually verifying the progress of the Course, discussing its general policies and detail and coordinating the activity of the Polytechnic and other interested parties, with particular reference to Somedia;
Period: approximately once every 4 months.
Minutes of the Management Board are available on request by external assessors.
Members: the PB comprises 4 members; in addition, there are “fixed” invited members and certain invited members who vary according to the requirements and the particular time:
Ø Prof. Alberto Colorni (President, Milan Polytechnic)
Ø Prof. Pierluigi Della Vigna (Milan Polytechnic)
Ø Alessandro Alachevich (Somedia)
Ø Cristina Soldati (Somedia)
In addition there is one "fixed" invited member:
Ø Prof. Roberto Negrini
Finally, there are 2 people who may or may not be involved dependent on the particular agenda:
Ø Prof. Piercarlo Maggiolini, coordinator of the commission for recognition of the Course
Ø Prof. Enrico Bellone, representative of the Somedia-L’Espresso Group
§ The Joint Teaching Commission (JTC): elected each year by the BS, it comprises 2 lecturers and 2 students, which meet at least 1 once per year with the objective of:
o expressing opinions on the Course teaching regulations
o verifying compliance of credits assigned to training activities and the effective workload
§ The Como Regional Centre, which is involved with:
o Teaching secretarial services
o Logistics services (rooms for physically attended examinations, agreed use for accommodation and meals)
o call back and payment of telephone expenses for lecture staff for teaching activities via the Internet
§ The CampusOne self-assessment group, appointed by the BS for the purpose of preparing all aspects provided for in the CampusOne project, comprises:
o The BS President
o RAV Campusone self-assessment manager
o Teaching manager appointed for learning (MDA)
o Course student
o Non-structured ILMT staff representative for Course support
· Somedia, company in the Espresso publishing group: supplier that ensures – by means of the involvement of Kataweb, the Group Internet Company – the technological infrastructures and support system for the delivery of courses and student-lecturer collaboration and interaction
· Parties involved in the teaching process:
· The Polytechnic lecturers who prepare and organise the course materials;
· The teaching manager, an individual operating within the general tutoring sector;
· Subject tutors who organise collaborative activities and assist with solving learning and understanding problems in the discipline;
· students:
Ø individuals already involved in industry who intend starting or taking up university studies again
Ø individuals with personal or family requirements which limit opportunities for travel
Ø off-site students
Secondary interested parties:
· Lotus IBM: producer of Learning Space 5.0, a teaching platform for online delivery and use of the Course
· DotLand, Video4U: a company which effects the online transfer of the CD ROMs produced by Fabula in such a way that they can be accessed on the Web
· Fabula: a company specialised in multimedia courses which produced the CD ROMs containing the teaching materials for the courses and lectures
· Sinapto: a consultancy and development company in the IT area specialised in the integration of web- based solutions. Within the scope of the Online Degree project, Sinapto is involved with housing of the servers for delivery of the Course and looks after second level technical support on the e-learning platform.
· Companies in the Information and Communication Technology sector: in relation to both implementation of apprenticeships and placement of graduates in the workplace.
Method and frequency of relationships with the IPs
1. Contact between the official control and management bodies for the Course in On Line Computer Engineering (Board of Studies - BS; Scientific Board - SB; Professional Board – PB; Management Board - MB)
Periodic meetings of a formal/institutional nature which utilise multiple communication and interaction channels: face-to-face, mail, telephone, videoconference.
Frequency: variable dependent on the body: Board of Studies (each month approx.); Scientific Board (once a year); Professional Board (to be defined by Autumn); Management Committee (every 4 months)
2. Contact with the official bodies of the Course (e.g. Board of Studies - BS) with students
The president of the Board of Studies publishes a Newsletter in which he provides students with updated and considered information both on contingent questions that have arisen and on the official selections of institutional bodies (e.g. BS, university) from the point of view of teaching, organisation and politics. The newsletter is announced on the General Forum and downloaded from the Bulletin Board on the server platform. Outside of this, the BS President uses the General Forum on the server platform for emergencies only, in rare and sporadic cases.
Frequency: variable in accordance with contingent requirements (in general variable from once every 2 months to once every month)
3. Contact with companies involved with transfer online of CD ROMs of the teaching materials (DotLand and Video4U)
Contact aimed at the resolution of specific/contingent problems, both for systematic and periodic verification of respect for scheduled times for the transfer and the quality requirements established; this verification is effected by means of coordination meetings between the ILMT workgroups which are specifically involved in this process and DotLand / Video4U representatives.
Frequency: variable in accordance with contingent requirements (in general variable from once a week to twice a month)
4. Contact relative to delivery and management of the Course
3a. Contact between the parties involved in the management-supply of the service
Contact between interested parties takes place with the daily collaboration on “practical” questions relative to delivery of the Course and involves all individuals working on the project, utilising multiple communication and interaction channels: face-to-face, mail, telephone, videoconference (e.g. the site www.laureaonline.it, actually managed by Kataweb, but designed by ILMT, coordination with Somedia in relation to student data, study plans, communication with Fabula and with the lecturers, etc.).
Frequency: dependent on requirements (in general daily)
3b. Contact between the manager-suppliers and Course students
a) Milan Polytechnic orientation days. Each year, Milan Polytechnic organises, in spring, orientation days to provide information in relation to the training offered (see http://www.polimi.it/?id=35/ordinamento_2003/index.shtml): in 2003 this day was held on 10 May. In relation to the specific Course in Online Computer Engineering, Prof. Colorni (director of ILMT and president of the BS) personally presented the Course on this occasion in 3 different timetable formats; the promotional material comprised 2 brochures, prepared respectively by ILMT and by Somedia and able to be consulted on request by external assessors.
Frequency: once a year
b) website http://www.laureaonline.it.
c) Streaming Events
ILMT, in collaboration with Somedia, Kataweb, Como administration and certain lecturers and tutors in the Online Computer Engineering Course, organises streaming events (Real video format) which can be accessed on the Web in real time, often together with interactive tools (Forums, video-chats, videoconferences) for open public discussions, in which anyone connecting has the possibility to listen and interact posing questions to the presenters and representatives of the various people involved in the Course (lecturers, students, tutors, administration personnel, etc). The events are the presentation of each Course module at the beginning of the semester and the in-depth physical attendance seminar offered at the time of the official examinations (February and July). In addition this year, at the time of award of the first Course degrees, a specific event will be organised, in which the Rector will also take part.
Frequency: 3 times per year approx.
d) marketing plan developed by Somedia
Frequency: once a year (prior to commencement of the new academic year)
3c. Contact between managers-suppliers and companies
- The apprenticeship service is carried out on the basis of the University regulation and procedure, headed by the Professional Placement Service (https://ssa.ceda.polimi.it/ssa/index.asp). Considering the specific nature of the Course and, in particular, the fact that the majority of its students are working, in the 2002-2003 academic year the BS instituted a specific Apprenticeship Commission. From 2004 The Apprenticeship Commission was made up as follows: Prof. Barbara Pernici (approval of apprenticeship proposals) and Prof. Marco Sampietro (assessment of equivalence, respect for the apprenticeship, any experience acquired previously).
Frequency: not defined
Communication flows and channels
Communication with internal Polytechnic departments /Parties involved / methods /
ILMT - ILMT / Sharing of information by means of weekly meetings between ILMT collaborators directly involved in the Online Computer Engineering Course. The tools used are:
Ø Email (always copied to all members of the workgroup)
Ø Face-to-face report (meetings, personal interaction);
Ø Telephone;
Ø Video conference
ILMT – other departments / Student administration
Ø Email
Ø Telephone
Ø Face-to-face report (meetings, personal interaction);
Ø General Forum on Server
UWIS (University Web Information Services): since UWIS is responsible for the Polytechnic site, which dedicates a specific section to the Online Computer Engineering Course, there is close collaboration for alignment of information on the Course and giving visibility to events associated with its promotion on this site. The tools used are:
Ø Mail
Ø Telephone
Ø Face-to-face report (meetings, personal interaction)
ADPC (Administration Data Processing Centre): ADPC is involved with recording student administration data. There is therefore close collaboration aimed at aligning and updating the data (mainly those relative to the students’ career) contained in the OLCE Database.
The tools used are:
Ø Mail
Ø Telephone
Ø Synchronisation of data between the OLCE Database and that of the ADPC
University Communication and Information Service: organisation of internal promotional events both internal and external to the Polytechnic is coordinated by this department. A specific resource is therefore identified which divides up its work between ILMT and the Communication Office, thereby ensuring a more solid relationship. The tools utilised are:
Ø Face-to-face report (meetings, personal interaction)
Ø Telephone
Ø Mail
General services: department suitable for the organisation and reservation of rooms for examination sessions. The tools used are:
Ø Mail
Ø Telephone
Computer Services Office: reference department for the loan of teaching SW. The tools used are:
Ø Mail
Ø Telephone
ULS – University Library Service: reference body for the book loan service. The tools used are:
Ø Mail
Ø Telephone
University Professional Placement Service: the Course arranges, in the third year, for each student to undertake an apprenticeship period with a company operating in the ICT sector (with the Course currently being in its third year, the professional placement service was started up in 2002). The tools used are:
Ø Mail
Ø Registration / entering of data on the site https://ssa.ceda.polimi.it/ssa/index.asp
Milan Polytechnic Graduate Association (http://alp.rett.polimi.it/index.htm), of which 1st and 2nd level graduates of Milan Polytechnic are all members subject to payment of the membership fee.
Ø The tool used is registration on the association site.
Orientation office: constituted on the 1st July 1998 (Admin. Dir. Ord. n.50), for the purpose of rationalising the various activities dedicated to pre-university orientation at the University.
Ø The tool used is Mail
Rectorate: The president of the BS and the director of ILMT participate in personal meetings with the Rector on the subject of teaching innovation, closely linked to the course project.
Communication with and between the parties involved in the teaching process
Parties involved / Methods
ILMT - students / ILMT communicates with Course students in relation teaching, organisational and management issues.
The tools used are:
Ø Mail; specific dedicated post boxes are:
- Organisational Help: service aimed at solving problems of an organisational nature in relation to virtual classes, timetables for carrying out activities, administration and organisational issues for the individual course of study (recognition of exams, required documents, administrative issues with the Polytechnic)
- Technical Help: Service provided to solve technical problems in relation to the computer platform (access, visibility of courses, etc.) and aspects connected with tools and telecom and multimedia environments utilised (forums, bulletin boards, live sessions, etc)
- General Tutor: Direct service for constant monitoring of student careers, through consultancy in relation to personalised development strategies for each learning process and recovery intervention in "critical cases"
Ø General forum on server
Ø Bulletin board on server
Ø Newsletter
Ø BS with student representation
Somedia - students / Somedia communicates with Course students on administrative and bureaucratic issues and on any problems related to teaching materials.
Ø Mail
Ø General forum on the server
Ø Telephone
Lecturers, tutors - students / Ø Meetings between lecturers and students at the time of official examination sessions
Ø BS with student representation