OUTGOING students on Erasmus and other international mobility programs must make sure to have thoroughly read and fully understood the Departmental guidelines for outgoing students, at: http://erasmuslingue.blogspot.com/p/learningagreement.html
LEARNING AGREEMENTS:
VERY VERY IMPORTANT: Learning agreements MUST BE APPROVED AT LEAST 10 DAYS BEFORE YOUR DEPARTURE. Also, it is USELESS, in fact COUNTERPRODUCTIVE, to ask me to approve your LA too early. Because you have only ONE LA CHANGE ALLOWED per semester, it is in your best interest to request an LA only a couple of weeks before you leave, NOT EARLIER. You LA change should be left for last-minute changes once you are already abroad.
Only your official OLA is legally binding with unito and therefore ONLY COURSES APPROVED IN YOUR OFFICIAL OLA will be transferred ("riconosciuti") once you finish your exchange.
If I am your exchange coordinator, you can request a signature on your Learning Agreements, by sending me, in ONE EMAIL (no separate emails, please):
A fully completed MODULO RICONOSCIMENTO ESAMI (see instructions at item 3. for direct link), in DOC or DOCX format. For multiple exams substituting one uniTO exam, here is what you need to do. All COURSE CODES must be included. (Obviously, grades are not yet included in the document).
DIRECT LINKS to the course descriptions of ALL the courses included in your L.A. (i.e. the courses at your HOST university). Links MUST be included in the body of your email, and NOT in separate attachments. If all course syllabi are published in one booklet (as it happens in France, for instance), you will send me screenshots of the relevant pages, NOT the link to the whole booklet.
After I approve your LA, go ahead and follow instructions on what to do next at: http://erasmuslingue.blogspot.com/p/learningagreement.html
If any changes (During the Mobility, etc.) are required, ONE new request email must include ALL of the items above. Changes to your LA must be made using your previously approved LA (in the "During the Mobility" section). Do NOT fill out a new form for a LA change.
PLEASE NOTICE: Some universities abroad ask that incoming students complete a L.A. long before their arrival, at times EVEN BEFORE THEY PUBLISH ANY COURSE SYLLABI. In that case, you can ask me to sign a PRO-FORMA Learning Agreement: this means that you DO NOT FILL OUT an OLA, but rather send me a LA pdf to sign (document must be filled out IN FULL, and email request MUST include ALL documents at # 1 and 2 above and a declaration that course syllabi are not yet available for your host university). Please UNDERSTAND that pro-forma LAs are not binding the Pro-Forma LA is only to get your through the application process with your university abroad, and we will discuss and approve your study plan abroad only when you are ready to complete your OLA.
EMAILS.
PLEASE USE EMAIL PROFESSIONALLY: This means:
when writing to multiple addressess, send ONE mail to ALL the people involved (and not separate mails). This is how people will know that you are extending your query to more than One people.
Use cc for those people you are not expecting a reply from
ALWAYS include any thread in your email (do not start a new email, but always reply to an older one, unless addressing a completely new topic)
MOREOVER:
email me only with reference to topics within my area of competence (I am your academic tutor, and have nothing to do with nominations, housing, travel, etc.)
send all questions in ONE email, from your unito account, always explain who you are (name, exchange destination, academic year, etc.)
ALL EMAILS ARE URGENT! Yes, I get it: when you write to me, you expect a reply within a few hours. Ideally, within minutes. Please understand that I do all I can to get back to you asap, but also that my schedule is very packed most of the time. There is no need for you to mark your requests as "urgent", since "urgent" is always implied, as far as I am concerned. Emails marked as URGENT will receive lowest priority. Also, remember that I am not on email in August, when I am relieved of office duties.
DOCUMENTS and CERTIFICATIONS:
I can provide an ENGLISH language certification to all students who have been selected for one of my destinations. No other English Language certification will be necessary. I will sign a certification form (pdf format) that you will provide (this is usually a form sent to you by your exchange university). If you do not have a form, you can use THIS ONE: fill it out IN FULL and send it to me for signing (in pdf format). I ONLY SIGN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CERTIFICATIONS for outgoing students on exchanges that I coordinate.
I cannot provide certifications for languages other than English. Therefore, if you exchange requires a certification for any other languages (do not ask me, but your host university), you will need to make arrangements with CLA (Centro Linguistico di Ateneo).
If requested by the partner university, download your "transcript of records" (autocertificazione esami) from myUnito. Send it to me in pdf format if you need this certification signed and stamped (this is not always required, therefore check before asking me to sign). If an English language transcript is required, you can create your own English language translation using THIS FORM, which I will then also sign for you (make sure you also attach your original "autocertificazione esami").
ANY DOCUMENT YOU SEND ME FOR SIGNING MUST:
1. BE IN PDF format
2. be named beginning with your LAST NAME
NOMINATIONS:
Nominations are sent out by uniTO's International mobility Office (internationalexchange@unito.it). I have nothing to do with this process, and cannot intervene, sorry. Until your nomination is sent, your host university does not know who you are and may not answer your emails.
Thank you for reading all of the above very carefully.
A. Carosso