The School is facing the Covid-19 health emergency with agile work and distance learning. The upcoming editions of our Masters and Courses have been confirmed.

A cup of coffee, a laptop and the daily to-do list. Because of the outbreak of the Covid-19 health emergency in Italy, the routine of ALTIS’ students and personnel has significantly changed all of a sudden. However, no one stopped studying and working. On February 24 2020, the government disposed that all universities in Lombardy had to close until further notice, in order to decrease infections and protect the health of the citizens. Since that day, we have made sure that our students could keep studying and were not left alone, especially our foreign students and those who had transferred from another town or region.

Our academic tutors and professors have rearranged their calendars and turned some of their modules into videos or live streaming lessons. Meanwhile, the University reinforced its digital tools. The first is Blackboard, the University’s Learning System Management platform, which gives access to videos, study material and a chat for discussions. The second is Collaborate, a tool for interactive live lessons. Moreover, our students regularly held online study sessions and meetings to work on their group projects. 

Thanks to these digital tools, the University has created «a virtual classroom as wide as the country», which keeps our students united, although at a distance. They have been sharing on social media their everyday life and showed us that they are truly part of a community that is not content with waiting that the current situation is over.

Thanks to adopting a smart working policy, ALTIS’ personnel has been seamlessly managing the everyday activities, even when our offices were closed (Via San Vittore 18, Milan). Our homes have become our office and every day we check up on each other with online meetings, calls and emails. Technology is a very valuable ally during the quarantine.

What about the future? We hope that we will soon leave this health emergency behind, but until then we will keep working to ensure that our Master’s Degree Programmes and our Courses may start as expected. In order to do so, the programmes will be held as distance-learning sessions until the campuses will be reopened. The current situation is delicate and we need to be cautious, but we also have to look with trust and confidence to the future that awaits us. As for us, we are seeing it as an opportunity to reflect on our role and learn how to improve the way we research, educate, and support companies and organisations with our consultancy services.