On June 9, 2016, the Student Council was held, meeting to discuss the following items on the agenda: fees and contributions a.y. 2016-2017; assessment of the destination of extra revenue deriving from the 2015-16 taxes; student elections: reflections on participation and discussion on the reform of the electoral regulations.
Taxes and contributions A.A. 2016/2017
Starting from the resolution of the taxes of the a.y. 2016/2017, some changes were highlighted. First of all, the ** second band **, due to the reform of the ISEE will go from a ceiling of € 16,153 to one of € 23,120. In addition, the thresholds of all bands up to the fifth have beenraised,thus allowing the return to the previous bands for the categories of students most affected by the new ISEE indicator. From a preliminary analysis of this year's data it was noted that 40% of students (almost twice as many as the previous year) are currently in the tenth tier.
It was also decided that students receiving"Dote Olimpica"scholarships are exempt from paying fees and contributions, excluding the share relating to the Regional Tax, administrative expenses and stamp duties.
Particular attention was given to the issue of international students (belonging to the quota reserved outside the EU) admitted to the Master's Degree courses who, on the other hand, are not assignees of a scholarship from the Politecnico di Milano or other institutions. In fact, they are not entitled to request the reduction of tuition fees based on the indicator of the economic condition and are placed ex officio in the maximum band (band 10), while the assignees (for example Scholarship holders of the Italian Government) are exempted from the payment of taxes and contributions, with the exception of the share relating to the regional tax, administrative expenses and stamp duties, for the years in which they benefit from the scholarship.
A ** mora of € 150 has been introduced in case of delayed submission of the application for admission to the Master's Degree **, or delayed enrolment for students who want to enroll in the LM. In these cases, the application for admission can only be accepted if granted by the competent School.
Also important is the exemption for students participating in the EIT Digital Master'sDegree Program. The fees and contributions of these are partially covered with the funding that the Politecnico di Milano receives from the EIT Consortium in which it participates. Students are exempted for any excess part.
Our Senator** Giorgio Quistini** finally proposed to raise from 73 to 74 CFU the minimum threshold beyond which to pay the 30% surcharge on taxes; this follows the observation that, in particular in the School of Industrial and Information Engineering, there are many courses with an equal number of exams, consequently leading students to exceed by a single credit the maximum limit of credits to benefit from the standard quota.
In conclusion, a positive opinion was expressed on the fees resolution,being related to the upcoming academic year but with the commitment to establish within the Student Council a Fee Commission Table for the coming academic years.
Destination extra revenue taxes 2015-16
Following the new ISEE indicator, the Politecnico di Milano has received from the collection of taxes for the a.y. 2015/16 of the ** revenues higher than the budget forecasts** (many students were in fact found to have a higher income). The extra fee was about 7.5 million euros, ofwhich about one million has already been reused to cover the exemptions from the fees of deserving students and another million or so was used to pay for Adobe licenses.
The discussion was therefore focused on how to make the most of the inventories (which stand at about 5 million euros), reflecting above all on small interventions that could have a great impact on the lives of students.
The main proposals were theexpansion and wiring of the existing study spaces,the redevelopment of some areas (such as the interfaculty in Milan Leonardo) and the purchase of tables for lunch or stations to allow students to stay outdoors especially in the warmer months.
Among the other proposals, significant is that of the representatives of Terna Sinistrorsa who suggest the investment of a small fee for the preparation of ** posters ** that the Politecnico could use to inform students more effectively on election days or for other representative events. All proposals will be evaluated in the next Permanent Student Commission.
Student Elections
The last issue addressed was that of the CNSU elections and low voter turnout. In particular, there was discussion on how to make students understand the importance of student representation. The discussion opened with the intervention of our representative Ennio Visconti on the need for the Politecnico to use more modern methods for communicating to students on these issues, such as the creation of a Facebook event where it is possible to reach all the information on the candidate lists. In addition, it was concluded that the best way to sensitize students on this issue is to make them participate in the first person on what happens within the various organs, especially those most easily perceived as i_ Councils of Studi_ Courses(CCS). Our representative Giovanni Marino proposes institutional moments before the lessons where the student representing in CCS, in the presence of the Professor, explains to the class in 10-15 minutes the topics addressed during the last Council, asking the students for their opinion. Other proposals, shared by all, were the possibility of making known the contacts of all the representatives to the CCS in the first lesson of presentation of a teaching and the need for a greater presence of the Representatives** in the institutional days, as during the presentation of the LM courses.
