Students in their educational journey are supported by the Course of Study Tutor and the Disciplinespecific Tutor (cf. DM1154/2021). The Course of Study Tutor, specific to distance education degree courses, facilitates student reception by providing administrative and IT support throughout the entire study cycle. They perform orientation and monitoring functions for degree courses under the coordination of the respective Coordinator, directly addressing any issues that may arise.

The Course of Study Tutor carries out the following tasks:

• Monitors online teaching and its articulation in terms of instructional delivery, interactive teaching, and self-learning activities.
• Monitors the development of instructional interaction and the involvement of teachers, discipline-specific Tutors, and students, as well as activities carried out by students.
• Coordinates with the Course Coordinator to ensure the adequacy of e-activities (problems, reports, case studies, simulations, etc.) for each course.
• Supports and guides students in degree courses.
• Intervenes to prevent the phenomenon of university study dropout.
• Collaborates with teachers and discipline-specific Tutors in organizing e-activities.
• Organizes training and updates, with the support of the Academic and Student Services Area, for discipline-specific Tutors to enhance online teaching.
• Maintains constant contact with students through communication tools provided by the elearning platform and other university services, ensuring timely responses.
• Monitors not only learning but also students' interest and satisfaction.
• Guides students in their academic journey, choices, and organization of their studies.
• Prepares and provides a schedule of their availability.

The Discipline-specific Tutor, specific to each course, provides students with the most useful tools for successful study of the subject. They support students in the learning process up to the examination, working within the virtual class of the course, coordinating with the Coordinator and subject teachers. In particular:

• Collaborates with Course of Study Tutors.
• Monitors and ensures the correct macro-design of the course, including content and objectives, structure, duration of instructional activities, and final exam, proactively intervening, in coordination with the relevant subject teacher, to resolve issues.
• Monitors and ensures the correct micro-design and execution of the course, including topics (content and objectives of video lectures, webinars, and other e-activities), final exam, proactively intervening, in coordination with the relevant subject teacher, to resolve issues.
• Monitors and verifies that the Moodle page for the courses meets the standard set by the university e-learning model, proactively intervening, in coordination with the relevant subject teacher, to resolve issues.
• Provides support to students in the learning process up to the examination.
• Maintains constant contact with students in the disciplinary area, both synchronously and asynchronously, through communication tools provided by the e-learning platform and other university services, ensuring timely responses.
• Actively participates in the organization of planning, reporting, evaluation, training, and coordination activities among teachers and Course of Study Tutors.
• Prepares and provides a schedule of their availability.
• Reports semi-annually to the Course of Study Council on activities performed.

Student-tutor interaction is realized in three modes:

1. Guidance/consultation
2. Overall class monitoring
3. Coordination of student groups

Through the communication tools available in their teaching portal, the tutor provides support to students in understanding the content and context of the educational journey. Periodic monitoring activities allow constant verification of the class's learning progress, enabling better planning of interactive activities and feedback for students.

Tutoring activities can be carried out both synchronously (each student can interact with the tutor in real-time through chat, video chat, or video and audio conferencing systems facilitating collaborative learning processes) and asynchronously (email, forums, FAQ system).

Interaction modes between the tutor and student are provided in both "push" mode, where tutors provide stimuli requiring student responses (e.g., self-assessment questions or problems applying acquired knowledge), and "pull" mode, where students explicitly request assistance or in-depth meetings. The tutoring activity is carried out by CICS tutor teachers in relation to the needs of the students during their study course. It mainly concerns aspects of student satisfaction, internships, student’s mobility, and master theses. The Academic Coordinator and the Secretary of the Master Degree are the main referents for any question or doubt the student may have: admission requirements, curriculum selection, free choice subjects, elective courses, , transfer from other master degree programs.

ONLINE TUTORS: Sergio Riotta and Andrea Mattaliano.