Tuesday, 29 September 2020

The Master in Management of Social Enterprises turns 25

Versione stampabile

The GIS master, designed by Euricse and the University of Trento to train new "social managers", turns 25 years old. It is the oldest one-year course in Italy focusing on the non-profit sector, with a community of over 500 students, faculty, organizations, and an employment rate above 85%.

The achievement was celebrated with a new website, a forthcoming multimedia manual and a virtual toast with the representatives of the participating institutions. Applications for the 25th edition close on 12 October; face-to-face classes start on 9 November.

History
It was 1995 when the Istituto Studi Sviluppo Aziende Non profit (ISSAN) of the University of Trento – today, Euricse – promoted the first edition of the Master as a 150-hour postgraduate course. One year later it became a one-year programme including an internship period. When the Italian university system was reformed, in 2002, the postgraduate course became officially a first-level Master's programme, while the GIS acronym was established in 2006. Euricse was founded in 2008, and since then has been the organizer of the master. In 2016, the Department of Sociology and Social Research and the Faculty of Law joined the Department of Economics and Management in the course's organization.

The GIS Master today
The GIS master contains 6 months of teaching, organized in classes, seminars, and workshops with 25 faculties with different backgrounds from the academic and business world, and a 5-month full-time internship at non-profit organizations in Italy or Europe. Internships are designed and personalized in agreement with internship providers. Thanks to this arrangement, the 17 students attending the course in the academic year 2019/2020 were able to do their internships either in face-to-face mode or in work-from-home mode, despite Covid-19 restrictions.
The course has always attracted students from all over Italy. Based on data from the last five editions, 36% of the students were resident in Trentino, while 61% were from other Italian regions. Students from foreign countries account for 3% of the total, based on data from all previous editions.
"The master provided the opportunity to create, at the University of Trento, a school of thought and a group of faculties capable of dealing with a wide range of subjects. It set an example at national level for the training provided and the studies that were published on social enterprises and, in more general terms, for its impact on the third sector", commented Carlo Borzaga, president of Euricse.
"Numbers speak for themselves of the quality and success of the GIS Master, one of the first established by our University 25 years ago, with over 400 graduates and an average employment rate of 87%", commented Rector Paolo Collini. "The master's former students, for the most part, still find a job short after graduation, and this in part occurs because the course built strong relationships with social organizations and enterprises, not only in our Province. The various ingredients of the master attract a diverse student body, with different academic and personal backgrounds – a diversity that is one of the strengths of the course – and gives every student a tailored training, with skills that are highly sought after in the job market".
“The master trains professionals who will be employed in third sector organizations to deal with management, organizational and legal issues" underlined the director, Marco Bombardelli.

The 25th edition
To celebrate the achievement, Italy's oldest course in social economics launched a new website, www.mastergis.eu, which presents the views of former students on their experience and internship. Besides, a multimedia manual will be published soon to give an overview of the skills required to manage social enterprises, with contributions from the master's lecturers.
And finally, to strengthen the relationship with the local environment, from this year the course will accept applications from the employees of local companies: graduates and undergraduates will have the opportunity to attend one or more modules, to present the organization they work for and to provide internship positions, if available.
Applications for the 25th edition close on 12 October, at 12.00, while face-to-face classes start on November and continue until April 2021, when internships are scheduled to start. For information please email to formazione [at] euricse.eu

The GIS Master in numbers

  • 25 professors and researchers
  • 400 alumni, from 1995 to today
  • 362 hours of teaching
  • 800 hours of internship
  • 61% of student from out of Trentino
  • 40% of students are graduates of UniTrento
  • 85% found a placement 6 to 12 months after the master
  • 52% of former students are employed in the organization that provided their internship