Di riforma in riforma... Lo stato dell’arte in Italia

This paper presents a brief overview of the main changes which have redesigned the Italian university system in the last decades, and deals with outstanding issues related to the didactic reforms and to the most recent one introduced by the Law 240/2010 (the so called Gelmini Reform), with specific reference to the Communication Sciences area. Among the others, the relationship between the higher education system and the labor market, the university system evaluation and the connection Didactics/Research. The reforms have produced a complex impact characterized by innovation and critical aspects. Reform monitoring and systematic evaluation of their effects are strategic in order to identify the main problems and to correct them through actions of process maintenance.

Il contributo, a partire da una sintetica panoramica sui principali cambiamenti che hanno ridisegnato il sistema universitario negli ultimi anni, riflette su alcuni problemi aperti dalle riforme degli ordinamenti didattici e da quella più recente sulla governance, con specifico riferimento all’area delle Scienze della comunicazione. Tra questi, i nodi legati al rapporto tra higher education e mercato del lavoro, la valutazione del sistema universitario e le relazioni tra didattica e ricerca. Emerge un quadro articolato tra innovazione e criticità, nel quale assumono una rilevanza crescente il monitoraggio e la valutazione sistematica e in itinere delle riforme e dei loro effetti, per orientare interventi correttivi e azioni ispirate alla manutenzione dei processi. This paper presents a brief overview of the main changes which have redesigned the Italian university system in the last decades, and deals with outstanding issues related to the didactic reforms and to the most recent one introduced by the Law 240/2010 (the so called Gelmini Reform), with specific reference to the Communication Sciences area. Among the others, the relationship between the higher education system and the labour market, the university system evaluation and the connection Didactics/Research. The reforms have produced a complex impact characterized by innovation and critical aspects. Reform monitoring and systematic evaluation of their effects are strategic in order to identify the main problems and to correct them through actions of process maintenance.