Students asked Sauli for help in their studies. In response he created something of an independent department called an "academy". On February 2, 1560, Sauli celebrated the opening Mass of the Holy Spirit and started weekly conferences on St. Paul and daily repetitions of the university subjects which were divided in three groups: theology, philosophy (or medicine) and law. The teaching was geared to the intelligence and ability of each student, widening their interest to other subjects. He gave ample space to disputes, knowing how well the students would prepare themselves, thereby acquiring self-confidence while clarifying the ideas they were presenting. Seeing the success that Sauli was having, the Barnabites did not hesitate to open a house of studies for their seminarians, although open to other seminarians and lay people as well. Sauli gave daily classes in theology and philosophy. His method again was innovative. In presenting Aristotle he used the original Greek version avoiding the poor Latin translation of the time and he himself prepared a lexicon to better understand the terminology. In theology, Thomas Aquinas was a requirement, and the students used to say that, if the text of the Summa were to get lost, it was no problem because Sauli knew it by heart. St. Thomas was integrated with St. Bonaventure, the Fathers of the Church, especially St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory the Great, and contemporary authors such as Savonarola. How innovative Sauli was is shown by the subsidiary subjects that he introduced, such as geometry which "makes the heart attentive and orderly", and law, so that the students could protect themselves in a world engulfed in never ending legal battles. For the Law of the Church, it was Sauli who suggested to his friend Marcantonio Cucci the preparation of a systematic and well organized exposition of all church laws which was published in 1565 after being revised by him. Until now Sauli had no official degree of any kind, although he received the Bachelor's degree through a public dispute that he held, between 30 May and 1 June 1560, on 150 theological theses. This was dedicated to Pierpaolo Arrigoni, then the President of the Senate of Milan. The rector of the "Artists" (philosophers and doctors), had offered him a chair of philosophy at the university, but the superior, Besozzi, declined without even notifying Sauli. The Barnabites were concerned that such a position would lead to