1. GENERAL RULES AND DEFINITIONS

1.1 These Terms of Use cover the learner platform located at https://learn.extensionschool.ch, hereafter referred to as the "Site", as well as newsletters, marketing and other communications services (collectively, the "Services") offered by the EPFL Extension School ("EXTS", "us" or "we") as a part of the services provided to its learners and learner community.

1.2 The EPFL Extension School is a unit of the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne ("EPFL").

1.3 By choosing to use the Services, you agree to abide by and to accept all of the Terms of Use defined below. We may change, add or remove portions of these Terms of Use at any time, without express notification to you. It is your responsibility to review these Terms of Use. By continuing to use the Services, you agree to any changes.

1.4 We may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Services at any time. We may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Services without notice or liability.

2. USE OF THE SERVICES

2.1 The contents of the Services are intended for your personal, non-commercial use. The use of the Services is entirely under the responsibility of the user.

2.2 We will not be liable for any direct or indirect damages which could result from using or being unable to use the Services.

2.3 You may not access or use, or attempt to access or use, the Services to take any action that could harm us or a third party. You may not access parts of the Services to which you are not authorized and may not do anything that could disable or damage the functioning or appearance of the Services. You are liable for damages of any kind which you cause through your use of the Services.

2.4 The Services may contain links to other websites or services. Links are provided for your information only. We have no control over any third-party websites or services and are not responsible for the availability or content of these third-party websites or services.

3. CONTENT

3.1 All materials published on the Services (including, but not limited to design, layout, appearance, logos, images, illustrations, audio clips and video clips, also known as the "Content") are protected by copyright and are owned by the EPFL Extension School or the entity credited in the Content. You agree to abide by all copyright notices, information, or restrictions contained in any Content accessed through the Services.

3.2 Any reproduction, modification, adaptation, translation, transformation, dissemination, integration into another site or service, or other form of re-use of any kind is forbidden without the explicit, written pre-approval by the EPFL Extension School.

3.3 We reserve the right to pursue legal action concerning any unauthorized use of any elements of the Services.

3.4 We will use our best efforts to ensure the information provided by the Services is accurate. However, we cannot guarantee that the information is accurate or completely up to date, and we accept no liability for any losses or damages that may arise from relying on this information. The information may change at any time without notice.

4. PERSONAL INFORMATION

4.1 In order to receive newsletters or e-mails, access program or course materials or receive any other communications from the EPFL Extension School, you will need to provide personal information to us. For example, to subscribe to any of our newsletters, you will need to provide us with your e-mail address.

4.2 To enroll in any of our courses and programs, you will need to provide personal information including your legal name, address of residence, date of birth, gender, and nationality. You will also need to upload images of a valid, government-issued, machine-readable photo ID and upload a photo of you taken from one of your devices (phone or computer web cam). You can learn more about the personal information we collect from you and how we use and protect it in our Privacy Policy.

4.3 By providing us with your personal information as part of your request to receive communications from or enroll in the EPFL Extension School, you explicitly consent to our use of that information as well as to the transfer of that personal information to third party service providers which we may use to provide the Services to you. Our Privacy Policy contains more specific details about those third-party service providers.

4.4 We keep your personal information confidential and take reasonable measures to prevent the unauthorized access to, disclosure of, or use of your personal information. We also limit access to your personal information to our employees, affiliates and contractors who need to know such information to provide you with the requested Services, to ensure the quality and proper functioning of our services, to protect abuse, or where required by law.

4.5 The EPFL Extension School takes appropriate measures to ensure that your personal information provided in conjunction with the Services is protected from unauthorized use. These efforts cannot, however, guarantee that your personal information will be protected against all unauthorized access. We specifically decline all responsibility for protecting or guaranteeing the confidentiality of your personal information during its electronic transmission.

5. COOKIES

5.1 When you use the Services, we use cookies to record and analyze your activities for the purposes of statistics, security, system monitoring and performance, management, content personalization, marketing and compliance with legal obligations. Cookies are pieces of data which are stored in your browser when you visit a website or interact with certain types of electronic communications. These pieces of data can be set and received by service providers and generally serve to better understand user activity.

5.2 Our Privacy Policy details the services which may be setting cookies in your browser, and our dedicated cookies page seeks to define those cookies in detail.

6. GENERAL COURSE AND PROGRAM RULES

6.1 Organization

6.1.1 All EPFL Extension School courses and programs are open to the public and offered online. There are no formal academic prerequisites or age requirements. Learners follow the curriculum at their own pace.

6.1.2 Courses consist of one course and may include several projects within the course. Programs consist of several "prerequisite" courses followed by a capstone project. Successfully completing each of the courses in a program allows the learner to begin the capstone project.

6.1.3 Successful completion of a course earns the learner a Certificate of Completion from the EPFL Extension School. Successful completion of a program earns a learner a Certificate of Open Studies (COS) diploma from the EPFL as well as 15 ECTS credits, granted as a block of credits. These credits cannot be earned separately.

6.1.4 Enrollment and course progression information are communicated to the learner online.

6.1.5 All courses and programs are taught entirely in English.

6.1.6 Participation in any course or program requires that the learner has the relevant computer hardware, software and internet bandwidth to follow the course, communicate with the school and participate in required videoconferences/presentations.

6.2 Duration

6.2.1 Courses generally require an active subscription for a minimum of one month of enrollment. Specific courses may require a longer paid enrollment period. The maximum enrollment period in a course is 18 months.

6.2.2 COS programs require an active subscription for a minimum of three months of enrollment and have a maximum enrollment period of 18 months.

6.2.3 The maximum enrollment period cannot be extended.

6.2.4 Cancelling enrollment/quitting a course or program prevents the learner from completing the course or program and from accessing the course or program materials.

6.3 General Enrollment Terms

6.3.1 Enrollment in a course or program of the EPFL Extension School may only be done online by following the enrollment process at extensionschool.ch.

6.3.2 Enrollment in a course or program requires that you provide official documentation of your identity by submitting, through the interface provided on the EPFL Extension School learner platform, a current, valid, machine-readable, government-issued ID which shows your full name, photo and date of birth.

6.3.3 During the enrollment process, your expected start date will be communicated to you. We reserve the right to change your start date to an earlier or later start date; we will only change it to an earlier date with your explicit, written permission.

6.3.4 Your enrollment in a course or program may be terminated if the EPFL believes that you have misrepresented or fraudulently represented your identity, either as part of the documentation and information you provide as part of the enrollment or login processes, while asking or answering questions on the learner platform, or when participating in any 1-to-1 chats. Your enrollment may also be terminated if the EPFL believes you have misrepresented or fraudulently represented ownership of any work submitted or completed in the course or program.

6.3.5 If you quit a course or program after your start date, your access to the course or program content will end immediately. If you have submitted a course project or capstone project, it will not be graded after you quit. If you have booked a 1-to-1 with a course instructor, it will be cancelled if you quit prior to the date of the 1-to-1.

6.3.6 Learners who have not met the requirements of course or program completion within the maximum enrollment period, who have failed any identification or authentication check, or who have not displayed to the satisfaction of the EPFL Extension School that the work submitted is theirs, may be immediately expelled from the course or program and/or prevented from taking the course or program again.

6.4 Individual Enrollment Terms

6.4.1 You will be asked to provide a valid credit card number at the time of enrollment but this credit card will not be charged until the start date of your chosen course or program. You may cancel your enrollment at any time up to the day before that start date. As of the start date of your course or program, the monthly active subscription fee will be debited from your credit card and is not refundable after that time. Your card will be debited per month on the same calendar day as your first start day or on the last day of the calendar month where applicable (e.g. enrollment for the 31 August will be billed the 30 September, 30 November and so on). Learners are billed each month up to the maximum enrollment period of the course or program.

6.4.2 Monthly active subscription pricing of each course and program is listed on the dedicated course or program page on the www.epfl.ch/education/continuing-education/online-portfolio website.

6.4.3 As of your start date, you will have access to the content of the course or program for a period of one month.

6.4.4 Learners enrolled in a course may pause their active subscription using the pause function within the learner platform, provided they are not in the final project part of the course. If a learner is in the final project part of the course, the pause function is disabled.

6.4.5 Learners enrolled in a multi-course program may pause their active subscription using the pause function within the learner platform, provided they are not in the capstone phase of any program (including the capstone proposal and the capstone project work, submission and presentation). They may pause their active enrollment during the project part of any of the individual courses which make up the program. However, submitted course projects will not not be reviewed or graded once the pause has gone into effect.

6.4.6 Your login and access to your learner profile are not affected by pausing your active subscription, but once the pause goes into effect, you will no longer have access to course or program content. If you have booked a 1-to-1 with a course instructor, it will be cancelled if your pause period begins on or prior to the date of the 1-to-1.

6.4.7 Learners remain officially enrolled in their course or program for the duration of their pause: the pause applies to the active subscription only.

6.4.8 You will be charged a monthly pause subscription fee to maintain your enrollment in the EPFL Extension School during the pause period. This fee will be charged on the same schedule as your active subscription and will continue to be charged monthly until you either end the pause and resume the course or program, or quit the course or program. Pause fee information is provided to learners before they confirm their intent to pause their active subscription.

6.4.9 Once selected and confirmed by the learner, the pause option goes into effect at the end of the learner’s current active subscription month, and lasts for one subscription month. The pause and the monthly pause subscription fee then continue on a month-by-month basis until the learner either ends the pause and resumes their active subscription, or quits the course or program. The learner may end the subscription pause or quit the course or program by using the interfaces provided in the learner platform to do so.

6.4.10 There is no limit to the number of times a learner may pause their active subscription. There is no limit to the total length of any single pause period or the cumulative number of months paused, within the maximum enrollment period limits for the course or program. A paused subscription does not extend the maximum enrollment period.

6.4.11 Learners may only pause their active subscriptions for a period of one full month. The pause only goes into effect at the end of the current active subscription month. No pro-rata or custom pause periods are supported.

6.4.12 To end the pause and resume learning, learners must use the tools provided in the learner platform at extensionschool.ch. The pause can only be ended at the end of the current paused subscription month.

6.4.13 Non-payment of fees for any reason (insufficient funds, bank refuses card, etc.) will result in cancellation of your enrollment if your non-payment status persists for more than seven days. Learners do not have access to course or program materials if their monthly subscription has not been paid. You will be informed via e-mail of any payment issues, in order to provide you with the possibility to rectify your payment status.

6.5 Sponsored Enrollment

6.5.1 As of your start date, you will have access to the content of the course or program for up to the maximum enrollment period, unless the specific terms of your enrollment as defined by your sponsor indicate a shorter period.

6.5.2 Learners whose enrollment is sponsored are not able to pause their subscription without the explicit written consent of both their sponsor and the EPFL Extension School.

6.5.3 Specific additional terms and conditions may apply to sponsored learners. If this is the case for you, you will be notified of those conditions during the enrollment process.

6.6 My Digital Future Fellows

6.6.1 Specific terms of use apply to selected My Digital Future Fellows. If this is the case for you, you will be notified of those terms during the Fellowship application and selection process.

6.6.2 My Digital Future Fellows are not able to pause their enrollment or extend the maximum period of the Fellowship.

6.7 Learner Support

6.7.1 Learners may request support from a course instructor by posting a question in the in-platform forum. There is no limit to the number of questions a learner may ask. Our course instructors strive to answer all questions within one business day, though a specific response time cannot be guaranteed.

6.7.2 Learners may have a 30 minute, 1-to-1 video chat with a course instructor up to once per week/seven day period. Learners must request this 1-to-1 from within the learner platform. The weekly 1-to-1 is not cumulative. Learners are required to have at least one 1-to-1 with the course team during their enrollment in order to receive their course or program certificate(s).

6.7.3 Depending on your course or program, you may be required to present one or more course projects via 1-to-1 video chat. Learners in a program leading to a COS certificate are required to present their capstone project as a 1-to-1 video chat. Presentation 1-to-1 video chats do not count as one of the weekly 1-to-1s.

6.7.4 Learners with a sponsored enrollment may have different support options and levels of support. Sponsored learners are encouraged to discuss specific terms of their enrollment with their relevant internal point of contact.

6.7.5 Learners whose active subscriptions are paused do not have access to any of the learner support options.

6.8 Grades and Grading

6.8.1 All course and program grades are "pass" or "fail" based on the learner's submitted, graded project work.

6.8.2 Course projects submitted by individually-enrolled learners are graded by the course instructors of the EPFL Extension School with a grade returned to the learner generally within two weeks of the project's submission. Course projects submitted by sponsored learners may be returned within a longer time period.

6.8.3 Learners may be required to present their course project work in a video chat with a course instructor and must schedule this project review through the scheduling tools available in the learner platform. Individually-enrolled learners who do not schedule a 1-to-1 for the project review or who are not available for a video chat within the relevant review period will not have their project graded within the two-week time period generally foreseen for course project review. Monthly active subscription fees must continue to be paid during the entire project review, presentation and grading period.

6.8.4 In the case of a "fail" grade in a course, the learner may retake the course provided the enrollment period needed to do so is within the maximum enrollment period.

6.8.5 Learners will receive a certificate of completion for each course they successfully pass. They do not receive any ECTS credits for individual courses.

6.9 Program Rules, Grades and Grading

6.9.1 Each of the programs which allow the learner to earn a Certificate of Open Studies has its own rules which define the curriculum and program fees, as well as how we validate and grade the learner's work during the program. The rules also may include additional enrollment criteria.

6.9.2 Learners will be provided with the current version of the rules for the relevant course or program prior to beginning the program and can find the current version for the Applied Data Science: Machine Learning Program here, and those for the Applied Data Science: Communication and Visualization program here. The official program rules exist only in French.

6.9.3 Course and capstone projects in a program are graded "pass" or "fail" based on the learner's submitted project work.

6.9.4 Course projects within a program are graded by the course instructors of the EPFL Extension School with a grade returned to individually-enrolled learners generally within two weeks of the project's submission, provided the learner maintains an active subscription. Course projects submitted by sponsored learners may be returned within a longer time period. Learners may be required to present their course project work in a video chat with a course instructor, and must schedule this project review through the scheduling tools available in the learner platform. Individually-enrolled learners who do not schedule a 1-to-1 for the project review or who are not available for a video chat within the two-week window will not have their project graded within the time period generally foreseen for course project review. Monthly active subscription fees must continue to be paid during the entire course project review, presentation and grading period.

6.9.5 Learners will receive a certificate of completion from the EPFL Extension School for each course they successfully pass. They do not receive any ECTS credits for individual courses.

6.9.6 In the case of a "fail" grade in a course, the learner may retake the course provided the enrollment period needed to do so is within the maximum enrollment period.

6.9.7 Under certain conditions, learners may use confidential data for their capstone projects. The EPFL Extension School provides a standard NDA for such a use case, which can be provided upon request by e-mailing nda@extensionschool.ch. The EPFL will not agree to or sign any other non-disclosure documents or accept any requests or terms for confidentiality other than those defined in our standard NDA.

6.9.8 The capstone project for a program is graded by the course instructors of the EPFL Extension School with a grade returned to the learner generally within thirty days of the capstone project's submission, provided the learner maintains an active subscription. Learners are required to present their capstone project work in a video chat with a course instructor, and must schedule this capstone review through the scheduling tools available in the learner platform. Learners who do not schedule a 1-to-1 for the capstone project review or who are not available for a video chat within the thirty-day window will not have their capstone project graded within the thirty-day time period generally foreseen for capstone project review. Active subscription fees must continue to be paid during the entire capstone project review, presentation and grading period.

6.9.9 In the case of a "fail" grade for the capstone project, the learner may submit one additional, new capstone project, provided the time needed for the learner to complete the new capstone, for the course instructor team to review it, and for the learner to present it to the course instructor team via scheduled videoconference are all within the maximum enrollment period. If this second capstone project also receives a “fail” grade, the learner cannot submit any additional capstone projects and will not receive the Certificate of Open Studies or any ECTS credits.

7. ALUMNI

Learners who complete any course or program are given the status of EPFL Extension School alumni. This status allows them to have access, through the learner platform, to the course or program materials for any/all course(s) or program(s) which they complete, for as long as the course or program continues to be offered by the EPFL Extension School.

8. APPLICABLE LAW AND JURISDICTION

8.1 These Terms of Use and any part thereof shall exclusively be governed by and construed in accordance with Swiss law.

8.2 The sole place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Use and/or the use of the Services is Lausanne, Switzerland.

Last updated: 29 April 2020