Student Handbook & Syllabus

Full Stack Web Developer Nanodegree

Last Updated: May 11, 2015

I. Introduction
II. Anatomy of a Nanodegree
Projects and Courses
Deadlines
Career Development
Community
Time Commitment
III. Nanodegree Roadmap
Enrollment Requirements
Program Timeline and Project Portfolio
Project Submission and Graduation
Previously Earned Verified Certificates
How do I maintain good standing in the program?
Honor Code
Nanodegree Program
Project Submissions
Community Guidelines
IV. Nanodegree Support System
Community Forum
Events and Google+ Communities
Codecasts
Office Hours
One-on-one Appointments
Career Development Events
V. Payment Policy and Cancellations
Free Trials
Cancellations and Refunds
Pausing a Nanodegree
More Questions?
I. Introduction
Welcome to Udacitys
Full Stack Web Developer Nanodegree program! After reading this
document, you should understand the requirements and policies of the Nanodegree, where
completing the program will take you, and how to get support when you need it.

Please read this whole document carefully before you begin, and if you still have questions at the
end, feel free to contact us in the forum or at [email protected].

Once again, welcome, and we cant wait to see what you achieve!

Happy learning,
The Udacity Team

II. Anatomy of a Nanodegree

A Nanodegree consists of a series of courses and projects designed to help you develop
job-relevant skills and build a portfolio to show prospective employers. Udacity designed the Full
Stack Web Developer Nanodegree curriculum through close work with industry partners and
experts alike.

Together with your cohort, you will learn how to build complex server-side web applications that
make use of powerful relational databases to persistently store data using these tools: P ython,
Flask, Google API endpoints and SQLite . Additionally, you will learn about other tools and
platforms used by web developers in the tech industry today, including G it
and Github .

Projects and Courses

The bulk of the Nanodegree consists of completing five projects,accompanied by c ourses
.
These courses are designed to help you prepare to work on your projects, but they are not
mandatory (unless otherwise noted). More information is provided in S ection III: Nanodegree
Roadmap . You can see a list of these projects and courses in your U
dacity Home .

Deadlines
To help your pace yourself, each project has its own deadline --
a date by which the project must

be submitted -- that youll need to reach in order to stay with your current cohort. Youll find your
deadlines in your
Udacity Home .

Career Development
Career development, in addition to technical growth, is a very important part of the Nanodegree
program. Udacity offers monthly career development workshops over Google Hangouts On Air for
Nanodegree students. These events are tailored to Nanodegree students and will provide you
with thesoft skills
and
industry insight
needed to advance your career. The Udacity staff will
contact you about career development workshops throughout your time in the Nanodegree.

Community
One of the biggest benefits of the Nanodegree experience is being part of a c
ohort
and
completing the program with hundreds of other students from around the world. Though not all
students may move through the curriculum at exactly the same pace, your Nanodegree
community will be your strongest resource and support system. We expect you to be active in
your community, as outlined in the Honor Code.

Time Commitment
We designed this Nanodegree so that you can graduate in 6-9 months, assuming you devote at
least
10 hours per week to learning and working on the required projects. Students are welcome
to finish the Nanodegree program in as little as two months (our minimum required commitment
for eligibility to graduate) if they are able to commit more than the minimum time to learn the
material and complete the projects.

III. Nanodegree Roadmap

Enrollment Requirements
This Nanodegree has several important criteria that you should have met before enrolling in the
program. Please make sure you have already done each of the following:

1. Taken the Readiness Assessment to determine if you are ready to pursue the
Nanodegree.
2. Fulfilled all
prerequisites
, as listed on the Full Stack Web Developer Nanodegree
overview page.
3. Made sure your system satisfies Udacitys Technology Requirements .

If you have not done all of these things, please do them right away. If you realize you are not
prepared to begin the program at this time, please unsubscribe from the Nanodegree before
your
7-day free trial ends. You will be able to reenroll with a later cohort after you have fulfilled the
prerequisites. We cannot guarantee a refund for students on account of unpreparedness.

If you currently have little to no programming experience, we recommend taking a look at the
courseware for Intro to Computer Sciencefor a thorough understanding of foundational
computer science concepts before you begin a Nanodegree.

Program Timeline and Project Portfolio

Graduating from the Nanodegree requires that you submit work that meets Udacitys
specifications for six particular projects.
You can find the timeline for your cohort, as well as a
roadmap for what youll work on in the program, in your Udacity Home .
If you are not able to meet a deadline, you will automatically be moved to a later cohort based on
your progress and activity in the Nanodegree program. Students who submit one of the two
projects due will be moved back one cohort; students who do not submit either of the projects
due will be moved back two cohorts. As a courtesy, students who have been inactive since the
last deadline will be unenrolled from the program unless they request otherwise.

Project Submission and Graduation

You will submit each project you complete to Udacity for evaluation using your Udacity Home .
Detailed submission instructions for each project are listed in its project info sections, accessible
by clicking the projects name in the Udacity Home.

You can submit projects as soon as your first payment has been received. Once weve received
and begun to process your project submission, you will receive a confirmation email. Due to the
high volume of submissions, the turnaround period for project evaluations is 1
week . While
waiting for the evaluation to be returned, you are welcome to start working on your next project.

You may be required to do a verification interview with a Udacity Coach to verify that the project
in question represents your own work and/or correctly cites all sources and reasons for using
others code in any part of your submission.
For verification purposes, you will be asked to
provide a government-issued ID during your graduation process.

Previously Earned Verified Certificates

If you have successfully completed the project for the Programming Foundations with Python
course in the past (which entails having graduated from the course and having access to your
course certificate), simply email us at [email protected] to notify us.

To become a verified graduate of the Full Stack Developer Nanodegree Program, you must:

Successfully complete all projects in the Project Portfolio for the Nanodegree, earning a
Meets Specifications or above for all projects
Schedule and pass any requested verification interviews
Maintain good standing for the duration of the program
Stay in the program longer than one month past the Free Trial window

How do I maintain good standing in the program?

To maintain good standing and stay in the program, students are expected to meet the following
criteria:

Abide by the Udacity Honor Code , the T

erms of Service
, and the terms outlined in this Full
Stack Web Developer Nanodegree Student Handbook
If asked, resubmit projects within 7 days of feedback
If asked, schedule an exit interview within 7 days

The requirements above are designed to help students graduate from the Full Stack Web
Developer Nanodegree Program within 6-9 months of enrollment or earlier. Students who do not
maintain good standing will be asked to leave the program.
Honor Code
Nanodegree Program
I will abide by the
Terms of Service
, Student Handbook guidelines, and all components of
the Honor Code set for Udacity Nanodegree participants.

I will conduct myself with honor as part of the Udacity community.

I understand that all decisions regarding participation, graduation, and awarding of

verified certificates will be made by Udacity at its sole discretion.

Project Submissions
I hereby confirm that all project submissions consist of my own work. Accordingly, I will
document and cite the origins of any part(s) of my project submissions that were taken
from websites, books, forums, blog posts, github repositories, or any other source and
explain why I used them for any part of my submission. I understand that I may be asked
to explain my work in a video call with a Udacity Coach before my Nanodegree is
conferred.

Community Guidelines
I will help cultivate a positive, supportive learning environment.

I will communicate respectfully and considerately with all other Nanodegree participants,
Udacity Coaches, and Udacity representatives.

I will not share any content that is obscene, illicit, threatening, or discriminatory.

I will contribute constructively to discussions with fellow students.

I will notify a Udacity Coach immediately if I become aware of cheating or plagiarism by

any Nanodegree student.

IV. Nanodegree Support System

Community Forum
Each Nanodegree cohort has its own Udacity Discussions forum where students can ask and
answer each others questions about the projects, program logistics, and course material.
Udacity Coaches also moderate posts, answer student questions, and publicize important
program information in this forum. Coaches do their best to ensure all content-related questions
have answers within twenty-four hours.

To access the forum, click the

Discussionslink from any classroom page in your Nanodegree.
Then click the Log In button in the upper right hand corner to be automatically signed in.

Events and Google+ Communities

Nanodegree students have access to content, community, and career events integral to their
learning experience through Google Hangouts On Air hosted in the F
ull Stack Web Dev
Nanodegree Google+ Community . To join this community, each student needs to have or create
a Google+ account under
the name listed on your Udacity profile.

Codecasts
Codecasts are live, 15 to 45-minute sessions in which Udacity instructors provide in-depth
explanations of final projects, as well as supplementary resources related to full stack web
development. You can access these events through your cohorts Google+ Community, and a
recording of each session will be available afterward.

Codecasts occur regularly at the following times:

2nd and 4th Wednesday of the Month at 5PM, Pacific time

If you are unable to make a live broadcast, you are welcome to submit questions you have in
advance and come back to hear them answered when its convenient for you.

Office Hours
Office Hours are unrecorded Google Hangouts between a Udacity coach and a small group of up
to 15 students on a first-come, first-served basis. These events occur multiple times a week and
serve as an opportunity for you to ask questions and engage with your fellow Nanodegree
students face-to-face.

View the office hours schedule and sign up for Office Hours h
ere
!

One-on-one Appointments
The Udacity Coach team is available for 20-minute one-on-one appointments on a first come, first
served basis. The purpose of these meetings is to help answer in-depth content-related questions
that you cannot get answers to elsewhere.

In-depth instructions on how to book a one-on-one appointment are available in your Udacity
Home.

Career Development Events

Career development, in addition to technical growth, is a very important part of the Nanodegree
program. Udacity offers monthly career development events over Google Hangouts On Air
through the Google+ Community for Nanodegree students to attend. Please see the Career
Activities Calendar (available for download in your
Udacity Home ) for a list of upcoming events.
We also encourage you to watch events that took place prior to your enrollment! Youll find their
recorded versions in the Past Events section of the Google+ Community.

V. Payment Policy and Cancellations

Free Trials
All Nanodegree programs start with a 7-day free trial (more precisely, seven 24-hour cycles),
during which time you will have full access to all Nanodegree features.
You are required to enter your credit card information at the time of enrollment but will not be
billed until after your free trial expires. After this, you will automatically be charged a fee of
$200
per month for your Nanodegree subscription.

Cancellations and Refunds

If you opt to cancel your enrollment within the one-week Free Trial window, you will not be
charged, regardless of how far you have come in the program. We strongly recommend that you
complete the Readiness Assessment before the one-week Free Trial window expires to
make sure that the Nanodegree is a good fit for you.

Students who cancel will no longer be charged the monthly subscription fee, effective the next
billing cycle from the date of cancellation. Students who wish to cancel after the Free Trial
expires will not be granted a refund for the past months subscription fees.

Pausing a Nanodegree
Due to the open nature of our courses combined with the pacing of the Nanodegree, Udacity
cannot pause active subscriptions. However, we understand that our students are very busy and
that life can take unexpected turns, which may not always leave enough time to continue the
Nanodegree program at the required pace.

As you move through your Nanodegree, all of your progress is automatically saved. Thus, if you
feel that you need to take a break from the program at any point, you are welcome to cancel your
subscription and then re-enroll during a future open registration period when you are ready to
return. Youll be able to pick up right where you left off! Based on your overall progress in a
Nanodegree, you may also be moved to an earlier cohort upon request after you re-enroll.

More Questions?
We are actively working on ways to improve the Full Stack Web Developer Nanodegree. Please be
aware that we may make adjustments throughout your time in the program based on student
and industry feedback. We will notify active Nanodegree students about any impact this may
have on their experience or program requirements.

If you have any unanswered questions, please email [email protected]!