Welcome to Udacity’s Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree program! After reading this document, you should understand the requirements and policies of the program, 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 machine-support@udacity.com.

Once again, welcome, and we can’t wait to see what you achieve!

Happy learning,

The Udacity Team

II. Anatomy of a Nanodegree program

A Nanodegree program 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 Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree curriculum through close work with industry partners and experts alike.

The Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree program will equip students with key skills, including data analysis and artificial intelligence, which will prepare them to fill roles with companies seeking machine learning experts (or to introduce machine learning techniques to their organizations). Many experts in this field go on to create new businesses as well, leveraging the vast capabilities of machine learning.

Projects and Courses

The bulk of the Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree program consists of completing a series of projects, accompanied by courses. 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 Section III: Nanodegree Roadmap. You can see a list of these projects and courses in your Udacity Home.

Deadlines

To help you pace yourself, each project has its own deadline -- a date by which the project must be submitted -- that you’ll need to reach in order to keep the same projected completion date. You’ll find your deadlines in your Udacity Home.

Community

One of the biggest benefits of the Nanodegree experience is being part of a community 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 10-12 months, assuming you devote at least 10 hours per week to learning and working on the required 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:

Fulfilled all prerequisites, as listed on the Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree overview page.
Made sure your system satisfies Udacity’s 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 free trial ends. You will be able to re-enroll 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 Science and Programming Foundations with Python for a thorough understanding of foundational computer science concepts and the Python language before you begin this Nanodegree program.

Program Timeline and Project Portfolio

Graduating from the Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree program requires that you submit work that meets Udacity’s specifications for the particular projects. You can find your timeline, as well as a roadmap for what you’ll work on in the program, in your Udacity Home.

If you are not able to meet a deadline, you will automatically be given a different timeline based on your progress and activity in the Nanodegree program.

Project Submission and Graduation

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

You can submit projects as soon as your first payment has been received. Once we’ve received and begun to process your project submission, you will receive a confirmation email. Due to the high volume of submissions and the time it takes our team to give personalized feedback, the turnaround period for project evaluations is currently 1 week. While waiting for the evaluation to be returned, you are encouraged to start working on your next project.

Once your project has met the specifications of its rubric (which can also be found in the project information section), your project will be checked off in your Udacity Home. You may be asked to do a verification interview with a Udacity Coach at any time 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, your name on your Udacity account should match the government-issued ID you show us during your verification interview.

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 Terms of Service, and the terms outlined in this Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree Student Handbook
If asked, schedule an exit interview within 7 days to have the projects verified over video chat

The requirements above are designed to help students graduate from the Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree program within 10-12 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. Acceptable sources consist of:

Un/modified code from the Udacity courses
A modest amount of un/modified code from third-party sources with attribution
NOT ACCEPTABLE: any part of another student’s work, even with attribution

I understand that Udacity will check my submission for plagiarism, and that failure to adhere to the Udacity Honor Code may result in the cancellation of my enrollment.
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 Program Support System

Community Forum

Each Nanodegree program has its own Udacity Discussions forum where students can ask and answer each other’s questions about the projects, program logistics, and course material. Udacity Coaches 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. As a student, it’s highly recommended that you also take time to answer posts to further your own learning.

Please note, due to the number of advanced open-ended projects that we will be offering in the Nanodegree the forum categories dedicated to the program’s final project concentrations will not be coach-moderated.

To access the forum, click the Discussions link from any classroom page in your program. Then click the “Log In” button in the upper right hand corner to be automatically signed in.

Webcasts

Webcasts are live broadcast sessions in which Udacity instructors present on topics relevant to the Nanodegree program and answer questions from students. These sessions will be announced on the forum and over email, and recorded versions will be available for view afterward.

V. Payment Policy and Cancellations

Free Trials

All Nanodegree programs start with a free trial, 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 $199 per month for your Nanodegree subscription.

Cancellations and Refunds

If you opt to cancel your enrollment within the Free Trial window, you will not be charged, regardless of how far you have come in the program. Again, we strongly recommend that you read over the prerequisites and requirements to make sure that the program 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 past month’s subscription fees.

Pausing a Nanodegree Program

If you need to take a break, you can pause your Nanodegree program for 7, 14, or 30 days by going to your account settings here. During your pause time, you will not have access to your learning path, mentor support services, code reviews, or the forum. You also will not be billed. Your progress will be saved and you can pick up where you left off after you un-pause.

Learn more about how pausing your Nanodegree program affects your billing and 50% back eligibility here.

I. Introduction