POLICIES & DISCLOSURES

Policies & Disclosures

Silicon Valley Business School is operated by SVBS Co., a corporation incorporated in the state of Delaware with headquarters in California. For the purposes of this Agreement, we refer to SVBS Co. as ‘SVBS’, ‘us’ or ‘we’. Similarly, this Agreement may refer to you as ‘you’, ‘member’, ‘student”, ‘user’, or ‘viewer’.

You must read, agree with and accept all of the terms and conditions contained in our Terms of Use Agreement and the Privacy Policy, which include those terms and conditions expressly set out below and those incorporated by reference, before you may become a student or access this Site.

SVBS had adopted various policies that guide how the school operates today and in the future.

Accreditation

Grading Policy

In order to pass an SVBS course, you need at least 60% for the course total. If you are unable to earn a passing score, you will be deemed to fail that particular course. The course total includes grades from lesson quizzes, unit tests, unit assignments and the final exam.

Credits

Each credit corresponds to 15 hours of study.

Attendance Policy

The courses are online and self-paced, so you are not required to attend any particular session at any particular time. However, you are required to complete each section of each course and pass each of the learning modules to qualify for a certificate of completion.

Leave-of-Absence Policy

If you start taking a course, then you are find you’re unable to continue with the course, you can withdraw.  When you are ready to continue with the course(s) you can restart.  If you want to continue from where you left off, it’s important to make sure that you use the same userID as this is used to track your progress.

Payment Terms

Payment is made online via PayPal when you enroll in your chosen program. If you would like to spread payments over several months, this may be possible and arranged by our customer service team.

Refunds

If you choose to terminate your program before you start, please make the request by emailing our customer service team and you will receive a full 100% refund.  The program is considered started when you have logged in and accessed the materials in one or more of the learning modules.

If you choose to terminate your program after you have started but before you have submitted your first assignment, make the request by emailing the SVBS customer service team and you will receive a 75% refund. Upon unenrollment, SVBS will refund you 75% of the funds you paid.

If you choose to terminate your program after you have submitted your first assignment and had it graded, but before you have submitted your second assignment, make the request by emailing the SVBS customer service team and you will receive a 50% refund. Upon unenrollment, SVBS will refund you 50% of the funds you paid.

After you have submitted more than 2 assignments, and they have been graded by SVBS, you are no longer eligible for a refund.

The above mentioned refund policy will apply if you are dismissed for cause, and unenrolled from the program by SVBS, So, if you are dismissed from the program for cause, after you have had two assignments graded, you will not be eligible for a refund.

Refunds will be paid by SVBS within 30 days of the unenrollment.

Minimum Computer Skills & Digital Literacy

In order to effectively navigate the courses for SVBS online learning platform, students need a basic knowledge of tasks that involve uploading assignment submissions, downloading course documents, viewing recorded presentations, and communicating through the school account. Students need basic web literacy that may involve utilizing search engines, evaluating web resources and understanding copyright and plagiarism in a digital learning environment.

Communication Etiquette

Netiquette is a code of conduct or polite behavior that is expected in an online communication format that includes, but is not limited to, emails, social media, online chat, website comments, and other types of online communication. Below is a list of Do’s and Don’ts for SVBS Netiquette:

Do’s:

• Use a professional and respectful tone when communicating with your instructor via email or other electronic communication.
• Properly identify yourself and the course you are taking.
• Be specific and to the point in your communication and be specific as to what you are requesting.
• Be thorough and specific in all written assignments.
• Use respect with colleagues on discussion boards and collaborative assignments.
• Practice academic and intellectual integrity.
• Treat people the way you want to be treated when communicating in the online world.

Don’ts:

• Don’t expect an instant response on e-mails and grades. Our customer service staff will endeavor to respond as quickly as possible, and will refer questions to your instructor, but the response is not instantaneous. We have customer service staff every day of the week, but the instructors often take time off at the weekend.
• Don’t WRITE IN ALL CAPS, as this is considered to be shouting in the online world.
• Don’t use texting language in the academic world.

Sequential Courses

Where a course indicates that a learning module is pre-requisite for another learning module, you should complete the first module before starting the second one.

Revised Transcript Policy

Once issued, transcripts cannot be revised unless evidence is provided to indicate that the transcript is materially inaccurate. A student with such evidence can petition for a transcript revision. The teacher of the course and school registrar will then review the transcript to determine its accuracy, consulting with the school principal where necessary. The registrar will be responsible for issuing a revised transcript where it is deemed appropriate.

Repeat Courses Policy

Consistent with the schools’ strategy of encouraging repetition and mastery of the materials, students are not prevented from repeating courses.  When a course has been repeated, the original course and grade stay on the transcript, but the credits for that course are indicated to be zero and the original grade for that course is excluded from the GPA calculation.  The repeated course is shown on the transcript with an “R” to indicate it was a repeat. The credits earned from the repeated course were assigned to that course and that grade factored into the GPA calculation.

School Calendar

As the courses are self-paced and available 24×7, there are no deadlines and no school calendar.

Credit Transfer Policy

At this time, SVBS does not have a policy for transferring credits with other academic institutions.

Probation and Dismissal Policy

A student found to be responsible for one or more acts of Academic Dishonesty will be dismissed for cause and unenrolled from the course or entire program.

A student that disrupts a course, class or program, to the extent that other students are prevented from pursuing their studies, will be placed on probation, and a subsequent repeat of such disruption will lead to the student being dismissed for cause and unenrolled from the course or the entire program.

No Legal Advice

Silicon Valley Business School provides online educational services, including courses on law with mentors guiding students through the educational materials via private online “office hours” chat sessions.

SVBS is not a law firm and is not in the business of providing legal advice. If you are looking for legal advice, please engage a licensed attorney. The advice and guidance you receive from SVBS, its faculty and mentors is entirely educational in nature, and is not intended to replace the advice of a licensed professional.  When you need advice on a legal matter, engage the services of a licensed attorney specializing in the matter at hand.

No Financial or Taxation Advice

Silicon Valley Business School provides online educational services, including courses on finance and taxation with faculty and mentors guiding students through the educational materials.

SVBS is not an accounting firm and is not in the business of providing financial advice. If you are looking for financial advice, please engage a CPA or a licensed financial professional. The advice and guidance you receive from SVBS and its mentors are entirely educational in nature, and are not intended to replace the advice of a licensed professional.  When you need advice on a financial matter, such as taxation or accounting, engage the services of a licensed financial professional specializing in the matter at hand.

Identity Authentication & Login Credentials

In order to access all SVBS course materials you will create a log-in account with your own unique username and a secure password containing special characters. Each time you log in to the SVBS learning management system, you will be required to use these username/password login credentials.

Your progress through the SVBS courses, and your scores in the course tests, are tracked to your login credentials. Keep your password under strict security. Under no circumstances, should you share your login credentials with another student or anyone else.

Because we are providing you with a certificate of completion when you complete this course, we need to authenticate that you are taking the course yourself. We need to check that you are who you say you are. The way you type is unique. You may be required to authenticate via our Typed Signature biometric authentication system which studies your typing pattern to verify your identity before you take quizzes, tests and finals.

Financial Aid Policy

SVBS does not provide or arrange financial aid for students. SVBS programs are priced at such a point that students are usually able to pay and finance by credit card.

Scholarship Policy

Although we receive no public funding, or charitable support ourselves, SVBS courses are set at a fraction of the cost of other schools, and at the same time, we successfully deliver a quality teacher-supported service. We focus our efforts on building quality courses, hiring and retaining experienced, credentialed teachers, and operating in the most cost-efficient manner possible. Prices are already set at the minimum rate and SVBS doesn’t have the luxury of being able to offer scholarships. In a sense, all our students are on our scholarship program.

Policy for the Retention of Student Records

Student records are kept in digital format and are retained by SVBS for a period of at least ten years.

Policy for Disclosure of Student Records

SVBS is committed to the privacy and security of our students. Generally, SVBS will not disclose personally identifiable information from your education records. The most common exceptions to these disclosure restrictions are disclosures to university faculty or staff–school officials with a legitimate educational interest.

Authenticity of Student Work Policy

A student must perform all work personally and must not provide answers to questions or other materials to other students.

SVBS implements various systems to authenticate the identity of students, including a password-protected login system, a system that recognizes the student’s style of typing and diligent observation by SVBS teachers who look for potential changes in the style of the student’s assignment submissions.

Students are encouraged to use the Internet as an educational resource, but when using materials from another source, an appropriately formatted citation must be provided. To use the work of another without citation is plagiarism, and may lead to sanction, including suspension or expulsion from the school.

SVBS had deployed advanced plagiarism software to scan assignments and detect when work is copied from an Internet source.

Authenticity of Student Work Policy

A student must perform all work personally and must not provide answers to questions or other materials to other students.

SVBS implements various systems to authenticate the identity of students, including a password-protected login system, a system that recognizes the student’s style of typing and diligent observation by SVBS teachers who look for potential changes in the style of the student’s assignment submissions.

Students are encouraged to use the Internet as an educational resource, but when using materials from another source, an appropriately formatted citation must be provided. To use the work of another without citation is plagiarism, and may lead to sanction, including suspension or expulsion from the school.

SVBS had deployed advanced plagiarism software to scan assignments and detect when work is copied from an Internet source.

Lost Work Investigation Policy

Any student claims that he/she has submitted work that was lost by the SVBS system will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated. The following facts should be considered before initiating a Lost Work Investigation:

• The SVBS system deploys the Moodle learning management system, which has so far experienced more than 995 million course enrollments by more than 197 million students in more than 150,000 schools. Moodle does not have a track record of losing student work and any such “bug” would have a widespread impact on the Moodle community. The Moodle community consists of thousands of software developers, each with a keen interest in the integrity of the Moodle system.
• After serving thousands of students with tens of thousands of courses, no student work has ever found to have been lost by the SVBS system.
• When a student submits an assignment on the SVBS system, an email is sent to the teacher and to the student. This email trail represents a separate and independent record from the Moodle system.
• When a student submits an assignment on the SVBS system, it is processed by a third-party plagiarism company that checks if the assignment, or if any part of it, have been seen before. If an assignment has been submitted to the SVBS system once, when it is submitted for a second time, it will show a 100% plagiarism score.  This third-party plagiarism system acts as an independent confirmation that an assignment has been submitted.
• The SVBS system logs all the activity of the student, recording the date and time the student performs any action in the system, together with the IP address and other information.  This log file tracks when students take quizzes, submit assignments, take finals, and records this data against the student’s account.
• The SVBS system is backed up daily, and backups are retained indefinitely. The backups represent snapshots of all activity to date in the SVBS system, including logs and records of all student’s progress through all their courses.
• Video conference sessions, such as those used in the conversational language courses, are recorded and archived. We are able to review video sessions.

If you would like to initiate a Lost Work Investigation, you will be required to complete a form and submit the copies of the email messages the student received when submitting the lost assignment.  Also, please provide us with copies of the lost assignments.

A Lost Work Investigation involves the following activities:

• Checking the student logs and grade books in the SVBS system.
• Checking the independent email records confirming the assignment was submitted.
• Checking the independent plagiarism system to verify that the assignment has been submitted previously. A 100% plagiarism score would indicate that the assignment has indeed been submitted previously, and will show which student originally submitted such assignment.
• Where necessary, reviewing the video conference session video recordings.
• Checking backup copies of the SVBS system to investigate if there are any differences or discrepancies that would indicate that data has been lost.
• Investigating the evidence provided by the student that work was submitted and subsequently lost and corroborating this evidence with the various records and systems.

If it is discovered that the student’s claim of lost work is unfounded, and the claim was made as a result of the student failing to complete the work, the filing of the Lost Work Investigation will be deemed unethical conduct triggering the unethical conduct policy.

Unethical Conduct Policy

SVBS will suspend a student that has been found, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have acted unethically and SVBS will not provide a transcript or course credits for such a student.

Examples of unethical conduct include, but are not limited to the following:

• Making false claims to have completed coursework that was never completed.
• Making false claims to have attended video conference sessions when video recordings of the sessions and or other evidence proves otherwise.
• Making false claims about teachers, staff or other students.
• Submitting work that was copied from another student, or elsewhere, and falsely claiming it as your own.

Technical Requirements

As SVBS courses are delivered online, you will require an Internet-connected PC, Mac or another device providing Internet access (“PC”). As the materials contain a number of videos, your PC and Internet connection should be of sufficient speed to play streaming videos, and must be equipped with a webcam for interacting with professors and students in the online webcast sessions.

The SVBS platform supports the current version and the 2 previous major releases of the browsers listed below on a rolling basis:

Google Chrome.
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE).
Microsoft Edge.
Mozilla Firefox.
Safari.

The SVBS platform supports the current version and the 2 previous major releases of the operating systems listed below on a rolling basis:

Apple Mac OS.
Microsoft Windows.
Google Chrome.

Processor Minimum Requirements: Any 2 GHz dual core processor or greater.

Internet Connection Bandwidth: At least 2 mbps upload and at least 4 mbps download speed.

Method of Instruction

SVBS adopts a method of instruction involving self-paced courses comprising video and audio recordings, online readings and online quizzes, assignments, projects, chapter tests and finals.

Notice Concerning Transferability Of Credits And Credentials Earned

The transferability of credits you earn at SVBS is at the complete discretion of an institution to which you may seek to transfer. If the credits that you earn at SVBS are not accepted at the institution to which you seek to transfer, you may be required to repeat some or all of your coursework at that institution. For this reason you should make certain that your attendance at this institution will meet your educational goals. This may include contacting an institution to which you may seek to transfer after taking SVBS courses to determine if your SVBS credits will transfer.

Website Terms of Use Policies

You agree to abide by all the SVBS Website Terms of Use policies.

SVBS Co.

SVBS Co. does not have a pending petition in bankruptcy, is not operating as a debtor in possession, has not filed a petition within the preceding five years, and has never had a petition in bankruptcy filed against it within the preceding five years that resulted in reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. Sec. 1101 et seq.).

Definitions

If you are unsure of any of the terms used to describe our programs, please contact us. We will be happy to clarify.
“$”—Unless otherwise stated, all prices are in US dollars.
“Credit”—refers to an SVBS academic unit. The credits for a course are calculated by estimating the number of hours of self-paced study.
“Academic Dishonesty”—refers to any immoral way of achieving a goal associated with an SVBS course or program. Examples of academic dishonesty include: Plagiarism: The adoption or reproduction of original creations of another author (person, collective, organization, community or other type of author, including anonymous authors) without due acknowledgment; Fabrication: The falsification of data, information, or citations in any formal academic exercise; Deception: Providing false information to an instructor concerning a formal academic exercise—e.g., giving a false excuse for missing a deadline or falsely claiming to have submitted work; Cheating: Any attempt to give or obtain assistance in a formal academic exercise (like an examination) without due acknowledgment; Bribery: or paid services; Giving assignment answers or test answers for money; Sabotage: Acting to prevent others from completing their work; Professorial misconduct: Professorial acts that are academically fraudulent equate to academic fraud and/or grade fraud; Impersonation: assuming a student’s identity with intent to provide an advantage for the student.
“Education records”—refers to records directly related to a student maintained by SVBS or by a party acting for SVBS.

Version: July 12th, 2020

Questions

If you have any questions on these policies, please contact us.