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UX Academy Policies

Our policies on what's expected from our students, refunds, and more

The below policies apply to UX Academy cohorts launched May 2023 onward. Students whose cohort launched prior to this date must adhere to the requirements stated in the Student Agreement signed at the start of their course.

Program Overview

Designlab offers two tracks for students to choose from.

Refund/Cancellation Policy

  • You have the right to cancel your enrollment at any time. You must contact Designlab via email to cancel your enrollment.
  • You can cancel the course within the first two weeks for any reason and receive a full refund for all payments made. After this two-week period, the $399 USD deposit becomes non-refundable (except for a refund granted under the Tuition Reimbursement Policy as described below).
  • If you cancel your enrollment at any time after the initial two-week period, Designlab will issue a prorated refund for the unearned portion of the tuition, less the non-refundable deposit fee. Please refer to the Calculation of Refund Amount section in your Student Agreement. All refunds due will be made within 45 days of your effective withdrawal date or cancellation.
  • If you complete the entire curriculum of the program (Phases 1 & 2) in less calendar time than scheduled, you will not be entitled to any refund due to earlier completion.

Course Requirements

UX Academy is a rigorous academic program. You must meet the following requirements by the completion date of your course as established in your Student Agreement. The following are the expectations for students participating in UX Academy.

Please note that students eligible for the Tuition Reimbursement Policy should refer to the Tuition Reimbursement Checklist section of the student agreement to keep track of eligibility. It is the sole responsibility of the student to keep track of requirements for UX Academy, Career Services, and Tuition Reimbursement Policy. The Designlab team will not conduct an audit for the Tuition Reimbursement Policy until a student has concluded their time in Career Services.

1. Meet academic requirements

COMPLETE ALL ASSIGNED COURSEWORK EACH WEEK

UX Academy is a rigorous academic program. You must meet the following requirements by the completion date of your course as established in your Student Agreement. The following are the expectations for students participating in UX Academy.

You must complete 100% of the assigned readings & projects with mentor approval according to the course schedule, and submit iterations for projects based on mentor feedback.

PASS THE FOLLOWING
SKILLS CHECKPOINTS:

  • Objective project assessments for each project according to a skills rubric. You are responsible for ensuring all of your coursework is approved by your mentor.

Two Phase 1 formal checkpoints:

  • A mid-phase Progress Report, where your mentor will evaluate your course progress and skills development
  • An end-of-phase Progress Report, where your mentor will ascertain your overall development and ability to proceed to Phase 2. If your work does not meet the required quality by the end of Phase 1, you will be asked to repeat work and develop your skills before moving on to Phase 2.

A formal portfolio review at the end of Phase 2 (known as the “Portfolio Review”). You must pass this review to graduate from the program and enter Career Services. If you do not wish to enter Career Services, you must still pass the review to graduate. In the case that your portfolio does not pass the first review, you will be allotted 2 additional mentor sessions at no charge and up to 4 weeks to improve your portfolio. Students are required to resubmit their portfolios and pass the review within this period.

2. Stay on track and graduate in a timely manner

FALLING BEHIND

You may not fall more than 40 hours behind the course schedule.

Doing so renders you ineligible for the Tuition Reimbursement Policy, but we have a support system designed to help you complete the program on a revised timeline:

BEHIND BY 80 HOURS

  • The first time we’ll help you design a timeline to get you back on track.
  • The second time after receiving a timeline, we require you to stay on track for the remaining duration of the program. If you do not, we may remove our mentorship support for the remainder of your course.

BEHIND BY 160 HOURS

  • The first time we’ll help you design a timeline and require you to stay on track for the remaining duration of the program. If you do not, we may remove our mentorship support for the remainder of your course.

BEHIND BY 400 HOURS

  • We reserve the right to fully withdraw you from the program with a pro-rated refund, if applicable.

ELIGIBILITY FOR CAREER SERVICES

Students who are unable to meet the custom timeline provided by Deisgnlab will have access to Career Services curriculum and community support but will not have a dedicated mentor assigned.

INACTIVITY

Student “inactivity” occurs when no action has been taken in the Designlab platform for 2 or more weeks, such as scheduling a mentor session or submitting coursework. Our data shows students who become inactive even once are far less likely to achieve a successful outcome.

Inactivity is considered an unexcused absence from the course. If your enrollment is flagged due to inactivity, you are no longer eligible for the Tuition Reimbursement Policy. If your enrollment is flagged for inactivity for 2 or more weeks during your enrollment, consecutively or non-consecutively, Designlab reserves the right to revoke access to mentorship or cancel your course where applicable.

INACTIVE FOR 1 WEEK

  • Students whose enrollment has been flagged inactive for 1 week or less are eligible for course reactivation with mentorship by contacting the CX team at hello@designlab.com within 1 week of your inactivity notice. Inactivity notices are sent via email and students will receive a warning prior to being flagged for inactivity.

INACTIVE FOR 2 WEEKS

  • Designlab holds the right to revoke access to mentorship if students allow their enrollment to remain inactive for a total of 2 or more weeks, consecutively, or nonconsecutively.

INACTIVE FOR 4 OR MORE WEEKS

  • Students whose enrollment has been flagged inactive for 4 or more weeks, consecutively, or nonconsecutively, we reserve the right to fully withdraw you from the program with a pro-rated refund, if applicable.

PAUSING AND ACCOMODATIONS

In addition to 2 weeks of standard pause time and parental leave (see below), Designlab will grant up to 8 additional weeks in the course for all other pause reasons, course extensions, or accommodation requests. No combination of pause time and course extension will be granted in excess of 10 total weeks after the scheduled completion date as outlined in your Student Agreement (with the exception of Parental Leave and Accommodations).

PAUSING

We allow you up to two pauses, each one week long, to use at your discretion throughout the course. During a pause, you will have access to your coursework, but you won’t be able to schedule mentor sessions.

Students facing exceptional circumstances may apply for a pause by submitting a request from their student dashboard or by contacting us at hello@designlab.com. Pause requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and are granted at the sole discretion of the Designlab team.

  • Parental Leave - We provide up to 8 weeks off to new parents, with any additional time being allowed when accompanied by a physician’s note.
  • Medical Leave - We provide up to 6 additional weeks off for any medical concerns, so long as it is accompanied by a physician’s note.
  • Bereavement - We provide up to 2 weeks of bereavement leave.
  • Personal Emergency - We provide up to 2 weeks. If you’ve used up your normal pause time and have run into an emergency, we provide up to two additional weeks.
  • Internship Opportunity - We provide up to 8 weeks off in the event a student is granted an internship during either Phase 1 or 2 of UX Academy so long as the student is able to provide an offer letter.

ACCOMODATIONS

Designlab has deliberately designed our UX Academy course to allow a large degree of flexibility and inclusivity for our students. Specifically, students are able to access course content remotely, create a work environment that meets their specific needs, work at the time of day or work that best suits their needs, and request course extensions.

We will review requests for reasonable accommodations on a case-by-case basis. Students or their mentors may contact us at hello@designlab.com. Requests for accommodation need to be made in writing as soon as the student or mentor is aware that accommodation is required.Reasons for accommodation may include but are not limited to chronic health conditions, cognitive disabilities, physical disabilities, and psychological disabilities.

3. Mentorship

ATTEND MENTOR SESSIONS

You must attend all of your 1-on-1 mentor sessions (14 sessions in Phase 1, 16 sessions in Phase 2): meeting with your mentor regularly according to the program schedule (refer to Program Overview above).

Out of respect for your mentor’s time, if you need to cancel or reschedule a session, you must give your mentor at least 24 hours' notice. Failure to do so will result in the session being forfeited and counted towards your session limit with that mentor (for this graduation requirement, a forfeited session counts as an attended session). You may forfeit no more than two sessions during the program. Forfeiting 3 mentor sessions will immediately forfeit your access to mentorship for the duration of the course, including Career Services.

Additionally, we require a two-week, two-session minimum grace period with any assigned mentor before requesting a mentor switch. In our years of experience, the best mentor/student relationships take time to develop, which requires students to be communicative regarding their expectations and needs. If after two sessions you find things are not working, you will be able to request a mentor switch.

MENTOR SWITCHES

Students may not request a mentor switch within the first two weeks after their course start date unless there is:

A scheduling conflict, in which case the student’s proposed availability will be verified prior to granting the switch. If we determine there is sufficient overlap in schedule such that a student is able to meet the requirements of their selected course track (full-time or part-time), we reserve the right to deny the switch request.

A violation of the Designlab Code of Conduct by either party.Mentor switches two or more weeks after the course start date:

We understand the important role mentorship plays as a part of your student journey. We’re committed to ensuring you have a robust learning experience, which is why we heavily vet all of our mentors.We also expect students to work with mentors to develop professional relationships and communicate openly and transparently.

A request to switch mentors must be submitted in writing to hello@designlab.com.

As a first step, we will guide students to work through an issue with their mentor first before granting a switch. All mentor switch requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Granting a mentor switch request is at the discretion of the Designlab team.

UNRESPONSIVENESS

We reserve the right to unpair a student from their mentor if the student becomes unresponsive to their mentor. We anticipate students will reply to mentor communications within 2 business days.

EXTRA MENTOR SESSIONS

If additional mentor sessions are needed during either Phase 1 or 2 of UX Academy students may request them in writing by contacting hello@designlab.com.

Additional sessions are $65 each.The payment process for these additional sessions is a charge to the credit card on file.

The additional sessions will be automatically added to your enrollment once payment has been collected.

4. Attend & participate in weekly Group Crits

You must attend the minimum number of Group Crits specified in the Program Overview above.

Some of your Group Crit session requirements may be excused by Designlab, for example in the case of certain holidays. In the case that Group Crits are specified as optional for a certain time period, you would not be required to make up those sessions.

5. Meet community and academic standards

  • Inappropriate or abusive behavior towards mentors, fellow students, or Designlab staff is unacceptable.
  • We do not tolerate any plagiarism or academic misconduct.

Students must adhere to the Designlab Code of Conduct. Any breach is grounds for immediate withdrawal. You can find the Designlab Code of Conduct at https://designlab.com/code-of-conduct/

We reserve the right to withdraw you from UX Academy at any point throughout the program. Reasons for withdrawal include but are not limited to, failing to meet any of the requirements outlined above.

GROUNDS FOR COURSE
WITHDRAWAL

UX Academy is a rigorous course that requires a full commitment from you as a student in order to ensure your success. We also understand that life happens and will do our best to support you through the course. However, in certain cases, we reserve the right to withdraw you from the course. If you are eligible for a prorated refund, this will be processed upon withdrawal. Here is a list of the criteria which would mark you as a candidate for withdrawal:

  • Any plagiarism or academic misconduct
  • Inappropriate behavior or abuse of any Designlab student, mentor, facilitator or staff member as outlined in the Designlab Code of Conduct
  • Falling more than 40 hours behind in your Phase 1 or Phase 2 course work
  • Any pause longer than 2 weeks in total or any combined pause time longer than 2 weeks across the duration of UX Academy unless otherwise agreed with the Designlab CX team in writing
  • Forfeiting more than 2 mentor sessions in total in Phase 1 and Phase 2
  • Being flagged as Inactive in Career Services after 2 or more weeks of missing activity requirements
  • Failing to respond to mentor or career coach communications within 2 business days
  • Forfeiting any career coach sessions
  • Not setting up your Huntr board in Career Services or not sharing it with your Career Coach

You can find the Designlab Code of Conduct at https://designlab.com/code-of-conduct/

Career Services Requirements

Career Services is an optional, additional program that Designlab provides free of charge for students who have successfully earned their course certificate by their scheduled completion date. It is designed to support students in landing their first UX/UI job.

All students must meet minimum activity requirements to stay enrolled in Career Services. If you do not meet these minimum requirements, your enrollment status will be flagged as Inactive and you may be removed from the program.

As long as you have sessions remaining and have been meeting all other requirements (including activity requirements), you can meet with your Coach throughout Career Services during your job search (26 weeks post-graduation). Unused sessions expire at the end of Career Services or on your formal acceptance of a job offer.

  • Attend weekly Career Coach sessions. You must attend Coach sessions every week (unless your Coach is unavailable for any reason).
  • Stay active in Career Services. To maintain your enrollment in Career Services, you must attend one Coach session each week and complete the required curriculum each week. If you do not meet these requirements for 2 or more weeks, your account will be flagged as Inactive and you will receive a warning. If your account is flagged as Inactive a second time, you may be removed from Career Services.
  • Track your applications and networking efforts in Huntr. Huntr is a job tracking tool that we provide to all Career Services students to support you in your job search. You are expected to apply to 10 roles a week starting by at least week 3 and keep up with the Huntr Goals you are enrolled in. All activity needs to be tracked in Huntr on a weekly basis.
  • Report any offers for part-time, freelance, contract, or full-time roles.
  • Respond to all Career Coach and Designlab communications within 2 business days.
  • Uphold Designlab Code of Conduct. Any violation of the conduct policy is grounds for removal from the Designlab platform and community.

PAUSING IN CAREER SERVICES

Students are eligible to take 1 week of pause during Career Services. This pause time will not affect Tuition Reimbursement Policy eligibility or impact the duration of your enrollment in Career Services.

ADDITIONAL TIME AWAY

We allow for a total of 60 days away from the course for various exceptional circumstances. This time away is separate from the 1-week pause provided and will not extend your enrollment time in Career Services. In all cases, stepping away from Career Services for more than one week will forfeit your eligibility for Tuition Reimbursement.

For time away lasting longer than 30 days, students may need to be matched to a new Coach upon their return.

If you wish to take more than 60 days of time away from your job search during Career Services, you may do so but you will immediately forfeit further mentorship.

Other Policies

TRACK SWITCHES

You can request a track switch once during your time in UX Academy. We will calculate your adjusted weeks to complete the course and inform you of the adjusted Group Crit requirement for the duration of the course.

For a switch to full-time, you are required to be at least on time with your week-over-week progress.

For a switch to part-time, we will adjust your enrollment to on time if you are up to 40 hours behind in the full-time track. If you’re further behind than that, you will need to additionally speak to the CX team to receive a “Special Approval” and accompanying catch-up plan with its terms.

REPORTING HIRES

If you accept an offer for a UX/UI Design job at any point during UX Academy or Career Services, you must let us know in a timely manner by completing the "I'm Hired" form in your student dashboard. Students who are hired prior to completion of UX Academy may discuss options with the CX team via hello@designlab.com. Students who have signed a full-time offer prior to the completion of their enrollment will have access to up to 2 more Career Services sessions with a Career Coach.

Tuition Reimbursement Policy

This policy is designed to support your entry into the design field with rigorous requirements that have led to candidate success. You may be eligible for a tuition reimbursement if you are unable to receive a qualifying job offer within 6 months of completing UX Academy, provided you satisfy all requirements below. No exceptions to this policy are granted for any purpose.

If you receive an offer of any type, paid or unpaid, you must let us know by completing the “I’m Hired” form which you will find on your student dashboard. Any paid design role with >20 hours/week for 4 or more weeks of work will count as a qualifying offer, rendering the reimbursement null and void. Failure to report a qualifying offer is a breach of the Career Services Code of Conduct.

TO REQUEST YOUR REIMBURSEMENT

You must submit your tuition reimbursement request in writing to hello@designlab.com not more than 9 months after starting Career Services. You must provide evidence that you fulfill all the eligibility requirements listed by completing and attaching a copy of the tuition reimbursement checklist below.

Please note, to remain eligible for tuition reimbursement you must meet all graduation and Career Services requirements, which are included again for convenience in the comprehensive checklist below. All of the below requirements must be completed before requesting the reimbursement; any proof/evidence submitted after the fact is inadmissible.

TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
CHECKLIST

GENERAL

  • You are over 21 years of age
  • You are legally able to work in your primary job search location
  • You may not miss 2 or more payments while on a Designlab payment plan
  • Your enrollment must not be flagged inactive due to declined payments
  • You live within commuting distance (90 minutes) of your primary job search location
  • Your primary job search location is on our list of eligible cities (see list below)

UX ACADEMY

You must complete 100% of required weekly readings and have projects completed and mentor approved:

  • This includes a formal review at the end of Phase 1 of UX Academy where your mentor will ascertain your overall development and ability to proceed to Phase 2. If your work does not meet the required quality by the end of Phase 1, you will be asked to repeat work and develop your skills before moving on to Phase 2.

You need to make sure that all mentor suggested iterations are re-submitted and approved

You must not fall behind more than 40 hours at any point during the course or become inactive at any point

You cannot take more than 2 pauses and each pause may not exceed 1 week

  • Special exceptions are allowed for parental leave.

You must attend all mentor sessions in Phase 1 and Phase 2

  • Out of respect for your mentor’s time, if you need to cancel or reschedule a session, you must give your mentor at least 24 hours notice. Failure to do so will result in the session being forfeited and counted towards your session limit with that mentor (for this tuition reimbursement requirement, a forfeited session does not count as an attended session).

You must attend the minimum number of Group Crit sessions specified in your Student Agreement

GRADUATING UX ACADEMY

You must submit your final portfolio for panel review no later than 4 weeks after the Scheduled Completion Date listed at the top of your UX Academy Student Agreement.

  • If there are any Designlab-sponsored break periods (e.g. Winter Holiday break), then for this requirement the Scheduled Completion Date will be adjusted by the official duration of the break(s).
  • You must pass this review to graduate from the program and enter Career Services. If you do not wish to enter Career Services, you must still pass the review to graduate.

You must pass portfolio review within 4 weeks of your first submission

  • If there are any Designlab-sponsored break periods (e.g. Winter Holiday break), then for this requirement, the 4 week period will be increased by the official duration of the break(s).
  • In the case that your portfolio does not pass the review, you will be allotted additional time and mentor sessions to prep and polish your portfolio. You will remain in this prep phase until you and your mentor determine you are ready to submit for another review. If this process takes longer than 4 weeks, you will no longer be eligible for tuition reimbursement.

CAREER SERVICES

Career Services is an optional, additional program that Designlab provides free of charge for students who have successfully earned their course certificate by their scheduled completion date. It is designed to support students in landing their first UX/UI job.

All students must meet minimum activity requirements to stay enrolled in Career Services. If you do not meet these minimum requirements, your enrollment status will be flagged as Inactive and you may be removed from the program.

As long as you have sessions remaining and have been meeting all other requirements (including activity requirements), you can meet with your Coach throughout Career Services during your job search (26 weeks post-graduation). Unused sessions expire at the end of Career Services or on your formal acceptance of a job offer.

You must maintain an active status in Career Services by doing the following:

  • Start Career Services immediately after graduation.
  • Work through Career Services without taking more than one week-long pause.
  • Attend all weekly Career Services sessions with no forfeited sessions.
  • Respond to all Career Coach and Designlab staff communications within 2 business days.
  • Complete 100% of required readings and required projects in the CS curriculum and have projects mentor approved.

You must adequately track your job search:

  • Set up your Huntr account. When you start Career Services, you’ll receive an invitation to set up your job hunting board. Accept the invite, set up your account, and share your board with your Career Coach.
  • Keep your Huntr Board updated weekly and apply to at least 10 jobs per week (at least 5 in your target work city, up to 5 remote), starting in Week 3 of Career Services at the latest.
  • At least 10 jobs per week must be for generalist positions (e.g. job titles such as UX Designer, UX/UI Designer, or Product Designer). Any jobs tracked for specialized roles (e.g. job titles such as UX Researcher, UX Strategist, UX Analyst, etc…) do not count toward the weekly 10-job minimum.
  • If you receive an offer of any type, paid or unpaid, you must let us know by completing the “I’m Hired” form which you will find on your student dashboard. Any paid design role with >20 hours/week for 4 or more weeks of work will count as a qualifying offer, rendering the reimbursement null and void. Failure to report a qualifying offer is a breach of the Career Services Code of Conduct.

You must develop your skills during the job search:

  • Complete all assigned work in Career Services, each week. There are 2 types of projects in Career Services: regular projects, and bonus projects (Design Challenges). Design Challenges are not required. They are meant to help you keep practicing, and you should speak with your Coach about which ones you and they find useful for your development. Regular design projects and any relevant design challenges should be submitted each week.
  • If you get a freelance project, internship, placement through the Designlab Partnerships program, or part-time UX/UI or Product design role, this will take the place of all design curriculum for the duration of the role. Tracking work to meet the weekly requirement is up to the student and, if requested, you must successfully prove that the work was completed during the weeks you do not complete the design curriculum.
  • You must attend a minimum of 1 relevant networking event per month AND conduct 1 informational interview each month. These can be completed either in person (in one of your primary job search location) or virtually.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

The Tuition Reimbursement Policy does not apply to students who have been convicted of a felony in the last seven years.

Eligible Cities Checklist:

Outcome Data

By participating in the UX Academy program, you are agreeing to share your outcome data with us when we request it. Personal information will be kept confidential but may be used in outcome reporting.

Last Updated: June 1st, 2023