Westcott Courses
Online Education - your way!
(1) Introduction
These terms of use govern your usage of our website; by using our website, you agree to these terms of use in full. If you disagree with these terms of use, or any part of these terms of use, you must not use our web site.
(2) Credit
This document was created using a SEQ Legal template.
(3) Licence to use website
Unless otherwise stated, Westcott Courses owns the intellectual property rights to the website and material on the website. Subject to the licence below, all these intellectual property rights are reserved.
You may view, download ( for caching purposes only ), and print homework pages from the website for your own personal use, subject to the restrictions set out below and elsewhere in these terms of use:
You must not:
(a) republish material from this website (including republication on another website);
(b) sell, rent or sub-license material from the website;
(c) show any material from the website in public;
(d) reproduce, duplicate, copy or otherwise exploit material on the Westcott Courses/Omega Math website for a commercial purpose;
(e) edit or otherwise modify any material on the website; or
(f) redistribute material from this website
(4) Acceptable use
You must not use our website in any way that causes, or may cause, damage to the website or impairment of the availability or accessibility of the website; or in any way which is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful purpose or activity.
You must not use our website to copy, store, host, transmit, send, use, publish or distribute any material which consists of (or is linked to) any spyware, computer virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit or other malicious computer software.
You must not conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities (including, without limitation, scraping, data mining, data extraction and data harvesting) on or in relation to our website without our express written consent.
You must not use any part of our website to transmit or send unsolicited commercial communications.
(5) Restricted access
Access to certain areas of our website is restricted. We reserve the right to restrict access to other areas of our website, or indeed our whole website, at our discretion.
We generate a user ID and password to enable you to access restricted areas of our website or other content or services, and you must ensure that the password is kept confidential.
You must notify Westcott Courses in writing immediately if you become aware of any unauthorised use of your account or password.
You are responsible for any activity on our website arising out of any failure to keep your password confidential and may be held liable for any losses arising out of such a failure.
You must not use any other person's user ID and password to access our website.
(6) Limited warranties
We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the information published on this website; nor does Westcott Courses commit to ensuring that the website remains available or that the material on the website is kept up to date.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Westcott Courses exclude all representations, warranties and conditions relating to this website and the use of this website (including, without limitation, any warranties implied by law in respect of satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose and/or the use of reasonable care and skill).
(7) Limitations and exclusions of liability
Nothing in these terms of use will: (a) limit or exclude our or your liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence; (b) limit or exclude our or your liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; (c) limit any of our or your liabilities in any way that is not permitted under applicable law; or (d) exclude any of our or your liabilities that may not be excluded under applicable law.
The limitations and exclusions of liability set out in this Section and elsewhere in these terms of use: (a) are subject to the preceding paragraph; and (b) govern all liabilities arising under these terms of use or in relation to the subject matter of these terms of use, including liabilities arising in contract, in tort (including negligence) and for breach of statutory duty.
To the extent that the website and the information and services on the website are provided, Westcott Courses will not be liable for any loss or damage of any nature.
Westcott Courses LLC and its affiliates (e.g. staff, instructors) ("We") will not be liable to you in respect of any losses arising out of any event or events beyond our reasonable control.
We will not be liable to you in respect of any business losses, including (without limitation) loss of or damage to profits, income, revenue, use, production, anticipated savings, business, contracts, commercial opportunities or goodwill.
We will not be liable to you in respect of any loss or corruption of any data, database or software.
We will not be liable to you in respect of any special, indirect or consequential loss or damage.
(8) Indemnity
You hereby indemnify Westcott Courses LLC and its affiliates (e.g. staff, instructors) ("Us","Our") and undertake to keep Us indemnified against any losses, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses (including, without limitation, legal expenses and any amounts paid by Us to a third party in settlement of a claim or dispute on the advice of Our legal advisers) incurred or suffered by Us arising out of any breach by you of any provision of these terms of use, or arising out of any claim that you have breached any provision of these terms of use.
(9) Variation
We may revise these terms of use from time to time. Revised terms of use will apply to the use of our website from the date of publication of the revised terms of use on our website.
(10) Assignment
We may transfer, sub-contract or otherwise deal with our rights and/or obligations under these terms of use without notifying you or obtaining your consent.
You may not transfer, sub-contract or otherwise deal with your rights and/or obligations under these terms of use.
(11) Severability
If a provision of these terms of use is determined by any court or other competent authority to be unlawful and/or unenforceable, the other provisions will continue in effect. If any unlawful and/or unenforceable provision would be lawful or enforceable if part of it were deleted, that part will be deemed to be deleted, and the rest of the provision will continue in effect.
(12) Exclusion of third party rights
These terms of use are for the benefit of you and Westcott Courses, and are not intended to benefit any third party or be enforceable by any third party. The exercise of our and your rights in relation to these terms of use is not subject to the consent of any third party.
(13) Entire agreement
Subject to the first paragraph of Section [7], these terms of use, together with our privacy policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Westcott Courses in relation to your use of our website and supersede all previous agreements in respect of your use of our website.
(14) Law and jurisdiction
These terms of use will be governed by and construed in accordance with U.S. law, and any disputes relating to these terms of use will be subject to the [non-]exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the United States of America.
(15) Breaches of these terms of use
Without prejudice to our other rights under these terms of use, if you breach these terms of use in any way, Westcott Courses may take such action as Westcott Courses deems appropriate to deal with the breach, including suspending your access to the website, prohibiting you from accessing the website, blocking computers using your IP address from accessing the website, contacting your internet service provider to request that they block your access to the website and/or legal action.
Student responsibilities and code of ethics
Regulations and rules are necessary to implement for classroom as well as online course behavior. Students are expected to practice honesty, integrity and respect at all times.
The definition of academic cheating is an act of dishonesty in order to obtain a higher grade in the course, and to gain an advantage over other students in the course.
Each of the infractions below represents a result of performing an act of dishonesty in order to obtain a higher grade in the course. The result of any of the offenses may result in an F in the course, and possible expulsion from Westcott. It is the student's responsibility and duty to become acquainted with all provisions of the code below and what constitutes misconduct.
Westcott reserves the right to permanently expel a student from Westcott courses for academic misconduct.
Examples of academic misconduct:
(A) Payments:
Student's who engage in fraudulent chargebacks for payments, will have their course(s) deactivated. Students who initiate chargebacks will not be able to take finals in their other courses until the courses with the chargebacks have been paid in full.
Westcott reserves the right to permanently expel a student from Westcott Courses for chargebacks.
(B) Cheating
Any form of cheating is forbidden during exams and will result in an F in the class. By signing up for a course, you are legally signing a contract that states that the person who is named taking this course is the actual individual doing the course work and all examinations. You also agree that for courses that require proctored testing, that your final will be taken at a college testing center, a Sylvan Learning center or our one approved online proctor, and the individual signed up for this course will be the one taking the test. Thumb prints will be taken at the testing center and verified with the Department of Justice that the student taking the final, is the named student. Conspiracy to commit fraud is a federal crime, and any person attempting to take the final for another will be charged along with the student. Information about the federal charges will forever be available to other colleges and universities.
Unauthorized collaboration
By enrolling in a course offered through Westcott Courses, all students agree that they will do all of their own work. Students that engage in questionable behavior or suspicious activities will be deactivated and blocked from enrolling in future courses. This includes but is not limited to hiring a company whose business it is to do some or all the course work for the student and/or helping them remotely cheat on the final exam by using remote access. If a student's account shows they have tests taken by one of these companies, their work will not be accepted and will receive an F for cheating. If US students have tests taken outside the US, they may be asked to show proof that they have traveled outside the US to these destinations. This includes showing a stamped passport over a zoom meeting for full verification of the location(s). If the student cannot show they have traveled to these international locations, they will receive an F for having someone else complete their tests and quizzes.
While taking the final with the online proctor, the final will be shut down if it is found that the student is using or could be using a third party to take their final. Depending on the evidence, the student will either be told they need to take the final at a physical testing center or if there is substantial evidence a third party was indeed involved, then an F for cheating will be posted. If digital cheating is suspected and/or confirmed, all other finals will need to be taken at a physical testing center.
Other forms of cheating that will result in receiving an F:
Other forms of cheating include receiving or providing un-permitted assistance on an exam; taking an exam for another student; using unauthorized materials during an exam; altering an exam and submitting it for re-grading; failing to stop working on the exam when the time is up; providing false excuses to postpone due dates; fabricating data or references. Working with others on graded course work without specific permission of the instructor, including homework assignments, quizzes and tests, is considered a form of cheating.
Fabricating false information to Westcott to conceal cheating in order to gain a grade that was not earned.
Fabricating false information in the context of an academic assignment.
Fabricating or altering information or data and presenting it as legitimate.
Providing false or misleading information to Westcott, an instructor or other staff member.
Fabricating false information to gain access to a higher grade.
Claiming that Westcott Course lost your test and/or quiz scores.
Plagiarism:
All of the following are considered plagiarism, and will result in a zero on the plagiarized assignment, and there are no opportunities to redo the assignment.
Merriam-Webster defines plagiarism as “the act of using another person's words or ideas without giving credit to that person” Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:
Plagiarism is an act of fraud, and can usually be avoided by using quotation marks and citing the source of the material. Instructors apply plagiarism software to find assignments that contain plagiarized material. Again, assignments that contain one of the above infractions will receive a zero on the assignment and the student will not have the opportunity to redo the assignment.
Westcott Courses takes cheating very seriously and will pursue all means available to make sure student's caught cheating face the full consequences for their actions. Westcott reserves the right to permanently expel a student from Westcott courses for cheating and/or fraudulent chargebacks.
(C) Respectful Communication & Anti-Bully Policy
When contacting Westcott Courses, you agree to be considerate and respectful. Communications from a student which are considered by our staff to be rude, insulting, disrespectful, belittling, harassing, threatening or bullying via telephone, email, or otherwise will be considered a disrespectful communication and/or bullying and will result in a formal warning. Further disrespectful communications will result in a second and final violation of the policy, and the student will immediately and permanently be expelled from Westcott. These students will not under any circumstances, be permitted to continue with their course(s). Westcott Courses has zero tolerance for this type of behavior towards instructors and staff.
A third disrespectful communication will result in a legal cease and desist order, the halting of further communication between our staff and the person(s) speaking on behalf of the student or the student themselves. Further disrespectful communications and/or bullying after a cease and desist order will result in legal action.
Bullying is defined by the CDC and DOE define as:
-Unwanted aggressive behavior
-Observed or perceived power imbalance
-Repetition or high likelihood of repetition of bullying behaviors
Additional unacceptable behaviors that fall under bullying, but are not limited to:
-Informing the instructor not to apply the regular grading system to their assignments, but to mark all their assignments with A’s.
-Discrediting the instructor’s authority and educational ability to set up the course content correctly. (Note: All our instructors hold a graduate degree in their field of study and teach at a California Community College and/or a California State University. They all have 20+ years teaching experience.)
-Playing the victim while concurrently bullying staff and/or instructors, and insist this justifies the behavior. This includes calling Westcott's staff or instructors racist, even though we don't know the student's race and they don't know ours. Or playing the victim after being issued the first violation of the Respectful Communications & Bullying Policy, and blaming others instead of taking responsibility for their unacceptable behavior.
-Threatening lawsuits because they are angry that we will not permit their violations of our policies. All threats of this kind will result in no further communication with the student.
We reserve the right to refuse service. If Westcott Courses receives disrespectful communications or bully tactics from person(s) representing the student, or the student themselves, the student will be expelled from Westcott Courses.
(D) Grading information and proctored final policies
The grading rules are put in place to protect the integrity of online education by stopping grade inflation, which is done by demanding a display of competency in exchange for a grade.
By agreeing to the terms of service agreement, you agree to read the 'Grading and Course Directions' page within your account, and the 'Proctored Final Information' page, if applicable. You have within your 7 day refund period to notify Westcott Courses that you do NOT agree to the grading policy and/or the proctored final policies that outlined in the pages inside of your account. If you do not agree with these policies, please let us know and we can start the drop and refund process. Otherwise, once you are past your 7 day refund period, you agree to our policies and cannot contest them.
There are no exceptions to these policies, and the pretext of not reading the pages will not be deemed as a reasonable excuse to contest the policies.
Before students take the final, they sign a grade disclaimer, which gives them the exact grades on the final and the overall course grade that those grades produce. Depending on the course discipline, students either have to get a 50% or 60% on the final to get a C or better in the course. The grade disclaimers will state the threshold for each course.
Student's who contest this grading policy after they have signed their grade disclaimer and taken the final, will be considered trying to cheat in order to obtain a higher grade and will receive an F. These students will not be permitted to take any other finals, until they have fully complied with grading policy and agree they will not contest the policy with any other courses. The grade disclaimer is a legal and binding contract and should be read carefully before signing. The pretext of not reading this document is not an excuse for contesting the policies.
(E) Refund Policy
Please see the refund policy at: Refund Policy
Note: Refunds are not available after the 7 day drop period.
After the 7 day drop period the funds are dispersed to the university and the teacher.
Last updated: 4/26/2015
