Terms of Service

1. Agreement and scope

These Terms of Service govern access to and use of eGate, the student administration system provided under the governance of University of Zimbabwe for its affiliate-college network. They apply to applicants, students, parents or guardians acting where permitted, University and college staff, and other authorised users.

By creating or using an account, or continuing to use the service after these terms are presented, you agree to follow them. If a separate written institutional rule, student ordinance, programme regulation, finance policy, employment obligation, or law also applies, that rule continues to apply. These terms do not replace academic regulations or create a right to admission, registration, progression, graduation, employment, or funding.

This document applies across the University of Zimbabwe affiliate-college network served by eGate.

2. What the service provides

eGate supports student administration activities including affiliate-college selection, applications, student profiles, programme and Module administration, registration, assessment, results, finance, clearance, official documents, reporting, notices, and support. Features available to you depend on your role, college, programme, academic period, and the stage of the relevant workflow.

3. Accounts and secure access

You must provide accurate account information, use only an account you are authorised to use, protect your password and authentication factors, and notify the University or your affiliate college promptly if you suspect unauthorised access. You are responsible for actions taken through your account unless they result from a failure within the University-controlled service or another circumstance for which the law provides otherwise.

The University may require identity verification, multi-factor authentication, a password reset, or renewed sign-in. You must not share staff credentials, impersonate another person, or attempt to gain a role or college scope that has not been assigned to you.

4. Information and documents you provide

You must provide information that is complete and accurate to the best of your knowledge and upload only genuine, relevant documents that you are entitled to provide. You must correct material errors promptly. Submitting false, altered, misleading, infringing, or unlawfully obtained information may lead to rejection, reversal of a decision, disciplinary action, suspension of access, recovery of losses, or referral under applicable law and institutional rules.

Where you provide information about another person, such as a referee, guardian, sponsor, next of kin, or emergency contact, you must have a lawful reason to provide it and should inform that person where appropriate.

5. Acceptable use

Use eGate only for legitimate University and affiliate-college academic or administrative purposes connected to your role.

• Do not probe, bypass, disable, or interfere with authentication, permissions, audit logs, rate limits, network controls, or affiliate-college isolation.
• Do not access, copy, disclose, alter, or delete another person’s record unless your authorised duties require it.
• Do not upload malware, harmful code, unlawful material, or content that infringes privacy, confidentiality, intellectual-property, or other rights.
• Do not scrape, automate, reverse engineer, resell, or create derivative access to the service except where the University has expressly authorised it in writing or the law permits it.
• Do not use the service to harass, defraud, misrepresent, disrupt an academic process, manipulate a payment or result, or evade an institutional control.

6. Academic and administrative records

Portal information may show the current state of an application, registration, Module, assessment, result, fee, payment, clearance, or document workflow. A status shown in the portal is not final where the applicable process still requires verification, moderation, approval, publication, audit, or correction.

Official records are the approved records maintained or generated through the authorised University process. If portal information conflicts with a formally issued and verified institutional record, report the discrepancy promptly. The University or affiliate college may correct genuine administrative, calculation, allocation, or data-entry errors while preserving required audit history and review rights.

7. Fees and payments

Applicable fees, due dates, currencies, exchange rates, payment channels, refund rules, and clearance requirements are set by the University or relevant affiliate college and displayed or communicated through authorised channels. A payment is not complete merely because it was initiated. It must be confirmed, reconciled, and allocated through the applicable process.

Keep payment evidence and verify the payee and reference before paying. eGate will not ask you to disclose a full password, one-time password, PIN, or complete payment-card credential to University or college staff. Payment-provider terms may also apply when you leave eGate to complete a transaction.

8. Notices and communications

You are responsible for keeping your contact details current and checking the portal and official communication channels within reasonable timeframes. A portal message, email, SMS, generated letter, or college notice may be used to communicate deadlines, requests, decisions, security messages, or service changes. Contact your affiliate college if an important communication appears incorrect or you need an accessible alternative.

9. Privacy and confidentiality

The eGate Privacy Policy explains how University of Zimbabwe, as data controller, processes personal information. You must keep information you access through an authorised staff or partner role confidential and use it only for the purpose for which access was granted. Downloading information does not remove those confidentiality, security, retention, or audit obligations.

10. Availability and changes

The University aims to keep eGate secure and available but may suspend or limit access for maintenance, security, incident response, legal compliance, infrastructure failure, or urgent operational work. Planned interruptions will be communicated where reasonably practicable. The University may add, change, or retire features while preserving official records and lawful user rights.

Users should not wait until the final minutes of a published deadline to complete an important process. If a confirmed service failure prevents timely completion, follow the contingency or escalation process published by the relevant office.

11. Intellectual property

The service, its software, interface, institutional templates, and University-owned content are protected by applicable intellectual-property rights. These terms give you a limited, revocable, non-transferable right to use the service for its intended purpose. They do not transfer ownership. You retain rights in original content you lawfully submit, while granting the University permission to store, process, reproduce, and use it as necessary to operate the relevant academic or administrative process.

12. Suspension and termination

Access may be restricted or suspended where reasonably necessary to protect people, records, systems, or an investigation; respond to suspected misuse; enforce an institutional rule; or comply with law. Where appropriate, the affected user will be informed and given the applicable review or support route. Ending access does not erase official records or obligations that must lawfully continue.

13. Responsibility and liability

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits a right or responsibility that cannot lawfully be excluded. To the extent permitted by law, the University is not responsible for loss caused solely by a user’s unlawful conduct, failure to protect credentials, inaccurate information supplied by the user, an unauthorised third-party service, or events outside reasonable institutional control. This does not limit responsibility for the University’s own unlawful processing, fraud, gross negligence, or other liability that applicable law does not permit it to exclude.

14. Governing law and concerns

These terms are governed by the laws of Zimbabwe and are interpreted together with applicable University statutes, ordinances, regulations, and affiliate-college rules. Raise an academic, finance, access, or service concern first with the responsible affiliate-college or University office so it can be reviewed through the correct process. Privacy complaints may be sent to the University Data Protection Officer and, if unresolved, to the Data Protection Authority. Nothing in this section removes a lawful right to approach a regulator, tribunal, or court.

15. Changes and contact

The University may revise these terms to reflect changes in law, policy, or the service. Material changes will be communicated through an appropriate channel and the effective date will be updated. Questions may be sent to your affiliate college support office or to University of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box MP 167, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe. Privacy-related questions should be sent to dpo@admin.uz.ac.zw.