GAE@RU - Usage Guide

Guide for Use of Google Apps for Education at Rhodes University

1.0 Purpose
2.0 Scope
3.0 Guide
4.0 Of Special Note in the Google Terms of Service
5.0 Changes to this Guide

1.0 Purpose

This guide describes the University's terms of service for the use of Google Apps for Education at Rhodes University (GAE@RU) service. Rhodes provides services to support the educational and administrative activities of the University, and to serve as a means of official communication by and between users and Rhodes. Various options are offered for the Rhodes community to utilize email, calendaring and other collaboration services and the forwarding of University email to off-site personal accounts. The purpose of these terms of service is to make the University community aware of certain obligations when utilizing the GAE@RU service. Section 3.0 below will also be presented for review upon creating a Google-hosted account. This document was developed to ensure that this service remains available and reliable, and is used for purposes appropriate to the University's mission.

2.0 Scope

This guide applies to all students and staff with a valid @ru.ac.za email address who opt in to utilize the GAE@RU service.

3.0 Guide

In order to use Google's services as provided to Rhodes University, all participants must be aware of, agree to, and adhere to the following:

When utilizing GAE@RU services, you are bound by the Rhodes University Acceptable Use Policy, found at http://www.ru.ac.za/aup/.
Anyone in the Rhodes University community utilizing GAE@RU services must agree and adhere to the Google Terms of Service that will be presented for review when creating your account.
Anyone in the Rhodes University community utilizing GAE@RU services must be aware that their data may be stored in datacenters outside the borders of South Africa.
As stated in the Rhodes University Policy on Privacy & Network Monitoring,, anyone in the Rhodes University community utilizing GAE@RU services acknowledges that Rhodes has the ability to monitor, use, or disclose their data, and that Google provides Rhodes the ability to do so. Any access of information stored on your account will follow the standards established in any current or future University practice for emergency access.
Anyone in the Rhodes University community utilizing GAE@RU services will be supported through the Rhodes University Help Desk.
Anyone in the Rhodes University community utilizing GAE@RU services must acknowledge that Google can terminate their account if they fail to abide by the Google Terms of Service.

4.0 Of Special Note in the Google Terms of Service

Anyone in the Rhodes University community utilizing GAE@RU services are made aware of the Google Acceptable Use Policy (http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/use_policy.html) that states that you agree not to use the Google services provided to you:

to generate or facilitate unsolicited bulk commercial email;
to violate, or encourage the violation of, the legal rights of others;
for any unlawful, invasive, infringing, defamatory, or fraudulent purpose;
to intentionally distribute viruses, worms, Trojan horses, corrupted files, hoaxes, or other items of a destructive or deceptive nature;
to interfere with the use of the Services, or the equipment used to provide the Services, by customers, authorized resellers, or other authorized users;
to alter, disable, interfere with or circumvent any aspect of the Services;
to test or reverse-engineer the Services in order to find limitations, vulnerabilities or evade filtering capabilities;
to use the Services, or a component of the Services, in a manner not authorized by Google

Please note that these are all covered in the Rhodes University Acceptable Use Policy.

5.0 Changes to this Guide

Rhodes University IT Division reserves the right to change this guide at any time. Rhodes University IT Division will post the most up-to-date version of the guide on the IT Division web page and may, in its discretion, provide users with additional notice of significant changes. A user's continued use of the service after any changes are published binds the user to the revised guide.