Зимбабве Университеті және Мугабе режимінің құлауы

Public university in Harare, Zimbabwe

The university has faced criticism for awarding a fraudulent degree to a member of the Mugabe regime; in 2014, Grace Mugabe was given a doctorate in sociology, only two months after being registered on the programme, although a dissertation does not exist in the university archives. On 20 November 2017, the University of Zimbabwe students boycotted writing exams citing that the former first lady Grace Mugabe's controversial PhD should be revoked. They also protested and declared that they would not write examinations until Robert Mugabe resigned. The 93 year old leader and then chancellor of the university resigned the following afternoon on 21 November 2017 as head of state and government. Many claimed that the University of Zimbabwe's students will go down in history as those who gave the Mugabe regime the 'final push' of his 37 year reign as Zimbabwe's leader.

The main campus of the University of Zimbabwe is located in the affluent Mount Pleasant suburb in northern Harare. The campus spans in the southern part of Mount Pleasant, forming the main portion of a special section of land reserved for educational purposes located between Mount Pleasant Drive, Upper East Road, Churchill Avenue, and Teviotdale Road. Other institutions located within this zone include the Ministry of Education Audio Visual Centre, Mount Pleasant School, and the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council headquarters. There are 171 buildings on the main campus, including academic facilities, all but two of the student residence halls, and much of the staff housing. The main campus also features sporting facilities and the College Green, a grassy space located near the centre of campus close to the academic buildings that is a popular site for social events. Roughly a third of the campus is a seasonal wetland that is unsuitable for construction and remains undeveloped. In addition to the Mount Pleasant campus, the university has facilities in several different locations throughout Zimbabwe. In Harare alone, UZ has 46 buildings located outside the Mount Pleasant campus. as well as the University of Zimbabwe Farm, also known as Thornpark Estate, which lies approximately 8 kilometers away from the Mount Pleasant campus, on Mazowe Road in Teviotdale, Mazowe District, Mashonaland Central. The farm, in size,

The undergraduate programmes offered lead to Bachelor, Bachelor (Honours) and Intercalated bachelor's degrees. Registered bachelor's degree programmes are in arts, business studies and computer science, tourism and hospitality management, education, adult education, science education, nursing science, science, social work, dental surgery, medicine and surgery and veterinary science. Registered undergraduate Bachelor (Honours) programmes are in agriculture, agricultural engineering, applied environmental science, arts, accountancy, business studies, law, engineering, mining engineering, surveying, medical laboratory sciences, nursing science, pharmacy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, science, economics, politics and administration, psychology, rural and urban planning, and sociology. Registered intercalated programmes are in anatomy, human physiology, veterinary anatomy, veterinary physiology and veterinary biochemistry.

The University of Zimbabwe offers postgraduate honours degrees, two types of master's degree and doctoral degrees. Postgraduate honours programmes, also known as special honours programmes last are for one year duration and incorporate coursework, examinations and a compulsory project module. Master's degrees by coursework and project are designated M. A. or MSc and are of one to two years duration. They incorporate coursework and project modules. Master's degrees by research thesis only are designated M. Phil. and require a minimum of two years study. The doctoral programme, D. Phil., is by research thesis only. Students who are carrying out an M. Phil. study, but have not yet submitted their thesis, may apply to their faculty to upgrade their study to the D. Phil. programme.

Due to the heavy staff vacancies that UZ began suffering from in the 2000s, many programmes and specialisations have been suspended. By 2008, UZ had slid to number 17 in Africa and number 4,001 globally. In 2010, according to University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP), University of Zimbabwe is the best university in Zimbabwe and 1340th university in the world.

The university has two trans disciplinary research institutes: the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and the Institute of Environmental Studies (IES).

There are numerous education institutions affiliated to the University of Zimbabwe, including teacher training colleges Sport at UZ is centred around the Sports Pavilion, which was donated by National Breweries. Sports offered at the university include athletics, basketball, cricket, football, field hockey, rugby, and tennis. UZ has frequently won the Zimbabwe Universities Sports Association Games. In its early years, men's hockey was the premier sport, with a team in Salisbury's "First League" in 1960 The University of Zimbabwe Football Club plays in Zimbabwe's Division two and is the former home of Manchester City striker and Zimbabwe national football team captain Benjani Mwaruwari. The club was for a time coached by former President Canaan Banana. When Zimbabwe hosted the All Africa Games in 1995, UZ was the games village. Maintenance of sporting facilities is the responsibility of the Director: Sport, but in recent years accessing funds from the State Procurement Board has been a challenge. and the AIESEC and Students Institution for Success Club. In 2005, UZ won the Students in Free Enterprise World Cup held in Ontario, Canada. There are also non–academic clubs such as Rotaract

The gender gap in enrollment at UZ, like at African universities, became a concern by the mid 1990s and in 1995 an affirmative action programme was built into the university's policy. However, many female students feel inhibited from taking male dominated courses or taking part in student politics. Women are intimidated by gender–related violence

The first head of the university was William Rollo, who served as interim Principal from 1953 to 1955. The first substantive Principal was Walter Adams, who served from 1955 until 1966 and was later Director of the London School of Economics (he was knighted in 1970). Adams was succeeded by Terence Miller, who lasted a mere two years, as his racially progressive views brought him into conflict with the Rhodesian government. His successor, Scottish theologian Robert Craig, served from 1969 to 1980. Leonard J. Lewis served as Principal for roughly a year during the transition to Zimbabwe's independence. He was succeeded in 1981 by law professor Walter Kamba, who became Vice Chancellor, the post created to replace that of Principal. He was succeeded by Gordon Chavunduka until 1996, and then by Graham Hill from 1997 to 2002. Levi Nyagura, the longest serving Vice Chancellor, held the office from 2003 to 2018, when he was suspended on charges that he unprocedurally awarded a doctoral degree to former First Lady Grace Mugabe. President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed soil scientist professor Paul Mapfumo as acting Vice Chancellor in August 2018 and substantive in June 2019.