Eligibility and Appointment

Eligibility
To be eligible for an assistantship, a student must:

• be a degree-seeking* student admitted to or registered in a graduate program at UHM,
• be in good academic standing and maintain a GPA of 3.0 or above,
• maintain full-time enrollment, (See Academic Policies < Enrollment and Course Loads.)
• possess the necessary qualifications and experience for the position, and
• demonstrate proficiency in English** if applying for a teaching assistantship.

* Students enrolled in only a graduate certificate program are not eligible. Visiting students are generally not eligible.
** TOEFL scores of 600/250/100 (paper/computer/Internet) or above, with subtest scores of 25 for listening and 25 for speaking, or IELTS score of 7.0 or above for the overall band test results.

Appointment and Reappointment
Departments or units that are hiring graduate assistants shall advertise the position(s) online at Work at UH and other suitable media. Eligible students apply for assistantships through their departments or units. Selections are made on a competitive basis and appointments are contingent on the availability of funds. Selection criteria include GPAs, standardized test scores, experience, past performance as a GA (if applicable), recommendations, and suitability for the position. Top applicants are nominated by the department or unit and approved by the dean or director as appropriate. Reappointment is contingent on continued eligibility and satisfactory performance of the GA. In addition, all reappointees must meet any criteria established for new appointees. Official appointments and reappointments are made upon approval by the Graduate Division.

Offer of Appointment
Upon approval by the Graduate Division, the department or unit makes an official offer of appointment to the applicant via a formal letter. The letter shall provide the following information:

• exact dates of appointment
• estimated work load
• types of duties
• procedure for performance evaluation
• name of faculty supervisor
• amount of compensation
• tuition waiver and other benefits
• deadline for acceptance

Acceptance of Appointment
To accept an offer of an appointment, the student shall send a letter to the chair or director. The Graduate Division subscribes to the following resolution approved by the Council of Graduate Schools regarding the acceptance of assistantships:

Acceptance of an offer of financial support (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties.

Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution. In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15, and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer.