When the appointment has been approved by the Graduate Division, the department notifies the student of the final offer of appointment in an official letter. The University of Hawaii has adopted a resolution approved by the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States as a rule of thumb in the matter of acceptance of assistantships. In those instances in which the student accepts the offer before April 15 and subsequently desires to withdraw, 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.
All appointments are subject to the availability of funds.
Stipend Graduate assistants are given a yearly stipend that is paid out in twelve monthly installments regardless of duty period. The stipend scale for graduate assistants, both research and teaching assistants, is set by the University of Hawaii's Board of Regents. Qualifications beyond those required for appointment, however excellent, do not affect step placement. Research assistants are on the 11 month schedule, teaching assistants are on the 9 month schedule. For Meteorology research assistants, placement on the GA stipend scale is contingent upon availability of funds, ability, experience, and knowledge of the applicants, the needs of the research project, and the approval of the project's principal investigator.