The purpose of the Graduate Student Organization (GSO) is “to provide classified graduate students, through the graduate programs, with official representation at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa” (Constitution of the GSO). Its primary functions are:
- To provide input on policies affecting graduate students,
- To act as an advisory body to the Graduate Dean,
- To recommend graduate student representatives for service on campus-wide committees, and
- To initiate and to maintain co-curricular programs for graduate students. The president of the GSO is a member of the Graduate Council.
The GSO functions through a Graduate Student Assembly composed of representatives selected from each of the graduate programs and an Executive Council elected by members of the assembly. The GSO maintains a permanent office in Hemenway Hall.