Editor’s Note: This is a breaking news story and it will be updated as the New University receives additional information and quotes. An anonymous student within the ASUCI Office of Student Services provided the New University Ma’s full resignation letter, which is referenced throughout the article.
Update 2/19/22 at 12:15 a.m.: Previously, the New University referred to allegations of embezzlement surrounding Ma’s reallocation of funds to another branch of ASUCI without the consent of Commissioners under his office. Sources have clarified that this reallocation was not illegal under ASUCI bylaws and that Ma did not take funds for personal use.
Fifth year double major in political science and Chinese studies Joshua Ma resigned from his position as ASUCI Vice President of Student Services in a formal letter via email on Jan. 10.
Previously, the New University had reported on comments from three different Commissioners under the Office of Student Services Vice President concerning the reallocation of committee funds by Ma.
In a Reddit comment made by ASUCI President Yoseph Ghazal under the Reddit username Such-Stretch8777, Ghazal confirmed that Ma did not consult with office members before communicating with the ASUCI Senate to reallocate $120,000 from a canceled House 949 concert to the $200,000 Anteater Safety Net Grant.
“To sum up, the SSVP himself’s responsibility is to communicate budget reallocations with his office and he did not do that. When I found out, I spoke to the commission where this budget was moved from and we have already discussed reallocations. The grant launches this week!” Ghazal said.
Ma officially resigned in a letter addressed to Associate Dean of Students and Student Government Student Media Executive Director Stephanie Van Ginkel on the same day.
“Please accept this letter as a formal notification that I am resigning from my position as Vice President of student services of UCI. My last day will be Monday, January 10, 2022. This was not an easy decision to make,” Ma said.
The former Vice President of Student Services noted several accomplishments achieved during his term.
“The past 7 months have been very rewarding with ASUCI,” Ma said. “I developed training for the Commissioners and Directors that focused on: 1) how to develop SMART Goals and how to align Budgetary Goals in order to do long range planning, 2) how to reach out to underserved student communities, 3) how to implement representative programming, and 4) how to utilize the wealth of resources that UCI has to offer.”
Ma also contributed to the addition of two new positions within the branch, Director of Commissioner Support and the Director of Office Outreach, which are “designed to provide direct support to the Commissioners and their Interns” and “designed to ensure authentic student engagement from student groups that expressed a greater need for inclusivity,” respectively.
These commissions were “encouraged” together in order to build a Mission and Vision statement that “aligned with Inclusion, Diversity, Empowerment, and Synergy (IDEAS).”
During his leadership, Ma also contributed to the planning of the “Zot Launch,” the “first ever Peter Pop Up, which was a collaborations with UCI Athletics and celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX with female athletes from the 1970s-present,” and “the first ever Night Market, which was a collaborations of student clubs and organizations who were given opportunity to be entrepreneurs and support their club initiatives.”
In the last paragraph of the letter, Ma thanked the Office of Student Services and ASUCI for the “numerous growth opportunities afforded to me since [June 2021]” and expressed that he was looking forward to this year’s Night Market and to celebrating the Lunar New Year.
The New University reached out to Ma for comment on his resignation. Although he responded, he was not available for an interview due to scheduling conflicts.
The current interim Vice President of Student Services is Alliana Alcid, a fourth year business economics student, who is “looking to enhance the UCI student experience through our events and programming.”
Due to the current vacancy of the position, the Elections Commissions is now hosting the 2022 Student Services Vice President Special Election. Voting is scheduled to open from Feb. 14 at 9 a.m. to Feb. 16 at 5 p.m.
Helena San Roque is a Campus News Intern for the winter 2022 quarter. She can be reached at msanroqu@uci.edu.
