The University of Otago will open up public consultation this week on changes to its council membership, a university spokeswoman said.
The consultation on the council's constitution comes following a controversial amendment to the 1989 Education Act limiting the size of university and wananga councils to 12 members.
The University of Otago's council currently has 18.
The amendment also drops a previous requirement for at least three student and staff elected representatives to be on the council.
Tertiary Education Union University of Otago organiser Shaun Scott said the union ''opposed the changes the Government's imposed, because there's no evidence that the size of the council or the make-up is problematic, and there have been spurious justifications [for the change]''.
Given the imposed changes, though, ''we'd like to see a third of the council held aside for elected student and staff representatives''.
At present, the council has two seats elected by students, three elected by academic staff, and one elected by general staff.
Staff seats should not be compromised for student seats, or vice versa, Mr Scott said.
''We absolutely don't see it as an either/or. We think both voices are crucial to the good governance of the university.''
Having four seats on the council held aside for student and staff representatives was necessary because ''if it's just one or two people, it's easy for them to be isolated, and people need support going into these roles''.
''The [tertiary eduction] minister identifies that himself by making four ministerial appointees,'' he said.
Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said the university was consulting to learn ''how ... it can represent its stakeholders while having a smaller, skills-based council that can respond more quickly and strategically to the challenges of modern-day tertiary education''.
''I expect most universities, if not all, will continue to have staff and students' views represented on their councils,'' he said.
For the University of Otago's, Mr Scott said he was ''pretty positive'' about the likelihood that one third of the seats would be held aside for students and staff.
''I think the university and the council have certainly made some public expressions of support of retaining staff and students on the council.''
Otago University Students' Association president Paul Hunt said the association would make submissions during the consultation, and would push for ''two students on the university council''.
''OUSA unsurprisingly believes student representation is the most vital. However, a range of representatives are required in order for council to function effectively,'' he said.
The university spokeswoman said the registrar ''hopes to have a draft constitution document up on the University of Otago website by the end of this week for public consultation''.
The council's ''current stakeholder groups'' would also be consulted.
''The aim is to consult for one month, and then return feedback to the University Council, which will then consider the submissions.''
University councils
• The University of Otago's council has 18 members, two of whom are student-elected and four who are staff-elected.
• An amendment to the 1989 Education Act limits the size of university and wananga councils to 12 members maximum, and removes a requirement for at least three seats to be student and staff-elected.
• The Tertiary Education Union said it would campaign for one third of the council to remain student and staff-represented.
• The Otago University Students' Association said it would campaign for two of the council's seats to remain student-elected