OUSA president Francisco Hernandez's proposal for new ground rules came after a disputed report in Critic saying the university threatened to pull out of funding negotiations if the association bought a pub without its involvement.
The proposed rules would be in the form of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the university over service level agreement (SLA) negotiations, which is how OUSA gets most of its funding.
Despite the fact the MOU - if agreed to by the university - would stop the university from using funding negotiations to dictate OUSA policy, Mr Hernandez denied the proposal was a response to issues raised in the Critic article.
''Drafting an MOU was one of my goals as OUSA president.''
The current university administration did not use SLA negotiations to dictate OUSA decisions, but he hoped an MOU would cement this position.
''I think it's reasonable to set a few more ground rules between the OUSA and University of Otago ... to create clear boundaries and expectations around the SLA and OUSA.
''It will be an agreement to work together on issues of common alignment, such as better public transport and warmer flats and an agreement to agree to disagree civilly on issues where we do not.''
He said it was too early to say if the university would be receptive to the MOU idea.
''We haven't begun the lobbying effort at this point, as an agreement has yet to be drafted.''
