The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has demanded Edith Cowan University give a full explanation of a raft of resignations from the university council.
It was reported this week that four members of the council had quit.
The resignations came after the governing body elected a new chancellor while student elections were taking place and there were no student representatives on the council.
NTEU WA Division Secretary Dr Cathy Moore said:
"A new chancellor should never have been appointed while student voices weren't represented on the council due to them not being eligible to vote at the time.
"I am astonished that a university with a reputation for excellent student ratings has made such an enormous decision without a full council in place.
"It's simply not good enough that this has only come to light because of media reporting and the university is refusing to clarify exactly what has gone on here, citing Council confidentiality.
"Edith Cowan University management owes it to the entire community to give a full explanation of these events and a commitment to improving on its governance failures."
NTEU National President Dr Alison Barnes said:
"The situation at Edith Cowan University is emblematic of a wider governance crisis we see right across Australia.
"We're seeing an appalling lack of transparency in our public universities which is undermining great institutions that should be serving the entire community.
"Vice-chancellors all too often aren't held accountable because they operate under a governance system which is completely broken.
"The federal government has a moral and fiscal obligation to ensure university leaders are held responsible for the way our public universities are run.
"Governance reform is a critical part of creating the better universities Australia deserves."
