Since August 8, members of the alumni collective, known as Friends of CSU, have been lobbying the university to consider adding an Wagga-based business person to "speak for the needs of the city".

Last week, the group met with Wagga's Independent state member Dr Joe McGirr to discuss the likelihood of seeing their plan enacted.

Dr McGirr told The Daily Advertiser it would be something he would "push for" as a "long-term goal".

"I believe the future of the university is in the regions. It's the university's point of difference and it's its strength," Dr McGirr said.

"I think there should be strong representation, in fact I think [the council] should be made up of two-thirds regional people and I don't accept that we don't have the expertise. We certainly do have the expertise in the regions that are served by CSU."

There are 16 members on the council currently, acting vice-chancellor Professor John Germov as the Wagga representative.

But the Friends say the council could benefit from having an external appointment from "someone who may not be a staff member or a student".

"The importance is that we have an independent voice for the city's needs," said Trish Gray, founding member of the Friends and former staff member of the university.

"We need an unbiased opinion who will share what is happening in the city with the council. Only someone who is living here can know what the city needs.

"We just need more representation from this part of the world."

The initiative is something the Friends have flagged for a while but the push has been strengthened by the COVID-19 economic downturn's impacts on the university.

Significant redundancies are expected to be made to both the academic and administrative staff to make up for this year's projected $49.5 million deficit.

It is understood Dr McGirr has taken the group's concerns to representatives of local, state, and federal governments, and has also approached the university executive.

"It's understandably not something that will happen straight away, but it is something that we will put on the table," Dr McGirr said.