Dr Joe Morrow has resigned as vice-chairman of the university court, its governing body.
He is the latest of several court members to leave during a year which saw a top-level dispute break out over the suspension and eventual retirement of Professor Bernard King, the long-serving principal.
Abertay has also been facing calls from the Scottish Funding Council, which distributes public money to universities, to merge with its city neighbour Dundee University.
The court, chaired by Nigel Hawkins, was asked to suspend its search for a new principal while it considered its future.
Both universities have insisted they are opposed to merger, but confidential talks on what has been described as “enhanced collaboration” have been proposed.
An Abertay spokesman said: “We can confirm that Dr Joe Morrow intimated his intention to resign from court at the last scheduled meeting of court.
“The post of vice-chair has not yet been filled, as court has not had a scheduled meeting since then.”
Dr Morrow’s departure leaves the court with 20 members, five fewer than the maximum allowed but still above the statutory minimum of 17.
He was one of the most prominent members of the body, having served as a Labour councillor in Dundee, a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church and head of the freemasons in Scotland. He is president of the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland.
A university source said Dr Morrow had played a leading role in an inquiry into allegations of bullying made against acting principal Professor Nicholas Terry by two academics and a secretary. The inquiry found in Prof Terry’s favour and he remains in post.
The source added: “This additional resignation will help convince the public that Abertay, first and foremost, suffers from a serious governance problem and otherwise remains an extremely valuable asset to Scotland’s higher education sector.
“It is inconceivable to at least a portion of the university faculty and staff that those who, totally unnecessarily and purely out of vanity, got the university in the dire situation it is in now should have any say in the merger talks with the funding council or Dundee University, which started a couple of weeks ago.”
Other members to resign from the court in recent months include Justine Curran, chief constable of Tayside Police, Bernadette Malone, Perth and Kinross Council chief executive, and well-known Dundee businessman Bob Doak. A senior academic, pro-vice-chancellor Rositsa Bateson, also left this summer.
The university has been making efforts to replace its losses on the court, which is made up largely of people from a business or public service background but also includes representatives of staff and students.
The Abertay spokesman said: “The university can also confirm that Ms Shirley Scott, who retired recently from her post as vice-principal of Adam Smith College, has joined the court of the university.
“Ms Scott has more than 30 years’ experience in Scotland’s college sector, having joined Glenrothes College in 1980.
“Ms Scott was closely involved in research which revealed Fife’s ‘degree deficit’ a smaller proportion of the population educated to degree level than most other parts of Scotland – and was instrumental in the setting up of the Abertay University Centre at Adam Smith College in 2008.”
According to the university’s most recently published annual report, an “effectiveness review” of the work of the court is scheduled to take place next year.