Australian National University vice chancellor Genevieve Bell says she and her executive team had no intention of misleading the Senate after it emerged her chief operating officer said the value of a contract with Nous Group was a tenth of the amount the consulting firm had invoiced to that point.

In a letter to Labor senator Tony Sheldon, who is running an inquiry into university governance, Bell said she had been blindsided by a call on Thursday from independent senator David Pocock for an investigation into her leadership.