The faculty union negotiating team approved a tentative agreement this month, and the faculty reaction, in part, shows the agreement is the best offer they can get during the present status of the state’s budget.

The proposed contract came after 11 months of negotiations, and the faculty now has until Monday to ratify the agreement by mail-in ballot.

“It seems like people can’t play well at this institution,” said sociology professor Reed Benedict.

Benedict said he will vote in support of the contract.

“I’m certainly willing to sign it because I think it’s the best contract we can have now,” he said. “When I read it, I had a lot of questions.”

Benedict said the contract’s “educational outreach” or distance education policy, was not as positive, but the faculty compensation was reasonable in light of the availability of funds in the state budget.

No salary increases were offered this year, but a one-time bonus equal to 1.5 percent will be offered if there is no state rescission by mid-May. The bonus will be equal to 1 percent if the rescission is less than $500,000.

However, in the second, third and fourth years of the contract, a salary raise will be granted depending on state appropriations, according to the tentative agreement.

The administration also maintained the right to assign distance education courses and workload to qualified faculty.

Bob Wayland, director of employee and labor relations, has said that is a management right.

A majority of union members approved a strike authorization vote last month, one of several steps toward a strike.

The contract is more a sign of both sides willing to come to an agreement, instead of an abrupt agreement brought on by the threat of a strike, Benedict said.

“I think that both sides came to the table and said we have to get this done,” he said. “I know the UPI busted their a** on this and I appreciate what they did.”

Political science instructor David Carwell is collecting the mail-in ballots.

He said while he is not familiar with contract specifics, over 200 ballots had been submitted as of Wednesday. The union has said before that membership is comprised of about 75 percent of the 576 faculty.

“I’m certainly relieved negotiations are over,” Carwell said. “I was not encouraged by the process and I hope this does not (foreshadow) the next time.”

Besides compensation, the tentative agreement also gives language to property rights, merit awards, sabbatical information and benefits among other issues.

“I’m glad this contract has been reached,” said English professor Anne Zahlan, chair of the Faculty Senate. “Obviously, financially it could be better.”

She pointed at the evaluation process as a positive component of the agreement.

Talks during negotiations suggested tenured faculty be evaluated by academic department chairs every three years in addition to the suggested annual reviews faculty submit now for review.

Three-year evaluation was also restored for tenure-track faculty, a mid-way mark between their six-year program to receive tenure.

Sociology professor Robert Wohlstein expressed similar gratitude following the tentative agreement.

“I think it’s a very good contract,” he said. “I was very glad to see an agreement between the faculty and the administration.”

“I’ll be surprised if the contract is not approved,” said English professor John Allison.

Allison was the acting chief negotiator for a month during negotiations.

The agreement language on academic freedom and privacy was especially positive, as well as the workload credit unit limit for non-tenured faculty, Allison said.

The full-time faculty academic year workload will remain between 18 and 24 credit units, according to the proposed contract.

Unit B faculty with 18 or more credit units and 6 or fewer in one semester can still be considered part-time during the semester.

“The contract, I suppose, looks fine. There’s not a lot of money, but there’s not a lot of money available,” a source said.

The source wished to remain unnamed. He said the anger he expresses would not be helpful in the university’s “healing process” following the 11 months of negotiations.

He said talks continued too long, comparable to past institutions he has taught at.

“It seems like it was taking an awfully long time. (Administration) could have given us 10 percent (raises) and I would still feel harmed in some way.”

The compensation could have been for more in the first year of the agreement, but now efforts must focus on appropriations decided by legislators in Springfield.

“(Salaries) seemed to be as fair as could be expected,” he said.

An informational meeting last week brought applause over some contract topics.

UPI president David Radavich said he could see no reason the contract will not be ratified, but the issue of compensation might play a role in ratifying the agreement.

Wayland said the contract is a sign of both sides finally deciding to come to a peaceful agreement.

“We just wanted to settle the issues,” Wayland said previously.