State universities have already seen one faculty contract ratified, and the agreement terms at that school are similar to Eastern’s tentative agreement, which could be ratified as early as Monday.

The Board of Trustees at Southern Illinois University Carbondale ratified the new faculty contact Feb. 14.

Members of Eastern’s University Professionals of Illinois chapter have until Monday to turn in their mail-ballots to reject or ratify the contract.

Compensation terms are the same for both schools, depending on state funds.

Neither school offered faculty raises for this fiscal year in the four-year contracts.

However, in the second, third and fourth years of the contracts, 2, 2.5 and 3 percent increases will be offered. The amounts are in addition to state appropriations.

At Eastern, a one-time bonus equal to a 1.5 percent salary increase will be offered if there is no state rescission by mid-May, according to the university’s tentative agreement. The bonus will be equal to 1 percent if the rescission is less than $500,000. At Southern, “salary distribution will be based on 50 percent merit, 35 percent across-the-board and 15 percent equity,” according to the school newspaper, The Daily Egyptian.

Job security is an issue at both schools. Southern’s administration has said faculty will not be laid off in the future, in exchange for no strike.

The faculty was originally set to strike Feb. 3, but the walk-out was postponed to review a recent proposal from the university’s Board of Trustees.

Review of tenured faculty by department chairs was an issue during Eastern’s negotiations, but not one that made it into the tentative proposal.

The proposed evaluation would have been in addition to the encouraged annual review faculty submit summarizing their work.

The UPI was against any additional review that could be perceived as a threat, especially since tenure “guarantees faculty members complete freedom in pursuit of ideas,” UPI chief negotiator Charles Delman previously said.

However, the agreement cites provisions for probational faculty to “restore the third-year evaluation as required instead of optional.”

The probational faculty are tenure-track and the review will demonstrate progress in research and teaching and service, Bob Wayland, director of employee and labor relations has said.

At Southern, faculty workloads are dependent on 24 credit hours per academic year, with assignment decisions on a departmental basis. Workload for full-time faculty at Eastern will remain at 18 to 24 credit units. Unit B or non-tenured faculty can be considered part-time during a semester of teaching six credit units as long they are teaching 18 or more credit units during a academic year workload, according to the agreement. Administration still maintain the ability to assign distance education courses to qualified faculty.

Wayland has called that a management right. Southern’s agreement, ratified by faculty with a vote of 202 to 73, also covers issues such as the student/faculty ratio and union fees.

Eastern’s proposed agreement also gives language to intellectual property rights, more merit awards, sabbatical information and benefits, among other issues.

Southern faculty are represented by the Illinois Education Association/National Education Association. However, six other state universities are represented by the UPI and involved in contract negotiations. Several schools have called for federal mediation, including Chicago State University, Governors State University and University of Illinois Springfield.