A Higher Glyphic

After more than a year of negotiations, the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Association and SIUC have reached a tentative agreement.

The agreement - a product of 14 months of debate - will improve job security, increase pay and regulate workload for faculty not on track for tenure.

According to a joint press release from the association and the university, the centerpiece of the agreement makes it possible for term appointments to receive continuing appointments after five years of full-time employment with the university.

"This was one of the major issues for the bargaining unit," NTTFA President Keith Wilson said.

Wilson said, as of right now, about 30 of 600 non-tenure faculty members have continuing appointments. The agreement will increase that number to around 200.

The agreement also requires the university to notify faculty of reappointment and changes in teaching assignments for the upcoming semester and allow them to participate in decision making for their individual departments.

Faculty on term appointments will also have the same access to professional development funds and be guaranteed academic freedom, which ensures faculty have the right to research and discuss controversial matters pertaining to their areas of study without punishment.

Another big part of the agreement was salary increases, Wilson said. He said there were no set rules for non-tenure track faculty salaries before this contract.

"Typically when an increase went into effect an individual department was given, let's say, 3 percent of a salary increase, but it was up to the chair or dean to distribute that money," Wilson said. "There wasn't really any uniformity in how increases were given."

The NTTFA House of Delegates is set to vote on the contract tonight. If approved, the contract will be sent to the general membership to vote on it through the mail. The ballots must be postmarked by April 27 and will be tallied shortly thereafter.

Brad Colwell, who served as the university's lead negotiator on the contract, said the university appreciates the cooperation during the bargaining process.

"Since this was an initial contract, it was a bit of uncharted territory, but it now provides the groundwork for a quality future working relationship," Colwell said.

If approved by the membership, the Board of Trustees will vote on the contract.

The three-year agreement will be backdated to July 1, 2006 if ratified. Faculty will receive back pay for the dates already passed.

The agreed salary increase will give a 3 percent increase for all full-time employees in 2006, 2007 and 2008. All employees on continuing appointment will receive a $300 a month raise.

The raise will be phased in $100 increments in 2006, 2007 and 2008. All full-time employees will receive a minimum salary of $2,400 per month effective July 1, 2007 and employees that receive salary per credit hour will receive at least $800 per hour.

Wilson said the agreement isn't completely what he was looking for.

"No agreement's perfect," Wilson said. "If one side comes away from the table completely satisfied there's probably something wrong with the agreement."

Chairman of the bargaining committee Michael Smith said the contract would never be perfect to him, but overall it was a huge step for the non-tenure track faculty.

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