On April 3, the California State University System announced that the CSU and the California Faculty Association have reached a tentative ending to contract disputes that will not involve faculty strikes.

The two parties agreed to negotiate after a fact-finding document was released on March 25 and gave themselves an April 9 deadline to reach an agreement.

Dr. Diane Blair, an associate professor of the communication department who has also been a designated spokesperson for the CFA throughout the negotiations said it is a good agreement that seeks to address a lot of faculty concerns across the board, particularly the salary issues.

In a press release from the CSU, Chancellor Charles Reed said, “This agreement strikes a realistic balance between providing deserved raise to our faculty and our limited financial resources.â€?

The agreement would give faculty a 20.7 percent increase of their base salaries over four years. Eligible faculty would also receive step increases, which would put their raise at about 24.87 percent.

The base salary increases would raise the average annual salary of a tenure-track faculty member from $74,000 to about $90,700. A full tenured professor’s salary would jump from about $86,000 to more than $105,000.

According to a release from the CFA, the agreement will be put before the members of the union for ratification sometime in late April. Once it is approved by the membership, the contract will be sent back to the CSU trustees for approval.

In the release from the faculty, CFA President John Travis said, “We have a tentative agreement that will be good for the CSU, good for our students, good for the faculty.â€?

Travis said the agreement is real progress toward closing the pay gap between California faculty and the faculty of other states.

“I’ve very excited about the tentative agreement. I’m looking forward to voting as a union member,â€? Blair said.