DOWAGIAC — An 18-month process of negotiations is coming to an end with an agreement.

At Southwestern Michigan College’s Board of Trustees meeting on Nov. 18, the board unanimously voted to approve a collective bargaining agreement for full-time SMC faculty, following a closed session to consider and review college attorney Matthew Derby’s, opinion letter concerning the status of the collective bargaining.

The agreement is effective immediately and will run through June 30, 2023.

At the board meeting, Dr. Jeff Dennis, a history professor at the college, presented a statement outlining the union voting overwhelmingly to approve the agreement at a Nov. 8 meeting.

“Some faculty believe that the negotiated outcome is sufficiently reasonable and respectful to all parties concerned,” Dennis said. “The agreement in fact demonstrates value and goodwill towards our faculty. It’s done much to restore a spirit of repertoire and trust on our campus. … Altogether, this agreement represents affirmation for faculty, astuteness  in leadership, reassurance to community and relevance for correcting personnel.”

SMC started negotiating an initial contract with the Southwestern Michigan College faculty union in June 2018.

“I think that you could ask anybody on campus, and they are glad that the process is finished,” said President Dr. David Mathews. “Everybody still continued to do their day job, whether it was the administration or whether it was the faculty teaching. It was a great energy sink for both sides.”

Mathews said the extra time and energy spent can now be used to think of creative ways to improve the student experience, something he said both sides are anxious to get back to. 

Mathews confirmed salaries were the last item to be resolved.

At an Oct. 21 board of trustee meeting, Mathews said significant progress had been made in the negotiations at an Oct. 17 negotiation meeting. During the negotiation meeting, 13 outstanding issues were resolved with tentative agreements, excluding salaries.

He said there were agreements on the academic calendar, academic responsibility, faculty load, summer break responsibilities, responsibilities related to student success, college goals and strategic plan, academic freedom, professional development, faculty evaluations, student course evaluations, health and ancillary benefits and retirement benefits.

On Nov. 8, the union voted to ratify the tentative agreements. Once then ratified, it was brought to the board of trustees on Monday night.

“Any negotiated agreement is just that. It’s not what one side wants entirely,” Mathews said. “Both the board of trustees and the union felt that all of the outstanding issues were satisfactorily addressed to everyone’s satisfaction.”

The process required the entire membership of the union vote and the entire board of trustees vote to make it final.

Effective immediately in the new agreement, minimum salary levels for full-time faculty have been established based on an employee’s attained education level and number of service years, according to an SMC press release.

Each full-time faculty member will also receive an individualized employment contract of one, two or three years depending on their years of employment. Those who are at or above the minimum salary levels for their educational level and years of employment will receive a 2-percent salary increase for the 2020-2021 academic year, 3-percent for 2021-2022 and 3-percent for 2022-2023, the press release also stated.

In January, a new vision care program for all college employees will begin. Healthcare, dental and retirement benefits will remain consistent with those offered to other full-time employees.