After weeks of the California Faculty Association and the California State University Board of Trustees debating means to provide better pay for professors, a tentative agreement was reached and was approved in a vote on April 8. Members of the faculty association approved the agreement by 97 percent.

The salary agreement consists of an eventual 10.5 percent increase in faculty salaries over the next couple of years, each year having a different portion than the previous.

Now that the faculty has approved the agreement, it must be ratified by the CSU Board of Trustees through a vote expected to occur May 24-25.

The tentative agreement had generally positive reception from the moment it was created.

“Regardless of acceptance or not, I think this process has shown what can be achieved with the unity of the faculty, and how working so well together has resulted in a fair and equitable settlement for all,” said Thomas Targett, member of the Sonoma State’s chapter of the CFA.

President of the California Faculty Association Jennifer Eagan sees the approval of the agreement as an important step toward normalizing better salaries for other public state university faculty.

“We must protest university teaching as a solid profession that lets us support our families and deliver high quality education to our students,” said Eagan.