Northwestern Michigan College administrators and faculty members have approved a three-year collective bargaining agreement.

The ratification vote Monday followed two weeks of meetings in which members of the faculty and faculty chairs bargaining units met with the administration "to resolve outstanding contract terms without attorneys present," according to a statement from NMC. "After multiple bargaining sessions, the college submitted a new contract proposal for consideration."

The contract calls for reinstating a faculty report on the board of trustees' meeting agenda, introducing an "enhanced formal evaluation process," and implementing a 20-step salary plan that maintains the current 3.71 percent step increase for faculty moving along the plan. It will also include a 1 percent annual payment for faculty at step 20, with a 0.3 percent scale adjustment to the salary plan in January.

"We are pleased to have reached an agreement that achieves our goal of securing a contract that supports our faculty and is responsible to the region’s taxpayers," says NMC President Tim Nelson. "I am proud to say we resolved this contract because members of the faculty and administration sat down together, talked through the remaining issues and found common ground. Representatives of the NMC and union negotiating teams deserve credit for pushing through the complex issues involved with a first contract, leading to today’s vote.”

In a statement, Social Sciences Instructor Brandon Everest said: "Faculty continue to stand together to do what is best for our students, the college and the community."