Butler County Community College and their faculty have agreed on terms for a new four-year contract.
BC3’s board of trustees unanimously approved the contract that calls for salary increases in each of the four years of the deal.
The contract provides for salary increases of 3.25 percent in the first year, 3 percent in the second and third years, and 2.75 percent in the fourth year.
Faculty healthcare contributions to the Allegheny County Schools Health Insurance Consortium in the first two years of the contract offer are frozen. Contributions range from 9.56 percent for family coverage to 20.33 percent for individual coverage in the first year of the contract and transition into a uniform rate of 10.5 percent in the last two years of the contract offer.
Tenured faculty receive a $500 increase to their base salary in the last two years of the contract offer to help offset the increase in healthcare contributions.
The offer provides incentives of $16,250 for those who retire between July 1 and Dec. 31 in the second and third years of the contract.
The 64 faculty members make up 31 percent of BC3’s full-time employees.
The previous contract expired June 30, 2018.
“We are fortunate to have a faculty comprised of top-notch professionals who really care about the students of the college,” said Joseph E. Kubit, chairman of BC3’s board of trustees. “The trustees are grateful that the faculty and the college have been able to agree upon terms which are fair, mutually beneficial and fiscally responsible.
“I believe that this evidences the commitment of both sides to take all reasonable measures to see to it that students continue to receive an affordable college education at this institution, that is second to none.”
“There are a number of variables to be considered from the board’s and college’s perspective,” said Dr. Nick Neupauer, BC3’s president. “I am confident that this contract has taken those into consideration. We want to keep in mind our excellent faculty, and we want to make sure that in moving forward the overall budget from the college perspective is taken into consideration. And we also want to make sure that this is something that would hold up if we were to be asked questions from the various external stakeholder groups.
“I believe that all three have been accomplished, and I am looking forward to continue the great success in working with the faculty. If we don’t have a top-notch faculty, we don’t come close to being the No. 1-ranked community college in back-to-back rankings. It all starts in the classroom.”
Overall, BC3 will award salary increases averaging 2.67 percent over three years.