Illinois State University’s faculty union said Monday that its members have voted “overwhelmingly” to ratify their first contract. It includes a 4.5% pay increase that takes effect in just over two weeks.
The contract, which WGLT reviewed for the first time Monday, took over a year and nearly 50 negotiation sessions to reach. The United Faculty of ISU union was on the brink of a strike when both sides finally reached a tentative agreement April 4, leading to the ratification vote. The union, which represents around 650 tenured and tenure-track faculty, did not release exact vote totals.
The three-year contract will create an estimated $27.3 million in added costs over the life of the agreement, beyond what ISU is currently paying in compensation, an ISU spokesperson said.
“From the outset of our organizing efforts to the successful conclusion, our members consistently showed up and demonstrated their commitment,” Ashley Farmer, an associate professor in criminal justice sciences and lead negotiator for the union, said in a statement Monday. “They participated in open bargaining sessions, engaged colleagues in critical conversations, attended rallies and board of trustees meetings, joined practice pickets, and much more. Their dedication made this achievement possible.”
In a statement to the campus community, ISU President Aondover Tarhule said "we now have an opportunity to move forward together in support of the University."
"The challenges facing higher education today are complex and urgent and harder to address effectively if we are divided," Tarhule wrote. "Across the nation, colleges and universities are grappling with declining enrollments, questions about the value of a college degree, rising student debt, and rapidly evolving workforce demands. Institutions must navigate technological disruptions in teaching and research, changing mandates and funding cuts from the federal government, and increasing expectations for student mental health support while fostering diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments."
While the contract covers many aspects of academic life at ISU, compensation was one of the biggest sticking points. The finalized agreement includes:
- 4.5% pay increase as of May 1 for all faculty in the bargaining unit.
- Across-the-board pay increases of 3% in 2026, 2.5% in 2027, and 2.5% in 2028.
- Merit-based pay increases of between 0-3% in 2026, 2027, and 2028. Merit increases are based on the person's most recent annual performance evaluation.
- ISU will set aside an additional $500,000 in 2027 and 2028 for further pay increases — what the contract calls “market adjustments.” That can be used to address salary compression or inversion, pay equity within departments or colleges, and even retention.
- Those with the rank of “Professor” (the highest regular rank) also can apply for an additional merit pay increase every five years. That’s intended to avoid pay stagnation for longtime professors.
For an assistant professor making $80,000 a year, their annual base salary would increase to $83,600 as of May 1. Then, come Jan. 1, 2026, their salary would rise again to $86,108 (3%), plus a possible merit increase of up to $2,508. A similar pattern repeats in 2027 and 2028.
“There’s going to be predictable, consistent raises that — who knows what inflation’s gonna look like — should ensure that our members are not seeing salary erosion over the life of this contract,” said Keith Pluymers, an associate professor in history at ISU and a member of the union’s bargaining team.
ISU administrators and the union disagreed during negotiations about how much the raises should be across-the-board vs. merit-based. ISU wanted to use more of that money for merit increases; the union wanted more across-the-board money, arguing that merit pay “turns a large portion of our possible salary increases into a cutthroat competition with each other.”
“We have a raise structure that’s going to recognize all the work that faculty do, particularly the work we do with our students,” said Pluymers, adding the contract also will make clearer the recognition that comes with service on, say, campus search committees — making them easier to fill.
The contract also sets new minimum salaries for faculty by rank. As of May 1, that will be $70,000 for assistant professors [lowest rank], $80,000 for associate professors, and $92,500 for professor. That ticks up every year, with each ending 6.1% higher by 2028.
“The salary minimums in this contract are a huge and consequential win,” Pluymers said. “They’re going to do a ton of work to ensure that the lowest-paid faculty here at ISU are being compensated fairly, and that people who come into ISU are not going to feel like they’re trying to dig out of a salary hole for the next 20 years.”
Other notable parts of the contract:
New workload committees — including union appointees — created at the university and college levels tasked with writing new workload policies. Departments will have to develop their own policies within a year, setting expectations for teaching, scholarly productivity, and service requirements.
Parental leave — Starting Aug. 1, faculty will get six weeks of paid parental leave that can be used once every 12 months, and only continuously [not intermittently].
ISU must create a new Student Mental Health Support Advisory Council by December 2025. The council will include students, faculty, staff and administrators. Its purpose is to “provide a forum for advisory feedback to the Division of Student Affairs on issues such as institutional mental health supports for students and external funding opportunities” for them.
Pluymers said the union is aware of the “broader issues facing public higher education” — from funding issues in Springfield to the Trump administration’s moves against international students.
The contract requires both sides to talk regularly, including formal “labor/management meetings” at least once each semester [or unless otherwise agreed to].
“We’re just hopeful that there’s going to be many opportunities for us to work together with this university’s administration, to show a united front, and to show that with that united front we can really solve a lot of problems together,” Pluymers said.
The contract runs through June 30, 2028.
