BUTLER TWP — The Butler County Community College and its faculty have agreed to a new five-year contract.

The contract gives the 70 members of the BC3 Education Association an average salary increase of 3.83 percent each year of the contract and requires members to contribute to their medical benefits for the first time.

The faculty voted on the contract May 8 and the college's board of trustees approved the agreement Wednesday. It begins July 1.

Pat Massaro, chief negotiator for the faculty, said he is pleased with the contract, which he called fair.

President Cynthia Azari agreed it is a fair contract. "We worked through the issues," she said.

Massaro said negotiations began in November and the two sides worked to come to an agreement on medical benefits and salaries. He said employee contributions to benefits are becoming standard. The faculty contributions don't begin until the third year of the contract.

The faculty gets a 4 percent increase in the first year; a 3.75 percent increase in the second year; and a 3.8 percent increase in the remaining years. The contract brings the average salary to $48,932.

Full-time faculty also get a one-time early contract signing bonus of $400.

When faculty members approved the contract, they also approved a change in the college calendar that shifts class times by five minutes and moves the first day of the fall 2008-09 semester closer to September, said Linda Dodd, chief negotiator for the college.

Ray Steffler, chairman of the board of trustees, thanked everyone involved in the negotiations for their professionalism.