BUTLER TWP — The Butler County Community College board of trustees on Thursday approved a four-year contract with the union representing 99 full- and part-time faculty members.

Board members unanimously voted in favor of the contract at the special meeting.

The contract with the BC3 Education Association, Pennsylvania State Education Association/National Educational Association includes 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.

Covered by the contract are 64 full-time and 35 regular part-time faculty. The temporary part-time faculty of about 160 are not voting members of the union, but their salaries are included in the contract, officials said.

The previous contract expired June 30.

“We so value our faculty. We couldn't be the number one community college without them,” said Nick Neupauer, BC3 president.

The budget and faculty salaries at other schools were considered during contract negotiations, he said.

“We firmly believe this is fair for all of the stakeholders, especially the faculty,” Neupauer said.

Faculty health care contributions to the Allegheny County Schools Health Insurance Consortium are frozen in the first two years of the contract. The contributions, which range from 9.56 percent for family coverage to 20.33 percent for individuals, transition to a uniform rate of 10.5 percent in the last two years.

Tenured faculty receive a $500 increase in their base salary in the last two years to help offset the increase in health care contributions.

The contract also includes incentives of $16,250 for faculty who retire between July 1 and Dec. 31 in the second and third years.

“We are fortunate to have a faculty comprised of top notch professionals who really care about the students of the college. 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,” said Joseph Kubit, who was elected chairman of the trustees to replace the late Ray Steffler, who died in February.

Kubit is an attorney with the Montgomery, Crissman, Montgomery, Kubit law firm in Butler.

At the beginning of the meeting, he called for a moment of silence in honor of Steffler, an alumni who served on the board since 1985 and was chairman since 1999.

“Ray is leaving behind some very large shoes that we attempt to fill,” Kubit said.

The college is holding a memorial program in Steffler's honor at 1:30 p.m. March 17 in Founders Hall.

The county commissioners will appoint someone to fill the vacancy on the board, Neupauer said. County Commissioner Kimberly Geyer, an alumni, is an ex-officio board member.

The board has 15 trustees. The terms of five members expire every two years.