HARRISBURG — Nearly 350 employees at Slippery Rock University have new one-year contracts.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education on Thursday approved collective bargaining agreements with four unions.

The unions represent 345 employees at the university, said Lynne Motyl, SRU assistant vice president for human resources.

The agreements cover admissions staff, financial aid staff, residence life and career services staff, university health center nurses, social workers, counselors and clerical and maintenance staff.

They represent 4,500 employees in the 14 state system universities.

The agreements are for one-year and go into effect January 2016, according to a release from the state system.

The agreements call for employees to receive a pay raise equivalent to either 2.25 percent or 2.5 percent of their annual salary. The agreement with the nurses’ unions also provides a $650 payment to all permanent employees who had attained one or more certifications in a specialization by July 1.

The agreements with three unions freeze both the employee and employer contribution rates to the Pennsylvania Employee Benefit Trust Fund, the state health care plan with a savings that will partially offset the cost of the salary increases. Nurses are covered under a separate health care plan administered by the state system.

State contract negotiations still continue with the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, which represents 465 faculty and athletic coaches at SRU.

At the SRU Council of Trustees meeting Thursday at the university, Ben Shaevitz, president of the SRU chapter of APSCUF, asked the SRU trustees to lobby the state system for a timely settlement in their collective bargaining.

“As time goes on, the lack of an agreement may elevate the stress felt by faculty, management and also by students. Unnecessary stress is neither healthy nor productive,” Shaevitz said.

Earlier in the year, the state system approved an agreement with the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America, which covers those employees at the state universities, including the SRU Police Department.