HARRISBURG — Members of the union representing faculty members at Slippery Rock University and Pennsylvania's 13 other state-owned universities have approved a contract with the State System of Higher Education.

Pat Heilman, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, said Tuesday 2,699 members voted for ratification of the faculty contract, while 1,172 voted to reject it.

"The monetary package is an improvement over the last contract," Heilman said. "That surely was a factor faculty considered before casting their ballots."

A separate contract for coaches was ratified by a vote of 200-7, Heilman said.

State system spokesman Kenn Marshall said he had not received official word of the vote, but was pleased with the reported results.

"This is certainly encouraging," Marshall said. "We thought all along that this was a fair contract we had reached."

Ballots were cast last week on the system's 14 campuses and counted Tuesday. The system's board of governors is scheduled to vote on the agreement Thursday. If it is approved, the contract will run to June 30, 2011.

Each full-time professor is to get an immediate $1,750 cash bonus, followed by raises of 3 percent in the second and third years of the contract and 4 percent in the fourth year.

For the 2006-07 school year, the average nine-month salary for full-time faculty members was $70,000, while maximum salaries ranged from $60,000 for instructors to $98,000 for full professors.

The faculty union represents 421 faculty members at SRU and 5,500 professors statewide.