After almost three years of negotiations, the union representing non-faculty coaches who work for the 14 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) schools has reached a collective-bargaining agreement with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

At one point during the process, the coaches authorized the leadership of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF) to call a strike (see the October 9, 2000, issue of The NCAA News).

The contract, which is effective through June 30, 2004, was approved by 80 percent of the 315 coaches eligible to vote. It is the first collective bargaining agreement between the two parties.

"I am pleased that the coaches have responded affirmatively to the agreement," said William E. Fulmer, state APSCUF president. "The coaches' contract represents an excellent starting point in a new collective bargaining agreement."

The two sides agreed to minimum salaries of $30,000 for full-time head coaches and $25,000 for full-time assistant coaches. At the time of the strike authorization, the lowest level on the union's pay scale was $25,000 for a full-time assistant coach in a single sport and $35,000 for a head coach with responsibilities in only one sport.

The minimum salaries for full-time coaches in the state system's proposal were $20,000 for assistants and $25,000 for head coaches.

General pay increases of 2.5 percent, effective July 27, 2002, and 2 percent on both January 1, 2003, and January 1, 2004, also are part of the agreement.

In addition, each university will have a merit pool, effective July 26, 2003, equal to 2.5 percent of the cumulative value of each coach's salary as of the fall 2003 semester. Each coach with at least one year of service at that university will receive a salary increase based on his performance level from the previous year.

Coaches who earn a rating of "significantly exceeds expectations" will receive a 2.5 percent increase; those who merit a rating of "above expectations" will receive a 2 percent increase; and a mark of "at expectations" will earn coaches a 1.5 percent increase. Coaches with ratings of "below expectations" or "unsatisfactory" will not receive a merit increase.

Another key issue in the negotiations was job security for the coaches. The union sought more secure employment for its members after five years of service through three-year "rollover" contracts, and the possibility for coaches to go through a grievance and arbitration process during contract renewal disputes.

The APSCUF's proposal called for a decision to be made to grant or deny a coach regular employee status in his fifth year. A coach who was granted regular status would be given a rolling three-year contract.

In any year that the coach does not score "meets expectations" or above, he would not be granted a one-year renewal to the contract. If he failed to score "meets expectations" or above for two successive years, his contract would expire at the end of the third year.

The coaches' proposal also would have allowed a coach who faced non-renewal of a contract to file a grievance and keep his position, if the arbitrator found that the evaluations on which the non-renewal was based were arbitrary and capricious.

In its offer, which ultimately became part of the agreement, the state system automatically gives full-time head coaches, after five full consecutive years of employment, a three-year contract that can be extended annually by one year. Full-time assistant coaches, after five full consecutive years of employment, are given a two-year contract that can be extended annually by one year.

However, university presidents, or their designees, have the sole discretion to decide if a contract will not be renewed or extended.