The Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) has ratified separate collective bargaining agreements with non-faculty coaches and doctors at the 14 PASSHE Universities.

The new agreement with the non-faculty coaches, which will run through June 30, 2007, was ratified earlier this month by the coaches, who are members of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF). APSCUF represents the approximately 350 non-faculty coaches at the PASSHE Universities, as well as about a dozen coaches who are faculty members and who are covered by a separate contract.

The new agreement with University doctors was ratified earlier by the Pennsylvania Doctors Alliance, which represents the approximately dozen physicians who work in University health centers across the State System. The contract will run through June 30, 2009.

The agreement with the non-faculty coaches includes general pay increases of 3 percent this year and in 2006-07. Coaches also will be eligible to receive merit increases of up to 2.5 percent each year based on their performance evaluations. Regular full-time and part-time coaches with 10 or more consecutive years of service with PASSHE will receive a one-time cash payment equal to $50 per year for each year of service.

Non-faculty coaches also will begin paying a portion of their health insurance premiums starting in January. Coaches initially will be required to contribute an amount equal to one-half of 1 percent of their salary toward the cost of their health insurance. That amount will increase to 1 percent of their salary in January 2007.

Under the terms of the agreement, regular full-time and part-time non-faculty coaches whose “rolling” contracts are not renewed will be able to request in writing from their University president or designee the reasons for the non-renewal. The decision whether to renew a coach’s contract will be at the sole discretion of the University president, or his or her designee.

About 8,400 student athletes participate in more than two dozen men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports at the PASSHE Universities. The majority of the teams participate in the NCAA Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).

The new agreement with the University physicians includes general pay increases of 3 percent this year and 3.5 percent effective January 1, 2007. Those physicians not at the top of the pay scale also will receive additional service increments equal to 2¼ percent of their salaries in July 2006 and January 2007. Those already at the top of the scale will receive equivalent one-time cash payments in both years. The agreement also includes provisions for premium sharing for healthcare coverage. The provisions are similar to those included in other contracts between the Commonwealth and several of its employee unions.

With more than 107,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. The 14 PASSHE Universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 405,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. PASSHE also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.