MISSION VIEJO : Tentative Pact With College Faculty OKd

After two years of sometimes contentious negotiations, the Saddleback Community College District has reached agreement on a tentative three-year contract with its 300 full-time faculty members.

Under the contract, which is expected to become final later this month, the faculty at Saddleback and Irvine Valley colleges will receive a 6.75% raise over three years, according to district officials. The contract, retroactive to July 1, 1991, will expire July 1, 1994.

District trustees approved the tentative contract in a closed session last week. The contract had received approval earlier from the Saddleback Community College District Faculty Assn.

Among changes included in the tentative contract is a provision that grievances by professors against the district will receive a final hearing with a private arbitrator, rather than the Board of Trustees.

Frustrations over contract issues, including pay raises, reached a peak during last November’s election, in which three longtime trustees were unseated by Steven Frogue, Lee Rhodes and John S. Williams, all of whom had the endorsement of the faculty association.

This was one of the longest periods the district’s faculty has been without a contract, according to district officials.

The tentative contract also means an additional slight raise for the 425 non-teaching employees in the district.

In January, the district trustees approved a three-year contract with the classified staff guaranteeing a total 6% raise, or whatever higher amount ultimately was granted to the faculty.