MARQUETTE — After lengthy negotiations that spanned the summer, it was announced Sept. 7 that a tentative agreement on a new contract for faculty at Northern Michigan University had been reached.

While an agreement between the NMU – American Association of University Professors faculty union and the administration has been agreed upon, the faculty union announced Thursday that details are still being worked out.

“The NMU faculty union and the NMU administration still do not have a complete contract agreement,” NMU-AAUP President Dwight Brady said in a statement. “The tentative agreement announced over Labor Day weekend is only for the financial portion of the contract. While this marks significant progress, some of the non-financial portions are still being negotiated. Until the entire contract language is in place, the membership cannot vote to ratify the contract, and it will not become binding until approved by the NMU Board of Trustees.”

Union officials said the union’s chief negotiator, Dr. Lesley Putman, has been working with the NMU administration to complete the contract and has offered a timetable for finalizing the tentative agreement.

“The language should be available to the members for their consideration in the first part of next week,” Putman said. “A vote will occur six days after the membership receives the final draft.”

If more than 50% of the faculty vote to ratify the contract, it could be ready in time for the Board of Trustees to approve during their upcoming meetings on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

Specific details on the contract, such as benefits, personnel policies and academic administrative functions, were not released when the agreement was reached on Sept. 7.