Academic staff members at British Columbia’s newest university ratified their first collective agreement in April.

Negotiations for a contract covering the 650 members of Thompson Rivers University Faculty Association began in January and a tentative agreement was reached minutes before the province’s March 31 deadline for eligibility of signing bonuses.

Tom Friedman, the faculty association’s president, said negotiations in the final days of bargaining were “gruelling,” and he was glad to see agreement reached on key issues that had stalled talks.

He said while the union secured the signing bonus and significant improvements in salary scale, the biggest victory in the new four-year contract is the awarding of tenure to all full-time academic staff members who have passed through probation and three reviews. Academic staff still working toward the seven-year mark will also get tenure.

“This shows what fine quality people we have working here and also the continuity of the institution’s identity,” Friedman said.

Another major victory sees the university move toward collegial self-governance, as tenure, promotion and appointment procedures will be faculty-driven for the first time. Workloads will also change, as the departments set limits based on a wide range of factors, instead of the old model’s reliance on contact hours.

Contract academic staff also get major boosts as salary is moved to a pro rata model, and once members achieve continuing part-time appointments, they are eligible for yearly increments.

Thompson Rivers University was founded in 1970 as Cariboo College. It 1995 it legally became a university college, offering university degrees in cooperation with larger institutions, then a full-fledged university in 2005. TRU has campuses in Kamloops, Williams Lake and Burnaby and several regional centres in the B.C. Interior.