After four weeks of deliberation, United Academics, University of Oregon’s faculty union, struck a tentative deal with the university administration regarding full-time equivalency — the hours an employee worked in a week — restoration, salary cuts and systems for employing career faculty. Career faculty are faculty members who are expected to continue from year to year.

The union outlined the agreement in an email to its mailing list.

• All career faculty who received renewal notices in May with lowered FTE will have their FTE restored to the same FTE they held in the 2019-20 school year.

• Employee salary cuts cannot exceed $20 million over one year, instead of the originally proposed amount of $100 million over four years, which the administration put forward in April.

• Salary cut percentages will be lower for the lowest earners.

• Research faculty will be exempt from the wage cut plan.

• Non-funding-contingent career faculty employment can only end for legitimate financial, academic or performance reasons after the first year of employment.

• Although layoffs are based on necessary functions and skills, layoffs will generally follow earned seniority.

• Faculty who have received a layoff notice will be able to challenge the layoff through arbitration.

• Faculty members hired back by UO into the same category — such as instructor, research assistant, research associate, lecturer or librarian — can’t be hired at a lower FTE than what they held before they were laid off.

• Assigned FTE cannot decrease, unless by agreement between the faculty member and UO administration.

“The bargaining team believes this is a good deal,” the email stated, “and a vast improvement on the salary cut plan offered in April.”

UO and United Academics have yet to reach an agreement on a new Tenure Reduction Plan or a buyout program for those wishing to retire.