Classes are back to normal after a brief hiccup at Calgary's southern campus.

The Mount Royal College Board of Governors and the Mount Royal Faculty Association have come to a one-year contract agreement for the period July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002. The agreement gives faculty members a 4.8 per cent increase, of which 2.8 per cent will be retroactive to July 1, 2001. There are also increases for faculty with over 20 years of service and for part-time faculty who have taught for more than 10 semesters at the college.

"We wanted a 9.6 per cent increase," said MRFA President Jerre Paquette. "We didn't get what we wanted but got a good compromise."

Faculty at MRC worked without a contract since July 1, 2001. After mediated negotiations ended in September, MRFA commenced work-to-rule action on October 22 and called a strike vote for Nov. 15. The strike vote never took place as a meeting between MRFA and the BoG produced an agreement later approved by both parties.

According to Paquette, MRFA had its highest voter turnout ever, with 307 of a possible 650 faculty members voting on the agreement. The percentage of faculty in favour of the agreement was not released.

"Both sides are pleased with the agreement," said Blair Riddle, Media Relations Coordinator at MRC. "We're glad it happened without disturbing students."

If MRFA had proceeded with the strike vote, faculty could have been on the picket lines as early as Nov. 19.

"Because the agreement is signed, there is no longer any danger of academic disruption for students," said Mark Sollis, VP External with the Students' Association of Mount Royal College.