DICKINSON, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – Members of the SUNY Broome Faculty Association rallied outside of the Wales Center on campus this morning to demand changes to their contract.

The president of Broome’s Faculty Association, Suzanne Shepard says that negotiations for a new contract have been ongoing for 15 months.

She says the negotiations are now in mediation, and that the final meeting will take place this upcoming Tuesday.

Shepard also says the faculty are hoping that the new deal includes fair compensation, grants quality benefits, and addresses the 28 student class size limit that the school has established for the 2023 year.

A business professor at Broome, Stephen Ohl, says that the administration at the college has always been great, however, so has the faculty.

“Strategically, it’s better to come to an agreement than go to mediation and arbitration which is what we’re in now. The longer this goes on, the more people get upset, and I think strategically, the administration made a mistake here.”

Other colleges in the Southern Tier, such as Tompkins Cortland and Corning community colleges went through a similar process and just recently reached a contract agreement with their faculty.

SUNY Broome President Kevin Drumm released a statement saying, the school supports the faculty’s concerns for a fair contract.

He was encouraged by the reference to nearby contracts and feels that if the faculty agree with the key aspects in those contracts, then they should be able to get the deal done.

Shepard mentioned that there will most likely be another rally taking place at some point next week.