The standoff between the California Faculty Association and California State University administrators ended on Tuesday when the union announced a tentative contract deal, putting the union-approved statewide strike on hold.

The deal includes a faculty pay raise of about 3 percent less than what the CFA sought, but was close to a recent independent fact-finding report that the union viewed as favorable, according to CFA President John Travis.

“We have a tentative agreement that will be good for the CSU, good for our students, good for the faculty,” said Travis.

The terms of the new contract include a 20.7 percent base pay increase over the next four years for professors, lecturers, coaches and librarians.

The CSU also released a statement a few hours earlier on Tuesday, that said tenure-track professors’ salaries will increase from $74,000 to $90,749 and full-time professors’ pay will increase from $86,000 to $105,465.

The CSU said the total package will cost more than $400 million over the next four years and $28 million will be set aside to provide new merit-based pay programs targeting senior and junior faculty.

Roberta Achtenberg, chair of the CSU Board of Trustees said she was pleased to come to an agreement with the CFA.

“This is good news for everybody, including our 417,000 students, and we look forward to moving ahead with getting our faculty their salary increases.”

Faculty members of the 12,000-member union voted to strike on CSU campuses statewide starting next week if an agreement was not reached. The CFA union’s board of directors voted unanimously to postpone walkouts, pending finalized contract language.

Patty Baldwin, English lecturer and CFA member, said she was excited about the settlement.

"I think they did a great job. I know it's been a long, long, long process and they did a lot of work for us,” said Baldwin. “They've been wonderful.”

"We can regain our focus now in the home stretch of the semester, knowing we're secure in our jobs and in our classes,” Baldwin said.

Steve Dickison, a full-time lecturer and director of the Poetry Center on campus, said the pay increase has been miniscule over the last five years.

"It is good there is a pay increase,” said Dickison. "Cost keeps going up. In effect, you make less each year."