Eastern’s campus was home to a great deal of voting Tuesday.

In addition to midterm elections, members of Eastern’s chapter of University Professionals of Illinois were also asked to vote on the tentative contract agreement by 4 p.m.

While UPI members were not required to turn in their votes until noon Friday, they were encouraged to vote early if possible to accommodate a special meeting with the Board of Trustees that could approve the contract.

They don’t have to vote early, said UPI President Charles Delman. “This is just if they feel they’ve seen enough to vote to get that preliminary vote.”

A special campus mail pick-up was done at 4 p.m. Tuesday in order to count the preliminary votes to present to the Board of Trustees this morning at a special meeting at 8:15.

“We’re not rushing the ratification in that people have until Friday to get their vote in,” Delman said.

However, some faculty members were uncomfortable with the amount of time they had to consider their vote because they felt encouraged to vote in time for the Board of Trustees meeting.

Joseph Heumann, professor of communication studies, said he would have liked more time to consider complex issues in the contract.

“I was a little bit concerned that people weren’t getting all the information they needed before voting so quickly,” Heumann said.

He is particularly concerned with a provision about a yearly restriction of salary increase that cannot exceed 6 percent. Any salary increase more than 6 percent would be held until the next year under the contract.

“I think it is a confusing issue, and I think that we needed a little more time to think about that,” Heumann said. “When something that complicated occurs, it would be best if we had a little more time to think about the issues and understand how they would work.”

Heumann said some union members even voted before the 4 p.m. ratification information meeting Monday designed to further explain contract language and answer specific questions from members.

“My understanding is that a lot of people thought we were under the gun and we had to vote as quickly as possible,” Heumann said. “It’s a four-year contract; once it’s signed, once its approved you have to live with it.”

Mary Maddox, an instructor in the English department, said she felt slightly uncomfortable with the rush to vote as well.

“In my view, they might just as well have taken their time on it and we would have got our raises a month later,” Maddox said. “For some people it seems to matter; it really doesn’t matter to me.”

She did, however, vote by Tuesday afternoon to ratify the tentative agreement.

“I’m not completely happy with the contract, but I am voting for it,” she said.

She is happy with other parts of the contract concerning compensable sick days for Unit B members and salary increases.

“The percentage raises are pretty good considering the financial states of just about all state governments now,” she said.

Business Professor Mike Boorom had voted on the ratification by Tuesday afternoon and said he did not feel rushed and felt he had enough time to consider the contract.

“The stuff that applies to me really didn’t change,” Boorom said, specifically referring to the 6-percent salary threshold. “That’s not going to affect me so I wasn’t concerned with that.”

He said it also wouldn’t have mattered to him if the ratification were held until later on.

“Some people want to see all the I’s dotted and the Ts crossed,” Boorom said, and he respects that.

He said he trusts UPI leadership and thinks they have acted in the best interest of the members.

Heumann and Maddox also commented that they appreciate the work of UPI’s leaders and negotiating team.

“I do appreciate the work the union bargaining team has done,” Maddox said. “They’ve worked tremendously hard.”

Delman said the official member ratification voting results would not be released until Friday after all votes are cast.

The Board of Trustees retains the decision to act on the UPI contract at today’s meeting based on the preliminary votes or to wait and vote at a later date.