Following seven months of on-again, off-again talks, part-time faculty at Acadia University have accepted their first contract with the university.

The one-year agreement includes significant wage increases, access to laptop computers, recognition of past service in hiring decisions, language on academic freedom and intellectual property, and a professional development fund.

"It's a great relief to be done," said Heather Pyrcz, part-time professor of English and a member of the negotiating team.

The faculty association and the administration had been negotiating since April. When talks broke off in the summer, a provincial conciliator was appointed.

"It took a unanimous strike vote and strong support from the students to win this agreement," said Vernon Provencal, president of Acadia University Faculty Association.

Part-time instructors rejected the university's settlement offer in a unanimous vote on Oct. 2. This rejection was followed by a unanimous vote to strike if an acceptable agreement could not be reached.

With a strike deadline looming, conciliator Darrell Foley called the two sides back to the table Oct. 17.

"The existence of the CAUT defence fund and the support of full-time faculty were also instrumental in our success in resolving the outstanding contract issues," Pyrcz said.

Part-time faculty were given a strong show of support by Acadia students, who issued a press release that announced a unanimous resolution upholding the legitimacy of the demand for a fair and equitable contract.

"The issues were clearly pedagogical, and that's why they had such good student support," Provencal said.

"Before they joined the faculty union, part-time faculty at Acadia were invisible. Now they're visible, and they've shown that they have to be bargained with."