Mediation has been agreed to by the College of DuPage board of trustees and the school’s more than 300 faculty members. The two sides will meet and discuss the issues with the hope of negotiating a mutually agreed upon solution to the ongoing problems.

The faculty members, represented by the COD Faculty Association union, have been working without a contract for more than a week after the previous agreement expired.

Negotiations have been ongoing, but moving along slowly. There are several issues in play and the two sides have not even discussed pay thus far in the talks. At the end of July, the union asked that a mediator be brought in to oversee the negotiations and then a formal mediation agreement was signed.

According to the statement, the college’s administration has participated in good faith negotiations so far.

According to COD board Chairman Frank Napolitano, "Both parties are committed to education and providing the best possible experience for our students. We fully recognize the need to be competitive to attract and retain first-rate faculty, but we must also balance that with our fiscal responsibilities to the taxpayers of District 502. The board believes this to be an attainable goal, but there is more work to be done."