After 18 months of negotiations and more than 70 meetings, faculty union leaders for Minnesota's seven state universities have reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, the Star Tribune reports.

MPR says the two-year deal includes a 2.2 percent pay increase -- the first across-the-board salary bump in four years. The contract affects roughly 3,600 faculty members. They will likely vote on the offer early next month.

"A completed agreement is essential to our ongoing efforts to recruit and retain high quality faculty," MnSCU Chancellor Steven Rosenstone said in a news release.

The Star Tribune notes faculty at MnSCU's two-year colleges are still negotiating.