Some of your teachers may be holding office hours outsid eon April 16 and 17.

To solicit support for their upcoming contract negations, members of the Lecturers' Employee Organization plan to hold their scheduled office hours on the Diag those dates.

There, members of the union for non-tenure track faculty at the University will distribute campaign materials to students and faculty members to solicit support for their 10th round of contract negotiations with the University.

The negotiations begin Friday.

This year, the 1,300 member organization composed of lecturers from all three of the University's campuses is pushing for pay raises, uniform lecturer titles, employment review transparency, health care improvements and greater flexibility to work off-campus while employed by the University, among other things.

LEO's current contract expires on June 30.

Ann Arbor's LEO chapter met last night to update members on the negotiations progress.

"We're not anywhere near to being done," said LEO President Bonnie Halloran in an interview before the meeting.

While LEO's 10-15 member bargaining team can continue negotiating through the summer, the LEO membership voted to not consider any contract proposed after April 17, the ratification deadline, because many LEO members will not be in town during the spring and summer terms.

Ian Robinson, a co-chair of LEO's chapter on the university's Ann Arbor campus, said leaders at the meeting encouraged members to attend the negotiating sessions.

He also said it is unlikely that an agreement will be reached by the ratification deadline of April 17, the last day of classes.

University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said contract negotiations take time, and that everyone is committed to the process.

Robinson said negotiations of this type are inherently a slow process.

He said both administrators and union representatives have taken time to make proposals.

A few tentative agreements have already been reached between negotiators. Robinson said these agreements aren't on any of LEO's central issues.

Robinson said negotiators have yet to talk about raises. He said the issue is usually discussed last because administrators need to figure out contract costs prior issues that are approved.