UPDATE 2/8: ROCKFORD (WIFR) --23 News has learned that Rock Valley College teachers will vote on Friday whether to give it's union the permission to strike.

The vote will take place at 3:15 p.m. and it takes a two thirds majority pass. Again the vote is not to strike but to allow the union the right to decide at any time to strike.

They would also have to give the college board ten days notice before walking out.

UPDATE 2/6: ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- What seemed to have been progress isn't progress at all--that’s how Rock Valley College's lead negotiator describes contract talks with the faculty union.

Attorney Joe Perkoski says the faculty union's latest offer mimics the one given in December, which prompted the college's impasse vote. He says the one received last week will cost taxpayers an extra million dollars over the next two years. That’s in wage and health care costs along with additional pay for faculty that teach summer courses and extra classes.

Perkoski said, "There is a misconception that the faculty union tried to make a lot of progress in these most recent round of talks and we simply rejected it, that's not true at all."

RVC gave the faculty union its final offer last week. They have until the 21st to reach a decision that could include striking.

UPDATE: 2/2 @ 9:45 p.m.

ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- Rock Valley College has given the faculty union its final offer.

Both sides met Thursday night in another closed door session. The RVC board is giving the faculty union until February 21st to accept its latest offer. Which includes paying more for health care.

If they vote no, the board could go ahead and enact that contract anyways.

The faculty union says if they do that, they'll most likely strike.

The RVC and faculty board met for 8 hours last Wednesday... and both sides have each released an offer to the public. The RVC board and faculty union agree they should pay more for health insurance. However, the college wants the union to pay more for their deductibles, and the faculty union wants payments spread out evenly between employees so no one sees a net pay cut.

Both sides say they look to come to an agreement by tonight. The faculty has been working without a contract since last July, but are currently still serving under the terms of their last contract. The next step would be for the faculty union to ratify the contract, which will then be sent for board approval

Feb.1 Update: Rock Valley College faculty members and the board of trustees will meet tonight to try to work out a deal.

Both sides have been trying to agree on a contract since July. We’re told progress is being made, but the main sticking point is health care. The last negotiation session lasted until one in the morning.

Jan. 30 Update: There’s still no deal at Rock Valley College. Negotiations between faculty and the board of trustees will pick up again this Wednesday. Both sides seem hopeful that a deal will be made soon. We’re told the main sticking point is health care.

UPDATE: 1/26 @ 12:00 p.m.

Joint Statement by Rock Valley College and the Rock Valley College Faculty Association:

The College and Faculty negotiation teams met on Wednesday to continue discussions to break the impasse. While the parties have not yet reached an agreement, both sides agree that progress has been made and are optimistic that an agreement can be reached. Discussions will continue and the parties are scheduled to meet face to face on Wednesday February 1, 2012 to hopefully bring the process to a conclusion.

ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- No word yet if the Rock Valley College Board of Trustees and the RVC Faculty Union have reached a deal.

Both groups met starting at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday at the Students Services Building in a closed door session.

After five hours of deliberation negations are still up in the air.

Rock Valley College Lead Negotiator Joe Perkoski told 23 News on Monday that meetings in December were getting extremely heated and both parties want to get things resolved by Wednesday night.

Rock Valley College Communications Director Nancy Chamberlain says meetings could last until 1:00 a.m. or even be pushed to another closed door session Thursday.

Classes at RVC started last week and faculty members have been working without a contract since July.

ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- Rock Valley College faculty and the Board of Trustees are hopeful they might reach a contract deal tonight.

Both sides are meeting right now to negotiate. While no action was taken at last night's board meeting, trustees say they think they will be able to work out some of the sticking points including the length of the contract and health care premiums. Faculty members have been without a contract since July.

ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- The Rock valley college faculty union and board of trustees have been deadlocked for months... over a new contract and after meeting face to face yesterday the trustees are meeting to discuss the next step in the negotiations tonight.

Around 5:00 tonight, Rock valley college's board of trustees head into a closed session to plan out their next move in the faculty contract negotiations and based on last night's talks, things could be heading in the right direction.

Negotiations looked bleak two weeks ago when the faculty presented their latest offer, parts of which was initially criticized by the trustees' negotiation team, including the amount of money employees would pay towards insurance. The two sides met last night to work towards an agreement and according to Faculty President Tom Alisankus, some of the disputes turned out to be a matter of miscommunication which they were able to hammer out.

Alisankus said, "Things have just seemed to click and I think both sides found a real positive, common direction and I think we were able to make some incredible progress."

Alisankus says he thinks the trustees will only go over information from last night's negotiations and will make no major decisions. The two sides are scheduled to meet again tomorrow where there is the possibility both sides might strike a deal.

While both sides agree to continue negotiating, they've presented their final offers. The Board of Trustees have a four-year deal on the table--faculty countered with a three year deal.

ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- The Rock Valley College Faculty Union and Board of Trustees may be getting closer to reaching a new contract agreement.

The two sides met Monday night and plan to pick up talks Wednesday evening. The faculty union's negotiating chair describes the meeting as productive and tells 23 News they're hopeful a settlement is near. They've had a hard time compromising on insurance costs.

ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- Tonight a final deal will be on the table to reach a deal between Rock Valley College and its faculty. With meetings stirring up some tension, each side is determined to get negotiations done and over with.

The faculty union submitted a contract proposal to trustees weeks ago, countering the college's four-year-deal with a three-year-deal. Rock Valley College spokesperson Joe Perkoski says with contracts ending last July, RVC looks at the four year deal almost as a three-and-a-half year deal because it will start from July 2011. Both sides primarily disagree over insurance costs and premiums.

With second semester classes at Rock Valley College starting last week a session is scheduled for tonight.