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Kutztown University's teachers union on Thursday canceled a no-confidence vote against President F. Javier Cevallos, saying it is satisfied with the administration's commitment to include faculty in making educational and other decisions.

Associate professor Kevin Mahoney, who is on the faculty union's executive committee, said union leaders met with Cevallos and Provost Carlos Vargas twice before spring break two weeks ago and hammered out some of their differences. Mahoney said the union's representative council met Thursday afternoon and Vargas addressed the council.

''After substantial discussion, a motion was made to cancel the vote for this semester as a show of good faith,'' Mahoney said.

The union decided it will review commitments the administration made in the talks held two weeks ago and evaluate the progress when its members meet in October, Mahoney said.

Cevallos was also invited to Thursday's meeting, but was out of town and couldn't attend, Mahoney said. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

''This is a very positive sign and is an indication of the progress the faculty and the administration have made in addressing the issues and challenges presented,'' university spokesman Matt Santos said. ''We look forward to continuing our work with the faculty as we move the university forward.''

In January, Cevallos learned of the faculty union's efforts to drum up support for a vote of no confidence against him. Cevallos responded to some of their charges about his leadership in a campus-wide e-mail earlier last month.

Leaders in the Kutztown chapter of the Association of Pennsylvania State Colleges and University voted Feb. 14 to move forward with a campus-wide vote for all 550 members. That vote, which was scheduled to take place two weeks ago, was postponed.

The union had charged that Kutztown's status and quality of education had deteriorated under Cevallos.

Kutztown's faculty union leaders cited 19 problems under Cevallos, including the university's drop in U.S. News & World Report's 2007 rankings from a third-tier institution to a fourth-tier institution; older buildings and problems with overheated classrooms, leaks and mold; an over-reliance on temporary instead of tenure-track faculty; and finances overruling academics.

Mahoney said the issues should be addressed in a partnership between the administration and faculty. He sees the conversations the union, Cevallos and Vargas had as good steps to like-minded thinking among all involved.

''The main thing is we're on the road to establishing a new way of working together in a very positive way,'' Mahoney said.