A news conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. today in Gov. Rendell's reception room.
The sides have negotiated for five days, anchored by a 12-hour bargaining session yesterday.
The contract between the union representing 5,500 faculty members and the state expired Saturday.
The state had advanced a new salary proposal yesterday that was more attractive than a previous offer, Marshall said, but he declined to discuss specifics.
"We have made some movement on the proposal," Marshall said. "We are not releasing any details until talks break down."
After negotiating through the weekend in Harrisburg, on Sunday night a state mediator asked the union to hold off calling a strike for 24 hours. Talks resumed at 10 a.m. yesterday.
The outstanding issues are wages and benefits, said Cheryl Wanko, a spokeswoman for the West Chester University chapter of the Association of State College and University Faculties.
Until yesterday, Wanko said, the state was offering a four-year contract consisting of a cash payment of $1,250 the first year, increases of 2 percent for the next two years, and 3 percent in the final year.
But Marshall said that in the final year of the four-year contract that just expired, faculty members received wage increases of 5.5 percent, 9 percent or 13 percent, depending on where they fell in the salary schedule.
Those increases were to make up for the first year of the contract when all state employees were subject to a wage freeze, he said.
"We feel we did the best we could to make up for that year," Marshall said.
Johnston said the final year boost still did not keep pace with inflation when measured over the life of the contract.
