Storrs — The University of Connecticut has reached its first tentative contract agreement with the union representing its graduate students.

The deal with the Graduate Employee Union-United Auto Workers would give the school's 2,200 teaching and research assistants a 9 percent increase in stipends over the next three years, a reduction in fees, and a health care plan with no premium increases over the life of the contract.

The contract still needs to be ratified by the graduate assistants and must be approved by the school's board of trustees and the state legislature.

UConn officially recognized the union last April after more than 50 percent of the GAs signed a petition seeking to unionize.

The deal was announced Tuesday evening, hours after the graduate students staged a sit-in at the student union.