Statement by FSU President Eric J. Barron re. faculty arbitration ruling

"Florida State University has experienced enormous financial stress over the past three years with the loss of $85 million in state appropriations. There are no good outcomes when a university budget is cut by 25 percent. Florida State University believes strongly that it did the very best to protect program quality while being forced to balance its budget. We have always recognized that these decisions were difficult, especially for those directly affected.

"This afternoon, an arbitrator concluded that our definition of a university 'program' was not sufficient to define a 'layoff unit.' This ruling requires Florida State University to rescind layoff notices for 12 tenured faculty members.

"Although not required by the ruling, the university believes strongly that we should treat all tenured faculty uniformly. Consequently, Florida State University will rescind the layoff notices for all affected tenured faculty members."