Retention rates of professors, associate professors, and assistant professors in the Florida State University System (SUS) for 1977-1978 and 1978-1979 are analyzed. Separate retention rates for each rank by tenure status and age group are presented. The nontenured assistant professors have the lowest retention rates (about 85 percent for both time periods). Data are presented on the total number of new positions to be filled by both the SUS faculty within the system and faculty who could be hired from outside. It is only at the assistant professor level where it becomes possible to hire a sizeable number of new faculty from outside the SUS. Using the age categories established by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), it is suggested that the the Florida SUS faculty is a "mature" faculty. As the older and more expensive SUS faculty retire, they will be replaced by less expensive younger faculty. The data suggest that there will be adequate annual retirements to keep a steady tenure ratio, adequate number of positions available for hiring young faculty, and no increased compensation costs due to an aging faculty. Although the turnover rate is sufficient for the entire SUS, it may not approximate the faculty turnover rate at each of the nine universities. It is suggested that an early retirement policy might have some merit if it were designed to achieve specific goals at the various institutions. It is proposed that a projected modest growth in new positions over the next 5 years will reduce the system's chance of increasing minority representation at the tenured professor and associate professor level in a short period of time, unless minority faculty are hired at the tenured full and associate levels. (SW)