| The current study presents a secondary analysis of data from the higher education portion of The Good Work Project, an on-going investigation into models of professional work that combine technical expertise with responsiveness to larger social, communal needs. Selected from a set of institutions nominated for their excellence in undergraduate education by a panel of higher education experts, four diverse colleges and universities from the project are used as case studies to answer the following research questions: (1) How do leading providers of undergraduate education understand their mission(s)? (2) How aligned are institutional goals and mission with the internal and external environment? (3) What are the strategies and resources that institutions rely on to enact their own brand of good work in undergraduate education?; The case studies rely heavily on interviews with key individuals at each institution, including, in each case, top leadership positions, as well as other individuals nominated for their contributions to excellence in undergraduate education by a sample of faculty, administrators, trustees and alumni at each institution. Interviews are supplemented with data from this internal nomination procedure, field notes from site visits, promotional materials, and other relevant documents gathered at each site.; The findings from these case studies are discussed in the context of literature on institutional effectiveness and principles from systems theory that help explain organizational phenomena. They underscore three essential qualities of colleges and universities in their pursuit of good work. Institutions are: (1) Explicit and intentional about the values that direct their work; (2) Focused on action and interaction as the basis of identity; and (3) Autopoeitic, or self-referencing in nature. Significant among the findings about enablers of excellence was the degree to which institutions call upon vast internal resources and strategies, including mission-centered teaching and learning, an emphasis on strong communities, and cultural and historical capital. Underlying these strategies and resources was a value framework grounded in higher education's traditions of egalitarianism and democracy. Findings point to the dynamic properties of mission and the importance of organizational strategies and leadership that reinforce and uphold core values in turbulent times. |
