Issues concerning faculty career vitality, including institutional policy options and demographic and external pressures, are addressed in 12 chapters. In the first chapter, Shirley M. Clark, Carol M. Boyer, and Mary Corcoran review theoretical and conceptual issues concerning institutional and faculty vitality. The following chapters and authors focus on empirical issues: "Changing Demography of Faculty in Higher Education" (W. Lee Hansen); "Faculty Career Development: Theory and Practice" (Robert T. Blackburn); "Aging and Productivity: Careers and Results" (Barbara F. Reskin); "Aging and Productivity: The Case of Older Faculty" (Robert J. Havighurst); and "Individual and Organizational Contributions to Faculty Vitality" (S. Clark, M. Corcoran). Five approaches for maintaining faculty vitality are considered as follows: (1) through faculty development (John A. Centra); (2) through midcareer change options (Carl V. Patton, David D. Palmer); (3) through outside professional consulting (C. Boyer, Darrell R. Lewis); (4) through collective bargaining (William E. Becker, Jr.); and (5) through early retirement options (Karen C. Holden). Finally, demographic and external pressures that currently influence faculty vitality and implications for institutional response are summarized by S. Clark and D. Lewis. (SW)