The context for considering faculty career vitality is addressed. It is suggested that the unit of study should be individual, and that both internal and external influences should be considered. A contrasting view is that the institution should be the unit of study. A Pennsylvania State University study revealed that faculty career decisions were made individually, and that the personnel policy and administration staff had little effect on choice. Another study, which considered professional collaboration among faculty and other practitioners, indicated that the quality of professional performance was linked to the individual professor, to small groups, and to a set of strongly held values. The views of Max Weber concerning bureaucratic organization, Clark Kerr's concept of the"multiversity," and the emphasis on assessing the institutional and systems level are considered. It is claimed that the institutional orientation is not oriented to the essential processes of learning. It is concluded that while the institutional view may be appropriate to research, it is inappropriate to an exploration of vitality, and that teachers face a tension between building and transmitting expertise in their field versus participating in the management and governance of the institution. (SW)