PHILADELPHIA -- In the 1980s, liberal arts colleges in America found themselves facing both declining enrollments and resources. Many of these institutions responded by offering consumer-oriented programs largely designed to bring students in the door -- but along the way, they lost their sense of who they were.

Matthew Hartley, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, explores how three such schools succeeded in reclaiming their institutional vision in his new book "Call to Purpose: Mission-Centered Change at Three Liberal Arts College" (RoutledgeFalmer).

"Today there are tremendous pressures for colleges and universities to embrace a corporate model," Hartley said, "but what these three stories show is that mission matters. People want work that is meaningful. A college needs to be both a savvy business and a community of purpose."

The institutions Hartley studied