A multi-case study was used in the self-study of three programs within an academic department of a mid-sized Southern university. Multi-case methodology as a form of self-study encourages a process of self-renewal and programmatic change as it defines an active stakeholder role. The participants in the three case studies were university faculty and administrators, current graduate students, graduates of the secondary teacher preparation program, and members of program advisory groups. Data collection techniques included surveys, focus groups, and the multi-case method itself. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data for each study. During the study, the frame of self-study emerged within the research process, resulting in a significant shift in the epistemological paradigm and attitudes of the faculty related to scholarly activities. This shift has further resulted in an evolutionary process of ongoing self-renewal within the case study analysis. The academic unit's faculty has substantially increased its commitment to the inquiry process at several levels. The faculty has become a living artifact in, and as a result of, the method. The evolutionary process of self-study, self-renewal, and mindful inquiry provided the opportunity for the faculty to engage in critical self-examination. (Contains 16 references.) (SLD)