Faculty work is notoriously vague and is at best described as involving scholarship, teaching, and service. The mechanisms faculty employ to understand messages about work expectations are equally ill-defined. This study examined how faculty receive and interpret institutional work expectations to perform their scholarly, instructional, and service roles. Using Manning's cultural theoretical framework, this qualitative study draws on interviews with 12 faculty at six institutions. Findings indicate that faculty were actively involved in a process of meaning-making of the messages they receive as they navigate their institutions. Recommendations to improve the transmission and reception of these messages are included.