Recent accreditation criteria established by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) require all Florida community colleges to develop, implement, and maintain a formalized and ongoing planning, budgeting, and evaluation process which continuously examines and evaluates institutional performance within the confines of the institutional mission. Designed to assist colleges in developing an assessment and effectiveness plan, this report provides a detailed review of the SACS Criteria for Accreditation, and summarizes the literature currently available on institutional effectiveness. An introductory section analyzes SACS accreditation criteria as they relate to institution mission, planning and evaluation, and institutional research. The report then examines the role of institutional research in measuring institutional effectiveness. The next section cites state and federal reports and databases relevant to institutional effectiveness efforts. A listing of the key articles and reports specific to community college effectiveness programs concludes the report. Appendix A presents the specific sections of the SACS Accreditation Criteria, while Appendix B provides an annotated bibliography of 15 ERIC documents on institutional effectiveness, as well as a list of 62 other suggested readings. (PAA)