During the past two decades, colleges and universities have used best practices from corporate management such as total quality management, strategic planning, management by objectives, benchmarking, data warehousing, and performance indicators. Many institutions of higher learning now have adopted comprehensive and multifaceted approaches to institutional planning, performance assessment, and accountability. In addition, appropriate data to improve institutional performance, especially direct measures of student learning, are now required by regional accrediting bodies. In this context, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) now requires all of its member institutions to create a quality enhancement plan (QEP) as part of the accreditation process. Key elements of the QEP established by SACS include the following: (1) Focus; (2) Institutional capability and the initiation and continuation of the plan; (3) Assessment of the plan; and (4) Broad-based community involvement. This article describes the development of the QEP at Columbus State University. Through its focus on engendering a culture of assessment, the university's QEP promises several important benefits. Through its recommendation that the administration establish an Office of Institutional Effectiveness, the plan encourages a university-wide focus on assessment. (Contains 1 figure.)