This resource manual was produced to assist the South Carolina Technical College System's efforts to improve institutional effectiveness and accountability. The first two sections of the manual provide a brief foreword, a description of state initiatives for research and academic excellence in South Carolina, the text of state legislation requiring annual reports from public postsecondary institutions on institutional effectiveness, and memoranda providing clarifying information about the reports. The next section presents information on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' accreditation requirements for planning, evaluation, and institutional research. After a memo summarizing the "Student Right To Know and Campus Security Act," the next section presents the 1990-91 Commission on Higher Education reports for technical colleges, providing information on student persistence, alumni follow-up study results, student retention, and racial equality in student and faculty demographics. A directory of institutional effectiveness contact persons follows, including names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and electronic mail codes. The next section presents information regarding institutional databases, including the names of the institution and the director of information resource management, database description, contact person, program language, and access availability. The final sections provide sample methodologies and surveys, a bibliography of selected articles on assessment and educational measurement and information on selected educational outcomes measures, definitions, a bibliography of assessment instruments and articles, and the minutes of the coordinators' meetings. (MAB)