In 2009, over 300 community colleges across the country adopted the Community College Student Survey of Engagement (CCSSE) in an effort to assess the campus environment through student perceptions. In addition, community colleges across the country are searching for ways to measure student learning. The Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) is one instrument that has been used since the 1990s. With John Dewey's idea of life long learning as a backdrop, this article will review the need to employ outcomes assessment and student perceptions of the institutional environment as essential in making meaningful changes in higher education. The use of two instruments, CCSSE and CAAP, anchor the discussion of using student learning outcomes as a catalyst for change. Many institutions are using CCSSE and/or CAAP (or other instruments) to gather data about students, and often, these data are analyzed. However, for many institutions, the next step in the process of change has been elusive and the data analysis reports sit on a shelf in an administrative office. Hagerstown Community College, in Maryland, is presented as an example of using assessment data to produce changes in the classroom.