Colleges and universities throughout the country are increasingly coming under pressure from accrediting institutions and legislative bodies to implement comprehensive outcomes assessment initiatives designed to measure and document student performance. Over the past ten years pressure has been directed towards colleges to reshape their current institutional practices in to order foster improved efficiency and effectiveness of instruction (McLean & Lockwood, 2004) designed to facilitate improved student performance. While outcomes assessment programs vary in form and structure from one institution to another based on the mission and purpose of each college, there remains a general program structure, provided by the Higher Learning Commission, detailing the essential elements to meet accreditation standards. These elements include: the development of a comprehensive assessment plan designed to measure student learning; the implementation of assessment process institutionally; the collection, analysis, and reporting of outcomes assessment results to various stake holders; and finally, the utilization of those various outcomes assessment results in the curriculum management process. While community colleges are required to have in place a meaningful outcomes assessment process, it is the researcher's hypothesis that many Arizona community colleges have not implemented an outcomes assessment initiative which meets the highest level of implementation as set forth by their accrediting institution, because these colleges fail to see the importance of outcomes assessment for their institution. To test this hypothesis, the researcher will survey Arizona community college presidents, or academic vice presidents, using a Likert scaled survey instrument consisting of twenty critical outcomes assessment implementation issues identified, and published, by the Higher Learning Commission in 2006. This survey instrument is designed to measure the perceived level of importance placed on outcomes assessment and the perceived level of implementation achieved by the institution's administration in the utilization of the information obtained through their outcomes assessment initiative in the ongoing management of the institution. The research will use a Pearson Correlation Coefficient ("r") analysis for the purpose of determining if a correlation exists between the level of perceived importance and the degree of outcomes assessment implementation. The findings of this study will provide accrediting institutions with data enabling them to make critical decisions concerning how better to support colleges in their assessment activities, help presidents understand what they can do to strengthen their existing outcomes assessment initiatives, and help aid students in identifying those colleges which will provide the educational experience they desire. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]