This study examined higher education faculty and academic administrator (AO) beliefs regarding the value of assessment of student learning outcomes (ASLO) as a means for improving teaching and learning at a Southeastern community college known for its commitment as a learning college and as an exemplar for such efforts. Faculty and AOs at this college responded to an Internet-based survey regarding beliefs in the value of ASLO, the use of ASLO, influential individuals in the ASLO effort, and factors leading to improvement of ASLO at the college studied. Quantitative methods were used to determine statistical differences in beliefs held and qualitative data was used to contextualize and enrich the results found. Results of this study provided five critical factors that may be of value to campus communities seeking to develop assessment efforts: that faculty and AOs at the institution studied valued ASLO, with no significant differences between faculty and AOs in beliefs held; that the length of time faculty had taught at the institution had a relationship to differences in beliefs held regarding the use of assessment; that there were significant differences in beliefs regarding the contribution of assessment to teaching and learning between faculty teaching in Associate of Science/Associate of Applied Science (AA/AAS) and Associate of Arts (AA) programs; that the primary drivers of the ASLO effort at this campus were a faculty-led assessment team and the chief assessment officer; and that, overall, additional faculty development was seen as the dominant resource needed to improve ASLO efforts on this campus. Institutional effectiveness in higher education and its components--assessment, accreditation, and accountability--were constantly evolving concerns for all stakeholders in the U.S. higher education process in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Understanding faculty and academic administrator beliefs about assessment at the college studied provided insights into effective institutional practices to assess student learning as well as to ways to overcome barriers to making assessment of student learning outcomes part of continuous institutional improvement. These conclusions allow institutions less far along in the assessment process to realize change in their organizational cultures. (Full text of this dissertation may be available via the University of Florida Libraries web site. Please check http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/etd.html) [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.]