This study of staff perceptions (15 institutions in 13 states) found that teachers generally (1) felt the college a stepping-stone to a senior institution, (2) saw excellent teaching as a contribution to college aims, (3) by supporting an open door policy, acknowledged the students' lower ability, (4) saw the junior college as different from university extension, (5) recognized the wide range of need and ability of the students, (6) considered terminal programs important, and (7) felt the college a community asset, giving a service otherwise unavailable. Grouping the staff by faculty/administrator, part-time/full-time, and transfer/non-transfer showed administrative perception closer to the ideal concept than faculty opinion; faculty and administrator separately showed a smaller standard deviation (SD) than when combined and compared on a part- or full-time basis; between transfer and non-transfer staff, an SD of 4.66 for faculty and 1.17 for administrators was found. The colleges were grouped by professional status (accreditation, growth, age, size), geography (regional stability, interest in participation), and scoring of perception (degree of agreement with ideal college concept, regional variances, growth adjustment). The study met its objectives: (1) identifying staff views of college nature and purpose, (2) measuring degree of consensus between faculty and administration, (3) classifying the perceptual areas of consensus, and (4) developing theoretical insights that might increase institutional effectiveness. (HH)