The 28 Florida community colleges have made significant accomplishments in the areas of removing barriers to education, student outcomes, curriculum development, and financial support for students. These accomplishments have resulted from the state's Master Plan for community colleges developed from 1955 to 1957 under legislation that established the state's Community College Council. In the developing the plan, the Council worked on the following four basic assumptions: education is necessary for democratic government; education is valuable for the improvement of society; education is valuable because it helps to equalize opportunity for all people; and education must be locally controlled oriented to be truly democratic and to achieve greatest success. Based on these assumptions, the colleges' development was guided by commitments to local control and policy-making, to maintain open access, to maintain student costs as low as possible, and to provide programs that students need. Since local control is emphasized in the system, it is essential that boards of trustees understand their responsibilities. The most important decision a Board will make is the selection of the chief executive officer, while it is important in the process that the Board determines institutional needs, appropriate leadership, and a reasonable budget. Other responsibilities include the supervision of planning, maintaining communication with the State Board, setting policies related to college personnel, and establishing relationships with local citizens and agencies. (HAA)