In 1975, Delta College began a project to prepare a set of institutional goals and a mission statement for consideration and adoption by the college Senate and Board of Trustees, and to identify those goals that should take priority over the following five years. All areas of the college were represented on the goal development committee, and to insure maximum community and college input, a number of input sources were used: the Institutional Goals Inventory, a Residents Learning Interests Survey, the Student Reactions to College instrument, and the college's North Central Accreditation Report. The actual goal writing process went through three stages during which 19 major and 110 supporting goal statements were composed and evaluated. After the mission and major goal statements were revised, approved, and adopted in June 1976, the college developed a set of first-year developmental objectives to serve as an initial dry-run for a total management by objectives system. The approach proved less productive than anticipated; the major goal statements were too broad to function as criteria for selecting the developmental objectives. In February 1977, a matrix of critical numerical indicators was substituted for routine objective writing, and a multiple-scenario approach to identify alternatives was begun. It is anticipated the new approach will overcome the problems encountered in the first year. (TR)