This study sought to design an effective management information system for an Illinois community college. It was developed by (1) displaying all the college activities as a system with six functionally independent subsystems, (2) reducing subsystem data to basic elements, (3) analyzing administrator response to choice of data items, (4) determining a college's normative data base, (5) designing an operation system (storage, updating, transformation, and retrieval) of management information for the six subsystem files, and (6) implementing a plan for such a system in an operating college. The six subsystems (activity areas) make up the total system (the college). A questionnaire to validate desirable and necessary items for a data base was sent to first- and second-level administrators in all Illinois junior colleges. From a 69% response, levels of agreement on suggested items were tallied. The system was built on the concept of transforming basic to complex data, i.e., bits quantified and represented by numeric symbols. The transformation occurs during retrieval, according to programed instructions, which can be altered to accommodate change or expansion. A single college served as the laboratory for the investigation. Its files provided real data for formulating and evaluating a model management information system, using FORTRAN with an IBM 360 computer. Results showed that only modest resources would suffice to design, program, and operate such a system. Other specific findings are listed. (HH)