The origins of institutional effectiveness are traced, its evolution within community colleges is described, the use of the term "institutional effectiveness" is analyzed, and a practical, operational definition of the term is presented. The author hopes that this definition and the discussion in this article prove useful to community college administrators, instructors, and scholars interested in community colleges. Ultimately institutional effectiveness is important not only because it permeates all aspects of a community college, but because it strips away the confounding rhetoric too often found on community college campuses to illuminate why the college exists (its purpose) and what it does well (its quality.) (Contains 2 figures.)