These proceedings of the annual accreditation and quality assurance conference present the following papers: "The Coming Revolution in Higher Education" (Arthur Levine); "Corporate/College Alliances" (Jeanne C. Meister); "Why Are We Educators?" (Catharine R. Stimpson); "Serving an Increasingly Adult Student Population: Lessons from Nordstrom and Wal Mart in the Restructuring of Higher Education" (Julie E. Porosky); "Faculty Leadership in Assessment-Based Curricular Reform" (Bruce Keith; Carolyn J. Haessig; Armand S. LaPotin); "Broadening Teaching Options Through Technology Centers" (Arthur R. Edmonds); "Benchmarking in Outcomes Assessment" (Patricia L. Francis, and others); "Comprehensive Change in a Large University" (Celeste E. Freytes and others); "State University Systems at the Crossroads" (Norman I. Maldonado; John W. Ryan); and "Classroom-Based Assessment in General Education" (Virginia Johnson Anderson and others). Following the papers are two advisory committee reports: "Governance, Governing Boards, and Regional Accreditation" (with remarks by panelist Marvin Greenberg) and "Financial Resources, Institutional Effectiveness, and Accreditation" (with remarks by panelist Rita J. Carney). A final section provides some guiding principles for planning the next review of "Characteristics of Excellence," including a timetable and a list of steering committee members. (Most papers contain references.) (CH)