The introductory material to this student retention manual focuses on the legal responsibility of Florida community colleges with regard to retention, and on data collection for program planning, factors that affect retention, accountability, and the essentials of a retention program. The remainder of the manual is presented as a checklist of potential ideas to be explored in establishing a student retention program. A section of questions identifying essential student information precedes checklists of typical student needs and criteria for the evaluation of retention research. The next section of the manual considers retention and college programs in terms of: administrative understanding of and commitment to the retention program; course scheduling; the faculty; student services (e.g., financial aid, job placement, counseling, advising, career planning, admissions, and registration); community relations; library resources; the business office; the support staff; and the security office. Institutional policies are discussed next, and questions are presented to help colleges evaluate their admissions, placement, transfer, grading, withdrawal, and appeals policies. The influence of student goals on persistence and typical dropout behavior are described to help identify potential dropouts before they withdraw. The final section lists considerations for in-service training programs. (AYC)