MORE GUIDANCE, BETTER RESULTS?

Chapter 3The Implementation of the Ohio Opening Doors ProgramLorain County Community College and Owens Community College ran an OpeningDoors program that provided enhanced counseling from a counselor with a small caseload, inaddition to providing a modest stipend. This chapter describes how the program was developedand implemented. It then briefly covers the key differences between the program and the regularcollege environment facing the study’s control group. Finally, the chapter presents somefindings about sample members’ experiences in college. The chapter draws from field researchconducted by MDRC staff, Opening Doors counseling and stipend data from the two colleges,and data from the Opening Doors 12-Month Survey.The key implementation findings are:• Lorain and Owens succeeded in providing Opening Doors counseling servicesthat were more intensive, comprehensive, and personalized than the colleges’standard services. Data from the study’s 12-month survey show thatthe program increased the frequency with which students received academicadvising, financial aid advising, and other student services.• The Ohio colleges implemented the Opening Doors stipend component asdesigned — students could receive up to $300 in stipend payments over twosemesters. A total of 89.3 percent of the program group members received atleast one stipend payment, and 45.9 percent received the full $300.• The implementation analysis suggests that the Opening Doors program wassomewhat more intensive at Lorain than at Owens. Average caseloads werelower for Lorain’s Opening Doors counselors. Program group students atLorain received stipend payments at a higher rate and may have had morecontact with their counselor.History of the Opening Doors Program in OhioMDRC and the leadership of Lorain County Community College began working togetherin late 2002 to design an Opening Doors intervention. The college was interested inbuilding upon its existing network of student supports, as well as its previous efforts to provide25