Campus prepares to go tobacco-free

  Thursday, May 8, 2014 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

As students and at least some faculty pack up for the summer, Pittsburg State University officials are reminding them that when they return in the fall, there will be changes in place or in the works.

Those changes include not just the obvious things, like campus construction, but less visible, but equally important things, such as the move to make the Pitt State campus tobacco free.

In February, the President’s Council’s approved of a report by the Tobacco Policy Task Force. Soon thereafter, work shifted from adoption of the tobacco-free policy to preparing the campus for its implementation in 2015.

To do that work, President Steve Scott appointed an executive tobacco policy work group to consider a campus communication plan; develop training for staff, students and the community; provide cessation support services for tobacco users; and develop compliance policies.

The campus community can expect to see some of the evidence of that work this fall.

Rita Girth and Jim Triplett, who led the Tobacco Policy Task Force, said earlier this year that they expected a “soft implementation” of the new tobacco policy in the spring semester of 2015, with full implementation by summer.

“Education and communication will be critical to the successful implementation of the new tobacco policy,” Girth said. “By working this far in advance, we hope the campus will be well prepared for the new policy to take effect in 2015.”