Making Your Campus Tobacco-Free

1. Making Your Campus Tobacco-Free February 2008

2. “When health is absent: wisdom can’t reveal itself, art can’t become manifest, strength can’t be exerted, wealth becomes useless and reason becomes powerless.” -- Herophilus, Physician, 300 B.C.

3. Information regarding smoking bans from the School of Public Health of the University of California, Berkeley: “Smoking Bans Save Lives Hospital admissions for heart attacks dropped by 8% in New York State in 2004, the year after a comprehensive smoking ban went into effect, according to a recent report in the American Journal of Public Health. That number takes into account improved medical care and other factors. Similarly, Ireland’s heart attack rate fell by 11% the year after the introduction of its ban on smoking in public places that started in 2004.”

4. About Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC) OTC is comprised of 10,000 students and 1,000 full and part-time employees on two campuses and two attendance centers in Springfield, Ozark, Lebanon and Branson, Missouri. OTC is a 100% tobacco-free Campus. In 1999 the Board of Trustees adopted the policy and set 2003 as the year that the college would become completely tobacco-free. In January 2004, the Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Campus Policy was created to assist others interested in developing similar policies.

5. Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Campus Policy The Center was established in 2004 with a view to help other Educational and Health care institutions in becoming tobacco-free. The Center also hosts an annual workshop: “Making Your Campus Tobacco-Free.” Consultation services are provided by the Center. “OTC has been a true pioneer in assisting other colleges to adopt tobacco-free policies. Their Center of Excellence and their Tobacco-Free Campus Workshops are well organized to teach through experience. OTC continues to pave the way to a healthy and safe learning and working environment for students, employees, and citizens throughout our state and nation.” -John M. McGuire, Ph.D. President, St. Charles Community College, MO

6. The Steps To Successful Implementation Of Tobacco-Free Campus Policy • Know why you want to adopt the policy (have a clearly written purpose statement). • Secure top level administrative support to PURSUE adoption of the policy (identify a champion). • Allow sufficient time to educate everyone about the policy (1 year minimum). • Appoint a community-wide advisory committee with influence. • Emphasize compliance rather than enforcement. • Establish reasonable expectations of compliance (no policy will have 100% compliance). • Connect the policy to broader institutional objectives such as enhancing respect for others, preparing graduates to enter increasingly tobacco-free work places and so on. • Create awareness of the movement to make public places tobacco-free (including public, private, two year and four year institutions). • Emphasize the importance of the institution’s role as a community/area leader. • Focus on social norming as opposed to telling adults what they can or cannot do. • Above all else treat people who disagree with the policy with respect and dignity.   Source: Ty Patterson  Vice President of Student Services and Director of the Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Campus Policy,                            Ozarks Technical Community College-February 2008.

7. Key Questions about making your campus completely tobacco-free. “Should the policy come from the students?” “How will the policy be enforced?” “How does one respond to the complaint that the policy tramples on the rights of tobacco-users?” “Does such a policy negatively impact enrollment?” “What do Tobacco-Free Institutions say about the policy?” “Wouldn’t designated smoking areas or perimeter restrictions work better than a completely Tobacco-Free campus policy?”

8. What Others Say “In preparing for our tobacco-free initiative at St. Charles Community College, we received invaluable information, leadership, and support from Ozarks Technical Community College. OTC lent their considerable experience and expertise to help us harmoniously plan and implement our policy. Through their examples of operational and communications processes, we learned how to engage our entire campus and introduce the new policy in a focused and logical manner. I am pleased to report that our policy has been well accepted and highly successful due in no small part to the leadership that OTC provided.” John M. McGuire, Ph.D. President, St. Charles Community College, MO

9. What Others Say (Continued) “The Workshop was an excellent opportunity to share best practices and successful strategies to engage and invest students, staff and faculty in the process of becoming a tobacco-free campus.” –Patti Wise Prevention Specialist University of Wisconsin Colleges, Wisconsin “We used OTC’s phase-in plan as a model for our own proposal and I believe that this was one of the key reasons our proposal was accepted by our governance groups, including the District’s Board of Trustees.” –Mary-Jo Lomax Health Educator DeAnza College, Cupertino, California “Thank you so much for your visit earlier this month. . .  It was so important for my VP to hear your voice of experience.  You gave a very effective presentation and the message was EXACTLY what he needed to hear.” -Elovia Peddle Director of Health and Wellness Cuyahoga Community College, Ohio

10. Reference Institutions • Stanly Community College (Albemarle, North Carolina) Tobacco-Free January 1, 2008. • North Arkansas College (Harrison, Arkansas) Tobacco-Free October 1, 2005. • Phelps County Regional Medical Center (Rolla, Missouri) Tobacco-Free November 17, 2005. • St. Charles Community College (St. Peters, Missouri) Tobacco-Free January 1, 2007.

11. 5th Annual Workshop Friday, April 11, 2008, the 5th Annual Tobacco-Free Campus Workshop will be held at Ozarks Technical Community College in Springfield, MO. The workshop is titled “Making Your Campus Tobacco-Free” and will be covering the steps necessary for implementing a successful tobacco-free policy. Keynote Speaker: Kimberlee Homer-Vagadori Kimberlee Homer-Vagadori coordinates college projects for the California Youth Advocacy Network. Her expertise is college tobacco policy and related statewide college advocacy projects. Featured Presenter: Andrew Epstein  Andrew Epstein works at the American Lung Association of Oregon as School Policy Coordinator, promoting tobacco-free campus policies at community colleges statewide. The Workshop fee is $80 and a late fee of $90 after March 21, 2008. The Workshop fee includes attendance, resource material, continental breakfast and lunch.

12. For Further Information Please Visit http://www.otc.edu/about/tobaccofree.php Phone Number 417-447-6951 E-mail patterst@otc.edu