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Wellness News : February 2013

University System of Maryland Smoke-Free Campus Policy

The USM Board of Regents has adopted a policy requiring all USM institutions, including UMBC, to provide a healthy, smoke-free environment for all faculty, staff, students, contractors, and visitors by July 1, 2013.

The new USM policy reflects a national movement to provide healthy, smoke-free environments on college campuses. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently launched the Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative, advocating for smoke-free policies at colleges and universities nationwide. More than 800 colleges in the United States, including Towson University in the USM, are already smoke-free.

While the new smoke-free USM policy applies systemwide, each campus has been asked to develop an implementation plan best suited to its particular community. Accordingly, UMBC has created the Smoke-Free Campus Task Force with representatives from UMBC’s shared governance organizations, including students, faculty, and staff members.

The task force will host a number of meetings and public forums for members of the UMBC community to share suggestions and ask questions about the implementation process. You may also email suggestions to smokefree@umbc.edu.

Please visit the website: smokefree.umbc.edu for the USM policy, list of Task Force Members, information about meetings and public forums, and links to resources.

We greatly value your input on implementing the smoke-free USM policy. Please continue to check the website as we move forward in the implementation process. Thank you for your support and assistance.

Posted by Jill Wardell on February 28, 2013 10:34 AM | Permalink