UMBC Wellness in the Workplace

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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 on February 28, 2013 10:34 AM