How Others Handled Enforcement of Smoke-Free Campuses

From: Ackerman, Judy (Vice President and Provost, Rockville Campus & Montgomery College)
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 11:12 PM
To: Shawntay Warren (American Lung Association DC chapter coordinator)
Subject: RE: DC Tobacco Free Campus Consortium

Hi Shawntay. Glad to hear that the consortium is continuing to discuss action steps. With regard to enforcement, we initially thought that all three campuses would use temporary, healthy campus advocates to walk around and inform the campus community about the policy and then to "write up" those who they saw smoking after the first couple of weeks of the semester. In reality, just the Rockville campus with a campus population of 16,000 used them. There was only one employee who they saw smoking and reported. Employee reports go to their supervisor who is expected to follow employee disciplinary protocols of meeting with the employee and giving an oral warning. If the behavior continues there is a written reprimand, suspection and even termination. After the dean spoke with this person and let the person know that discipline could lead to termination, the person said it wouldn't happen again. No one has seen the person smoking in the open. Students are reported to the dean of student development who follows the Student Code of Conduct for disciplinary problems. There is community service on the campus including clean-ups for the first infraction. More stringent consequences for subsequent violations. About 100 students were cited on our campus. You may want to speak with Dean Monica Brown or Associate Dean Helen Brewer for more specifics.

We are spending our time dealing with our neighbors on the other side of an open fence. Eight neighbors came to speak during comments at our Board of Trustee meeting last week. Most want a closed fence. We want a fence but have to work through some issues with the City of Rockville. We have been telling people that if they wish to smoke they need to go to sidewalks off campus, outside of the residential areas around the campus (2 sides of the campus).

Even as we deal with the students who go into the neighborhood to smoke and engage in disturbing behaviors, we hear from faculty, staff and students about those who have quit or cut back on their smoking. It's important to keep a vision of the goal. Someday this will be a non
issue for all of us when society catches up.

Judy E. Ackerman, Ph.D.
Vice President and Provost
Rockville Campus
Montgomery College
51 Mannakee Street
Rockville, MD 20850
240.567.5010
240.567.1741 FAX