IUPUI Campus to Become Tobacco Free; New Policy Promotes Health, Reflects Campus’s Health/Life Sciences Emphasis

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis will be one of the first large urban universities to ban the use or sale of all tobacco products when the entire IUPUI campus goes “Tobacco Free” this fall.

Effective August 14, 2006, the use or sale of any tobacco product – cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, snuff – will be prohibited on IUPUI-owned, -operated or -leased property. The “Tobacco Free” policy will also ban the use and sale of tobacco products in university-owned, -leased or -operated vehicles.

The new policy, which has the support of student leadership, along with that of the staff and faculty councils, is designed to promote good health and is in keeping with the campus’s role as the state’s urban health and life sciences campus, administrators say.

“As a national leader in life sciences, IUPUI has a responsibility to create a healthy environment for visitors, students, staff, and faculty. As a national leader in health sciences education, IUPUI has a responsibility to educate our community on the importance of healthy behavior,” said IUPUI Chancellor Charles R. Bantz.

The new policy will be one of the most important university policies to be implemented in that it addresses the serious and adverse health effects of secondhand smoke, said Dr. Stephen Jay, chair of the Department of Public Health in the IU School of Medicine, which is on the IUPUI campus.

Secondhand smoke kills 250 adult non-smokers in Marion County each year, according to a study sponsored by the Marion County Health Department.

“IUPUI will be among a small group of institutions of higher education in the U.S. to take their campuses tobacco free, and as a university with one of the major academic health campuses in the United States, IUPUI will be a viewed as a national leader,” Jay said.

About 25 U.S. colleges and universities have smoke-free campuses, according to Dr. Jay.

The campus will conduct an extensive education and awareness program designed to achieve high levels of compliance with the new policy. This effort will include distribution of copies of the new policy, along with information about available resources for those who want to stop smoking.

Information on the new tobacco policy and smoking cessation helps are also available online at http://tobaccofree.iupui.edu.

An auxiliary enterprise, which at this time refers only to University Place Conference Center and Hotel, can be exempted from the tobacco-free policy with the chancellor’s approval.

Violations of the tobacco policy will be handled in the same manner as all other policy infractions, with incidents referred to the appropriate governing body, said IUPUI Vice Chancellor for Student Life and Diversity and Dean of Students Karen Whitney.

The new policy reads:

Effective August 14, 2006:

Tobacco use or sale, including, but not limited to smoking, is prohibited on university-owned, -operated, -or leased property.

Exceptions may be granted for specific auxiliary enterprises, as approved by the chancellor.

Tobacco use, including, but not limited to smoking, is not permitted in university-owned, -leased, or -operated vehicles.

Enforcement of this policy will depend upon the cooperation of all faculty, staff, and students not only to comply with this policy, but also to encourage others to comply with the policy, in order to promote a healthy environment in which to work, study, and live.

Violations of this policy should be referred to the appropriate administrative office for review and appropriate administrative action: for faculty, the Office of Academic Policies, Procedures and Documentation; for staff, Human Resources Administration; or for students, the Office of The Dean of Students.