Missouri Western State University has approved a new policy that will ban the use of all tobacco products on campus. The target date for implementation of the new policy is July 1, 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cMissouri Western wants to maintain a safe and healthy environment for its students, employees and visitors,\u201d said Sally Sanders, director of human resources. \u201cTobacco use is not compatible with that goal. Research is clear that smoking, breathing secondhand smoke and the use of smokeless tobacco result in a significant health hazard. Missouri Western is pleased to be a community leader in the effort to provide a healthy, tobacco-free environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Missouri Western\u2019s Board of Governors approved a resolution supporting a tobacco-free campus at its April meeting. Since then, the department of human resources and the university\u2019s Wellness Committee have worked to draft the policy and win the support of the Student Government Association, the Faculty Senate and the Staff Senate. The proposal was recommended by Missouri Western\u2019s Governance Advisory Council on Oct. 16 and signed by Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western\u2019s president, on Oct. 23.<\/p>\n
The policy prohibits \u201csmoking, the use of smokeless tobacco products and nicotine delivery devices in facilities, grounds and property owned, leased, or controlled by the university.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Vartabedian will appoint a Tobacco Policy Task Committee, made up of faculty, staff, students and administrators, to oversee the implementation of the policy. The committee will be asked to develop and promote informational resources, coordinate appropriate signage, oversee the removal of smoking receptacles and take other steps necessary to implement the policy as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appreciate the cooperation of all faculty, staff and students as we take this step toward providing a healthier working, learning and living environment,\u201d said Dr. Christopher Bond, assistant professor of communication studies, chair of the tobacco policy subcommittee of the Wellness Committee member and past chairman of Clean Air St. Joe. \u201cWe plan to continue to offer tobacco cessation resources to employees and students as grant funds are available and encourage the campus community to take advantage of those opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Missouri Western State University has approved a new policy that will ban the use of all tobacco products on campus. The target date for implementation of the new policy is July 1, 2013. \u201cMissouri Western wants to maintain a safe and healthy environment for its students, employees and visitors,\u201d said Sally Sanders, director of human […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48],"tags":[419,440,684,749,783],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8495,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679\/revisions\/8495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}