By Kenny Sokan, News Correspondent
After months of deliberation, a 10-person committee comprised of students, faculty and staff has determined that this fall Northeastern will join more than 1,000 schools across the nation in instituting a smoke-free campus policy.
This decision fits with the university’s commitment to promoting a healthy and safe environment, said Terry Fulmer, dean of the Bouvé College of Health Sciences and co-chair of the committee.
According to Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, a national lobbying organization based in California, as of April 5 at least 1,159 college or university campuses in the US have adopted 100 percent smoke-free campus policies that eliminate smoking in indoor and outdoor areas across the entire campus, including residences. In the Boston area, Harvard Medical School, Boston University Medical Campus, Tufts University’s Boston campus and Wentworth Institute of Technology are among the few schools with 100 percent smoke free campuses.
“This policy reflects the tremendous commitment Northeastern already has to the quality of life and a healthy community,” said Fulmer. “We look forward to updating the campus community in the coming months and working with students, faculty and staff as we join the more than 1,100 colleges and universities across the nation—and among the first in the Boston area – that have taken this important step to promote the health of university campuses.”
In December, the university created the smoke-free campus initiative committee to look into a campus-wide smoke-free policy. The committee sought input on the topic from the Northeastern community by hosting forums, conducting surveys, creating a dedicated website for members of the community to post comments and sending out emails to the more than 1,000 schools across the nation with similar policies already implemented for feedback. The committee gave its official recommendation to the senior leadership team early this month.
Northeastern currently has a smoke-free policy in place which prohibits smoking in any university owned buildings or within 15 feet of a building, Fulmer said. This new campus-wide policy will extend to all property owned by the university, excluding public sidewalks such as Huntington Avenue, said junior health science major Nicole Bourque, committee member and president of the Health Disparities Student Collaborative.
To help those who want to quit smoking, the university launched a student smoking cessation program called “Ready to Quit!” in February. “Ready to Quit!” uses nicotine replacement with gum, lozenges and patches, combined with encouraging check-ins via phone, email or text and weekly face to face meetings to help students quit smoking, said Lucy Warsh, associate director of communications at Northeastern. The program was developed based on research showing what techniques are most successful aiding college-age students stop smoking and remain smoke-free.
“Research shows that frequent check-ins and timely ‘reminders’ via text or email work best to keep people motivated by reminding them the benefits of remaining smoke free and why they chose to quit in the first place,” Warsh said.
Counseling, nicotine replacement therapy and cessation resources are also available to benefits-eligible faculty and staff through the Employee Assistance Program and Blue Cross Blue Shield healthcare plans.
To enforce the new policy, the committee currently has in mind an honor code system.
“It will involve everyday leadership – where people make observations to help us with the public health approach to this, which is how you do reduce harm and how do you engage people in healthy behavior. I think of it as community support,” Fulmer said.
Summer Nagy, a committee member representing the Student Government Association, said stringent enforcement of the policy would not be the university’s aim from the outset.
“We decided that this policy would be best accepted if it became a cultural change in the Northeastern community rather than something that needs to be enforced,” Nagy said. “However, if people repeatedly are smoking on campus they will be referred to OSCCR [Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution] and it will be treated as any other campus policy violation.”
The university acknowledges the right an individual has to smoke, but it also recognizes that there are those who also choose not to smoke and are subjected to inhaling secondhand smoke, Bourque said.
“This policy shows the initiative our school has to be one of the first schools in the Boston area to go completely smoke-free,” Bourque said. “It shows how passionate we are to make sure we are making changes that our best for our community and our students.”
Over the next few months, the university’s senior leadership team will develop a comprehensive implementation plan for the policy. The policy is set to go into effect Aug. 13.
“I think it is a nice step for our community,” Fulmer said. “I really support and congratulate the president and the leadership team for helping us move this along.”
