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General Counsel drafts new smoke free policy

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EN Photo / Rachel Iacovone

With the implementation of the smoke and tobacco free initiative, FGCU is undergoing multiple changes. Cessation classes are being held to help students, faculty and staff who still smoke quit, and a new sitting area replaced the former designated smoking area in between Reed and Whitaker Hall. However, the changes occurring on campus aren’t just physical.
On Thursday, June 2, the Office of the General Counsel, the body that represents FGCU in legal matters, drafted a new university policy. Titled the Smoke Free and Tobacco Free Campus, the policy consists of three pages detailing the new rules FGCU students, faculty and staff will follow on campus.
“Florida Gulf Coast University has a vital interest in maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our university community,” the policy statement said.
This policy “provides guidance for the use of tobacco products and smoking devices on university premises” according to the Reason for Policy section. It applies to everyone on university grounds.
Cigarettes aren’t the only things that are banned. Electronic cigarettes, hookah pens and tobacco products are prohibited on campus according to the Definition of Terms section. The sale and advertisement of tobacco products is also prohibited. The only exception is sponsored research of tobacco products by students and faculty. Such research projects are required to gain approval from the Institutional Review Board and the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Students and employees who are found violating the policy are subject to different disciplines. Students found in violation will be subject to discipline under the Student Code of Conduct and Student Code Review Process regulation, and employees found in violation will be subject to discipline under the Disciplinary Action regulation.
“Visitors, contractors, non-students and non-employees on university premises who are in violation of the policy should be reminded of the policy and asked to comply by discarding the tobacco product,” the policy said under the last section of the Procedures section.
According to a campus-wide email from Tammy McCaslin, the university community will be given ten days to provide feedback to the counsel, who will then present said feedback to the President’s Cabinet for further review. After revisions have been made, the draft will be sent to president Wilson G. Bradshaw for final approval. Feedback can be emailed to [email protected].
 

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