KALAMAZOO, MI – The days of being able to light up at Kalamazoo Valley Community College are coming to an end.
KVCC's Board of Trustees met March 11 at the Texas Township campus.
The community college's Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Tuesday evening to ban all tobacco and e-cigarette use on campus at the end of this year. The ban would include chewing tobacco, as well as cigarettes, pipes, cigars and other smoking products. As of Jan. 1, 2015, people will only be able to smoke in personal vehicles on campus.
The new policy mirrors that of Western Michigan University, which is going tobacco-free as of this September.
"I think what happened at Western really was a catalyst for our students," said Marilyn Schlack, president of KVCC, after the meeting.
As of January, more than 1,180 U.S. colleges and universities had gone smoke-free, with more than 800 of those banning all on-campus tobacco use, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation. In Michigan, nine community colleges have banned tobacco use outright, including Grand Rapids Community College, Lansing Community College, Jackson Community College, Muskegon Community College and Glen Oaks Community College. Another three community colleges, including Henry Ford, have adopted smoke-free policies.
KVCC's ban was first suggested by students, Schlack said. The president and executive committee of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society brought the suggestion to the administration earlier this semester. A committee of students, faculty and staff was formed to study the matter and recommended that KVCC ban all tobacco and e-cigarette use on campus.
"I feel very good about it. I think our students, faculty and staff are going to be in compliance," Schlack told the board.
Other changes to the smoking policy will be coming sooner. As of April 1, e-cigarettes will be included in the campus' current tobacco-use policy, which prohibits smoking within 50 feet of entrances at the Texas Township Campus, except for three designated areas. There is also a smoking hut outside at the Texas Township Campus. Smoking at the Arcadia Commons Campus is currently permitted only outside the east entrance. That motion also passed unanimously.
KVCC will be offering students, faculty and staff smoking-cessation support programs before going tobacco-free in January.
"We feel we need to give people time," Schlack said.
As at WMU, the smoking police will not be out in force on either campus to write tickets to people who are puffing away.
"If an officer is out there, we're not going to give them a ticket or arrest them, but we'll remind them we have a policy," Schlack said.
"This is about a person's health. We're investing in people," she said.