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02.330 Tobacco Policy

The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) has a responsibility to its employees and students to provide a safe and healthful environment. Research findings show that tobacco use in general, including smoking and breathing secondhand smoke, constitutes a significant health hazard. In addition to causing direct health hazards, smoking contributes to institutional costs in other ways, including fire damage, cleaning and maintenance costs, and costs associated with employee absenteeism, health care, and medical insurance.

Authority:

Chancellor

History

Updated August 20, 2013; Updated August 5, 2010; Effective June 1, 2008; Established May 7, 2008,  supersedes former Smoking Policy

Source of Authority:

N.C.G.S. §143-596 to 143-597

Related Links:

Responsible Office:

CROSSROADS Substance Abuse Prevention & Education Programs/Human Resources/Provost's Office

Policy Details:

  1. Purpose

    The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) has a responsibility to its employees and students to provide a safe and healthful environment. Research findings show that tobacco use in general, including smoking and breathing secondhand smoke, constitute a significant health hazard. In addition to causing direct health hazards, smoking contributes to institutional costs in other ways, including fire damage, cleaning and maintenance costs, and costs associated with employee absenteeism, health care, and medical insurance.

  2. Scope

    The Smoking and Tobacco Product Use policy applies to all students, university employees, and visitors and guests of the university. For the purposes of this policy, tobacco products are defined as all tobacco-derived or containing products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes (clove, bidis, kreteks), electronic cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos, hookah smoked products, and oral tobacco (spit and spitless, smokeless, chew, snuff). This definition does not include any product that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sale as a medicinal product. Smoking is defined as burning any type of tobacco product including, but not limited to, cigarettes, electronic and/or vaporized cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, pipes and bidis.

  3. Policy

    1. Tobacco product use and smoking are prohibited in all UNCW buildings.

    2. Smoking prohibited up to 25 feet outside the entrance to any campus building (measured as 25 feet from the end of each formal entrance structure) and 25 feet from air handlers. Special consideration will be given to those buildings where compliance with a 25 feet perimeter poses a danger to the individual.

    3. Smoking and tobacco product use are prohibited in all UNCW vehicles.

    4. The sale of tobacco products on campus is prohibited.

    5. The free distribution of tobacco products on campus is prohibited.

    6. Registered student organizations are prohibited from accepting event sponsorship from tobacco brand companies and from promoting tobacco products.

  4. Implementation and Enforcement

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

    2. Repeated or intentional non-compliance with these provisions will be managed in accordance with Student Affairs guidelines for all students and disciplinary guidelines for staff and faculty. When necessary, the university will institute discipline against the offending individual, which may result in a range of sanctions, including but not limited to the following: for students - warning, disciplinary probation, or suspension; and for employees - warning, suspension without pay, or dismissal.

    3. All non-smoking areas shall be clearly marked with appropriate signage and other physical indicators, especially related to the 25 foot perimeter policy. Any smoking waste management products should be placed outside of the 25 foot perimeter.

    4. Housing and Residential Life is responsible for enforcing and implementing sanctions in campus and student residences, per item #33 in the Code of Student Life, Residence Life publication, “A Guide to On-Campus Living,”

    5. Visitors or guests using tobacco products or smoking in areas covered by this policy will be asked to refrain from such use within 25 feet from the buildings or leave the premises. University law enforcement officers may be contacted to escort the person off the premises or cite the person for trespassing if the person refuses to leave the property.

  5. Smoking Cessation Services

    1. Smoking and tobacco product cessation services for students will be provided by UNCW’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Education Program, in partnership with Health Promotion Services and the Abrons Student Health Center.

    2. Information regarding smoking and tobacco product cessation services and education for employees is available through Human Resources and/or the State Health Plan.

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