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GRCC BOARD GIVES NOD TO IMPLEMENTATION OF SMOKE-FREE
PLANS
November 20 Start Date Set
July 28, 2008 Grand Rapids, MI - Grand Rapids Community College moved one step closer to becoming a smoke-free campus tonight when its board gave the go-ahead to a plan that includes wellness and cessation education and incentives. The implementation plan would go into effect immediately; the target date for going smoke-free is November 20.
“This is an idea whose time has come,” said GRCC Board President Gary Schenk. “There are so many implications for our students and our employees – better health, better safety, better learning environment – and those are all directly aligned to our mission, so it’s a very logical step for this board.”
The idea of a smoke-free campus originated two years ago in GRCC’s Academic Governance Council, a representative body made up largely of faculty. Since then the college has surveyed students and employees, studied the efforts of other organizations, and consulted with Dr. Tom Peterson from Spectrum Hospital, known nationally for his expertise on why and how to effectively achieve a no-smoking environment.
“With the board’s support, and a college-wide committee in place, we are now ready to begin implementing our plan to be smoke-free by November 20,” said Cynthia Springer, vice president of Organizational Development and coordinator of the cross-college committee. “We want our timing to coincide with the American Cancer Society’s ‘Great American Smokeout’ day.”
Multiple communications methods, from posters to classes, will be used to educate people who work, study or visit the GRCC campus on the benefits of smoke-free surroundings. Also, the college intends to partner with other agencies who have health and cessation programs in place.
“Education is our business,” said Vice President for College Relations Patrick Cwayna, “and we want to share cessation tools, support and information with everyone on campus. We know that being smoke-free has a positive effect on wellness, on benefit costs, on maintenance expenses and on an individual’s pocketbook and that’s what we want to communicate.”
GRCC’s Wellness Team will seek the expertise of other health agencies in order to provide cessation classes and personal support on their campus. “We want to do everything we can to make our efforts to create a safe, healthy environment for everyone on our campus successful,” said GRCC Interim President Anne Mulder.
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