Bay College to ban smoking
By Laura MeadESCANABA - As of Jan. 1, Bay College will be designated a smoke-free, tobacco-free campus, according to college officials. Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend a meeting today to provide feedback on the policy and its implementation.
Executive Dean of Student Services Matthew Soucy said the new policy follows several complaints that have been made about smoke wafting into the building, from students and faculty.
"We've been a smoke-free building for quite some time, but the policy has been to allow smoking 25 feet away. This new policy started with student complaints."
Soucy said students and employees were surveyed last year, and the majority desired a smoke-free campus.
"A small subcommitee was formed and went about starting the process of creating a policy," he said. "Where we're at now is the policy has been drafted, the board has read it once. They'll read it again at the December board meeting and make the final vote on it and on the wording of the policy."
In the draft, there is a Jan. 1, date to implement the new smoke-free policy.
Today, there will be an open meeting at 3 p.m. in rooms 952-958 of the University Center on the issue. Students, faculty and staff will be invited to provide feedback. Soucy said the feedback will be recorded and brought back to the board for consideration.
"We did also have a feedback forum at the beginning of the semester, just for employees, to give people the opportunity for feedback and to gauge the temperature," he added.
Soucy said he is very sympathetic to smokers on campus, and realizes it is an extremely difficult habit to break.
"I genuinely empathize with them...," he said. "I expect there to be some emotion behind the policy from that group, but the board has made it clear that it's important we have a healthy work place and this is one more step toward that."
Soucy said the implementation of this policy is a sign of the times, as many states implement laws against smoking in buildings and bars.
