Albany – The State University of New York
Board of Trustees today adopted a policy that will ban smoking in all residence
halls, effective July
1, 2007. The policy
will affect the remaining nine percent of SUNY residence hall beds where
smoking is currently permitted.
SUNY first
discussed this new policy at the June 27, 2006 meeting of the SUNY Board of Trustees, when Chancellor Ryan
directed SUNY's Office of Student Life to develop an implementation plan
that would make all residence halls on SUNY campuses smoke-free by the
start of the Fall 2007 semester.
SUNY
Chancellor John R. Ryan said, “SUNY currently has approximately 72,000 beds in
residence halls and smoking is already prohibited in nearly all, or 91 percent,
of them. Although we are talking about a small percentage of beds that remain,
this policy takes a number of additional measures to ensure that our students,
both current and incoming, are educated on the dangers of smoking and
secondhand smoke, and also protects the health of SUNY employees who work
within these facilities. I am pleased that the Board of Trustees continues to
put the health and safety of our students first.”
Prior to
adoption by the Board of Trustees, the resolution was reviewed by the Student
Assembly as well as the Student Life Committee of the Board of Trustees. It has
the full support of both entities.
Student
Trustee Alyssa Amyotte, who is president of the Student Assembly and co-chair
of the Student Life Committee, said, “This policy will go a long way to enhance
the overall health and education of SUNY students. I am especially pleased that
the Student Assembly had the opportunity to be involved in its development and
will continue to be involved at the campus level during its
implementation."
“This is a
bold and historic move by Chancellor Ryan and the Trustees,” said Donald Distasio,
Chief Executive Officer of the American Cancer Society’s Eastern Division,
"and I applaud them for acting so responsibly. Secondhand smoke is
toxic and has no place in student living areas. There is no reason for any
college to permit smoking in dormitories and I urge all schools in New York to follow SUNY's lead and adopt
this life saving policy."
Many of SUNY’s
campuses already have policies prohibiting smoking in their residence halls.
The policy adopted by the Board today establishes a uniform minimum set of
requirements applicable to the residential buildings of SUNY’s State-operated
institutions.
The policy
clarifies that smoking is prohibited in all residence halls and apartment
buildings owned or operated by SUNY, and in campus vehicles. Campuses are also directed
to establish an appropriate minimum distance from residence halls and apartment
buildings, particularly entrances to such buildings, within which smoking is
prohibited to avoid the exposure of building residents to smoke. This distance
will be determined by campus presidents in consultation with campus
constituents, including students.
In
addition, the policy directs campus presidents to review their current
awareness education methods regarding the dangers of secondhand smoke and their
smoking cessation efforts, in coordination with the campus student government.
The State
University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 418,000
students in 7,669 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses.
