PULLMAN, Wash. – Smoking and other nicotine use will no longer be permitted within the perimeter of Washington State University’s Pullman campus as a result of action taken by the WSU Board of Regents this morning.
The regents approved adoption of WAC chapter 504-38, establishing the Pullman campus as tobacco and nicotine free and requiring that those products be secured, extinguished and/or disposed of prior to entering WSU Pullman property or exiting private vehicles on the Pullman campus. The change will go into effect the fall of 2016.
“Despite some objections, students, faculty and staff, when given the opportunity to give feedback, all expressed overwhelming support for this policy,” said student Regent Jansen VanderMeulen.
WSU undergraduates initiated the policy change in the spring of 2014, and following a public forum on the issue, passed a referendum supporting a tobacco-free campus. At the time, smoking was prohibited in public places and workplaces and required that smoking occur 25 feet from entrances, exits, windows, and air intakes.
After the referendum passed, then President Elson S. Floyd formed a WSU Tobacco Free Advisory Task Force to research how many other universities nationwide are tobacco-free and to gather feedback from WSU graduate/professional students and employees to supplement the feedback from undergraduates.
The group determined that there are more than 1,500 smoke-free campuses in the United States, and more than 1,000 of those were tobacco-free. WSU’s Spokane campus became tobacco free in May 2012, and WSU Vancouver became a tobacco free campus in December 2013. WSU Tri-Cities is not presently tobacco free, but is in discussion with its students, faculty and staff about becoming one.
In addition, the task force surveyed graduate/professional students and employees, held a public forum, and conducted a formal public hearing.
In other business, the board approved:
- The schematic design documents for the WSU Pullman Digital Classroom Building project. The approximately 80,000-square-foot facility will provide an array of classroom sizes and settings to accommodate small groups as well as large theater seating possibilities. The Board of Regents approved the design and construction for the project within the budgeted amount of $60 million at its September meeting.
- The schematic design for the WSU Pullman Public Safety Building project. The new 15,000-square-foot building will include a 2,500-square-foot garage for the police vehicles. The building will include offices, evidence rooms and weapons storage, locker rooms, records storage, a small kitchen and a conference room for training sessions. The Board of Regents approved the design and construction for the project within the budgeted amount of $7.5 million in its September meeting.
- The schematic design documents for the WSU Pullman, Food Quality Building East Side Addition project. The planned addition to the east side of the Food Quality Building will expand the existing processing facility with a 4,000-square-foot, two-story addition, to include a whey processing area, a training room, offices, and a milk receiving bay large enough for deliveries from 6,000 gallon tanker trucks. The Board of Regents approved the design and construction for the project within the budgeted amount of $4 million at its September meeting.
- The schematic design documents for the WSU Pullman Soccer Field Improvements – Phase 2. The Board of Regents approved the design and construction for the project within the budgeted amount of $1.6 million at the May 8, 2015 meeting.
- The schematic design for the Troy Hall Renovation project, authorize the project to proceed to construction, and further delegate authority to the President or his designee to enter into any and all contracts necessary to complete the project within the budgeted amount of $32.3 million. The 2013-2015 Legislature appropriated approximately $2 million for the design and pre-construction. The 2015-2017 Legislature appropriated $30.28 million for construction. The university plans to proceed into construction with shelling one of the four floors, for future interior finish work.
- Authorized the WSU Pullman Global Animal Health Phase 2 project to proceed to design and pre-construction, with costs not to exceed the budgeted amount of $1.9 million. The Global Animal Health Facility Phase 2 will house the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health disease detection and surveillance program. This program, which is integral to the mission of the Allen School, is delivered primarily through the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory WADDL is at the front line of the nation’s defense against foreign diseases, zoonotic diseases, and food-borne illness, and is known regionally and nationally for its work to combat pandemic flu, avian influenza, West Nile Virus, Mad Cow Disease and Foot and Mouth Disease. The facility will also house research and development laboratories and serve as a teaching laboratory for educating veterinary (DVM) students, post-DVM and other health professionals, graduate, and undergraduate students.
Media contact:
Kathy Barnard, University Communications, 509-335-8055, kbarnard@wsu.edu