In 1997 I was asked by the college president to look into making our campus tobacco-free. This began a journey which culminated in Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC) becoming tobacco-free in 2003.

OTC was established by voters in 1990 and opened for our first semester in August, 1991 with an enrollment of 1190 credit students in rented facilities in Springfield Missouri. We have grown to 10,350 students and more than 1000 employees on campuses in Springfield, Christian County, and Education Centers in Lebanon and Branson Missouri. We are accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Universities. We are a commuter institution with no athletic programs. Our Main Campus in Springfield is located in center city on 47 acres surrounded by neighborhoods and businesses. The Richwood Valley Campus, opened in January is located on 88 acres between Ozark and Nixa in the fastest growing county in this part of the state.

The average age of our students is 23. They carry on average 9 hours per term in approximately 30 Technical, Allied Health and General Education programs. Roughly 60% are in General Education (AA degree)and 40% are in Technical or Allied Health (AAS degree) programs. Around 20% of our students take evening courses. We also have a Continuing Education (Non-Credit) program which serves 5,000 plus a year. We also have approximately 600 area high school students who attend our Vocational-Technical programs annually.

How to Proceed?

In 1997 when President Norman Myers directed me to “get the tobacco litter off the campus,” I had no idea how to proceed. The factors that determined our course of action were as follows (no order of importance):

• We were a commuter institution;
• There were no other colleges I could find that had implemented a completely tobacco-free policy;
• We were very young (6 years old);
• We were beginning a building phase;
• We had underage students attending Vo-Tech classes on our campus regularly;
• We had very few visitors to our campus for such things as performances, athletic events etc.;
• We were spectacularly unsuccessful when we tried to get smokers to use designated areas;
• Our president was extremely supportive;
• Missouri has the third highest per capita use of tobacco in the country; and
• Frankly we didn’t know any better.

The official process began when the president recommended the Board of Trustees (six local residents elected to two year terms each) adopt a policy in December 1999 to make the campus tobacco-free EFFECTIVE August, 2003. In my consultation with those interested in pursuing tobacco-free policy I sight this decision by the Board to allow more than three years for implementation as the single most important factor in our success. There was no hard scientific evidence of the deleterious effects of second hand smoke (SHS) in 1999. And, the time allowed us the opportunity to educate our employees and explain the reasons for the policy.

Airing Concerns

In 2000 President Myers appointed a Task Force representing all areas of the college and asked me to be the Chairperson. My mantra became “Tobacco-Free in ‘03”. But for the most part this group were in opposition and spent most of the time ventilating their frustration. They complained and I listened. It became apparent the strongest opposition was based on problems of enforcement. Some argued the policy exemplified political correctness gone mad, others that it was simply unfair to smokers. And some just thought it was over reaching to ban smoking outside in open space. To a lot of people it seemed counter intuitive. Let me add our college had always been smoke free inside its buildings.

After roughly ten months the Task Force had fulfilled its purpose to be a venue for discussion. Dr. Myers thanked everyone on the Task Force for their help and then appointed an Implementation Committee, chaired by me. This group was given the responsibility to develop a plan to implement the policy by August 2003.

Building Support

The Implementation Committee was comprised of employees who had not served on the Task Force. For the next couple of years the committee met every two months or so to move the process forward. The major accomplishment of the group was to move from arguing against, to building support for the plan. One of the two most important developments was the clarification of the reasons for the policy as follows: create a campus environment free of exposure to tobacco smoke and refuse; stop giving tacit approval of tobacco use by those underage; improve the beauty of the campus; prepare students for the growing trend toward tobacco-free workplaces; and to be a leader in public health policy for our service area.

The other was to address the issue of enforcement. The strategy we used was to take enforcement out of the equation by emphasizing education and compliance. Indeed, for the first fourteen months there was no penalty for non-compliance with the policy. We simply made people aware of the policy, asked for their compliance and reated them with respect. Since we established a penalty for violation in October 2004 we have had a total of 51 citations (50 paid the $15 fine and one chose the alternative of two hours cleaning up the campus). We decided to not enforce the policy in people’s enclosed vehicles on our parking lots.

Campus-Wide Success

Our experience with the tobacco-free policy has been wonderful. We have very little non-compliance and that occurs at the perimeter of the campus and out of the entrances/exits on even the most inclement days. We find the policy has helped in our efforts to promote a greater emphasis on respect for others. Visitors and vendors are made aware of the policy and asked to comply. Neat and simple signage at building entrances, banners from light stanchions in parking lots, job interviews, student orientations, student handbook, college catalog, table tents at large public gatherings inform that we are a tobacco-free institution. A tobacco Resource room is located outside Student Services on the Main Campus and provides literature and information about the policy. The fact we are a tobacco-free campus is explained and other information is provided on our Website at http://www.otc.edu/about/tobaccofree.php.

Sharing the Idea

In 2004 our Tobacco-Free Advisory Committee, comprised of leaders from health care, education, civic, and the business community; recommended we establish a Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Campus Policy. We began hosting an Annual Tobacco-Free Campus Workshop, the fifth of which will be hosted on our campus in Springfield on April 11. This workshop has assisted college and university staff in their efforts to make their campus tobacco-free. In addition I visit campuses to provide technical assistance and consultation. Thus far we have assisted institutions in Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Wisconsin. This has been done without any grant funds.

When we began the journey to become completely tobacco-free in 1997 we did not have a model to follow, there was no Surgeon General’s Report citing evidence of the negative effect of even miniscule exposure to SHS, businesses had not started adopting tobacco-free policies, and there was no discernable movement to treat others with respect on college campuses.

As we proceeded to work through the issues it became clear there were some significant unintended benefits. I have never seen a college policy stimulate as much critical thinking as this has. And, this policy treats all who are involved on the campus the same. This equality of effect is important in that many policies fall on students and employees differently. If you want to create an environment of mutuality this policy, developed thoughtfully, and implemented with abiding respect for all will help. As we tell everyone, this policy is not intended to get people to quit their dependency on tobacco. It is to assure everyone that there will be no exposure to SHS on your campus. And, if even one person conquers their dependency on tobacco; that is an added benefit!

 

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About the Author

Ty Patterson
Vice President of Student Services, and
Director of The Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Campus Policy
Ozarks Technical Community College
Springfield, Missouri

Ty Patterson has served five higher education institutions in Kansas and Missouri as a student services administrator for thirty seven years. For all but seven he has been the chief student services officer in his institution. He has held positions of responsibility in the American College Personnel Association and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators at the state, regional and national level. In 2006 he was honored with the Richard Capel Award by the Missouri College Personnel Association for Outstanding Contribution to the Student Affairs Profession. Mr. Patterson is a Viet Nam Veteran. He is married and has three children.

Mr. Patterson can be reached at patterst@otc.edu.