Drug Free Campus Committee — Oct. 29, 2020
Members Present
- Rosemary Coffman, Associate Dean, Student Affairs, Student Affairs
- Mike Spletter, Director, Student Activities, Student Activities
- Ashley Bliss, Peers Against Tobacco, LC Student
- Amber Carter, BACODA, Harris County Coalition
- Elizabeth Caballero, Be Well Baytown, MD Anderson
- Tiffany Winters, Be Well Baytown, MD Anderson
- Howard Bushart, Chair, Allied Health, Academics
- Zola Montana, Security, Lee College
- Tammy Holloway, Security Chief, Lee College
- Jack Conner, Security Asst Chief, Lee College
- Vanessa Ayala, BACODA, Harris County Coalition
- Nathan Lilly, Be Well Baytown, Lee College
This meeting was set to discuss the tobacco free policy and improved procedures for enforcement. The policy was reviewed and the following outlines the discussion and next steps.
An article was shared with the group that analyzed enforcement of different tobacco free policies and what is most effective. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6068603/. The research showed:
- Enforcement was shown to be useful in reducing tobacco or nicotine usage on campuses
- Confrontation and fines were among the most cited and useful strategies with enforcement
- In addition, education and awareness was shown to be very productive in enforcing and reducing usage
Policy — The college's tobacco free policy is part of our Alcohol and Other Drug Policy that is required by federal regulations (Drug Free Schools and Campuses Regulations). This statement was changed to specifically include tobacco in the title. The most recent version of the policy has been uploaded to the web and the committee will be given the word document to continue to work on changes and updates. The tobacco policy is part of recommended changes
- Add "nicotine" to the definition as well as Electronic Nicotine Device Systems (ENDS)
- Add section to include the harmful effects of nicotine/Tobacco products.
- Review section on enforcement — changes need to be made based on our discussion today which may include enforcement procedures (first notice, repeat notices)
- The group will be send the document to review and suggest other changes such as what resources to include on the final page.
Enforcement Issues
- Security reported that there have been no issues on campus since COVID. This is probably due to the low number of individuals on campus.
- We decided to have the following process for those who violate the policy for the first time:
- Security will approach the individual and remind them of the policy
- They will take their name and ID as part of their process.
- They will give them a "notice" as well as a pocket card with cessation resources. The word "citation" was determined to be too punitive.
- The individual will get a follow up email to emphasize the resources available for cessation.
- Repeat offenders are those who have received a notice and violates the policy for a second time. They will be subject to more punitive actions which may include mandatory education.
- Employees and staff will also be subject to the "notice" and repeat offender process.
- We need to determine who follows up with the student and/or employee. It was discussed that HR should not be involved with the process as it's seen as punitive.
Bystander assistance
- It was agreed that only security would be the ones to approach those out of compliance. This will be to help to assure we approach in a manner consistent with our goal and to better get data (student name, ID, etc)
- Individuals who witness a violation policy will not approach the person, but rather call security.
Next Meeting — We will meet again in 3-4 weeks. Wednesday afternoon was the preferred time
Respectfully Submitted,
Rosemary Coffman, PhD, CRC, LCDC
Dr. Rosemary Coffman, Associate Dean of Student Affairs