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EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University is taking more steps this week toward ending all smoking and tobacco use at the East Lansing school.
The 50,000-student school announced Feb. 3 that it was forming a task force to implement a "tobacco-free environment." At the time, the university said it expected a proposal to go to its Board of Trustees later in 2015 and said the new rules "likely would not go into effect for another year to give the community time to adjust."
The task force will hold three 40-minute information sessions this week, the university said. They are at 12:10 p.m. Wednesday at the MSU International Center, Spartan Room B; 5:15 p.m. Thursday at Brody Hall, Room 134; and 8 a.m. Friday at the communications Arts & Sciences building, Room 145.
"The rationale for this transition rests largely on a fundamental concern for the health of the entire campus community," June Pierce Youatt, university provost, said when she announced the initiative.
Youatt, the school's chief academic officer, said that university officials were acting on the basis of "decades of research" that "confirm the negative effects of smoking, smokeless tobacco, and environmental tobacco smoke."
"Moving toward implementation of a tobacco-free policy aligns with our efforts to create the healthiest academic and workplace environment possible at MSU," she said.
The 43-member task force includes administrators, faculty and staff members, union representatives and students.
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