A Review of American College Campus Tobacco or Smoke free Policies: A Case Study of a Large Urban University

Objective: A year after a tobacco free policy was passed, the University of South Florida (USF) was interested in the overall policy opinions and efficacy. To assess this a project was completed that included a survey and geospatial data. The survey measured tobacco policy enforcement behavior and a geographic information system (GIS) mapped tobacco policy violation. This project introduces an evaluation process that can efficiently assess an institutions tobacco-free policy. Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey sent to students, faculty, and staff, understanding of policy and resources, tobacco use observations, stage of change regarding policy enforcement, self-efficacy to enforce, and perceived policy impact on campus tobacco use (n = 5242) was evaluated. Additionally, using a GIS phone application volunteers gathered geospatial data on tobacco use seen on campus after policy enactment. Results: There was modest understanding of the current policy and low beliefs regarding policy enforcement. Most respondents answered that they do not approach violators to remind them of the policy and did not plan to do so in the future. There were statistically significant variations between smokers and non-smokers as well as between students and faculty and staff. The final map of witnessed tobacco use uncovered continued use on campus with 158 data points. Conclusions: Together, the violations map and survey results, illustrate the ineffectiveness of the current tobacco-free policy. The rise in tobacco-free policy enactment calls for inventive evaluation practices so institutions can efficiently assess their implementation. This ensures tobacco-free policies can achieve reduced tobacco use and exposure