California State University, Northridge faculty, staff, & student preference for tobacco control policies: Compliance and support for smoke-free school policies

Comprehensive tobacco control policies for US colleges and universities have been proposed by several groups in order to counter the rising use of tobacco by students enrolled in these institutions (Rigotti, 2003). In California, college campuses are successfully advocating for policies to decrease tobacco use and limit second hand smoke exposure. Current research shows that campus-wide restrictive smoking policies could discourage smoking onset or help facilitate cessation efforts among students. Many colleges and universities are reluctant to establish more restrictive policies for fear of student objections. The purpose of the present study was to: 1.) Examine faculty, staff and student support of various smoking policies, 2.) Faculty, staff and student attitudes towards current CSUN tobacco control policies, 3.) Faculty, staff and student preferences regarding future tobacco policies on campus. Hypothesis 1: Faculty, staff and student knowledge of health risks associated with first and second hand smoke effects level of policy support. Hypothesis 2: Faculty, staff and student attitude towards current CSUN tobacco policy will affect preferences towards future policy restrictions. Methods: A baseline, cross-sectional, explorative study was designed and entailed distributing surveys, consisting of 103 questions, to a random/selected group (N=580) comprised of faculty, staff, and students. Knowledge, attitudes, and preferences were measured by responses on the survey tool. Study results and future implications will be presented and discussed.