Committee submits plan to make UNMC a smoke-free campus

A campus committee has submitted a proposed plan to make UNMC a completely smoke-free campus to Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance Don Leuenberger.

“UNMC will be a smoke-free campus,” Leuenberger said. “This committee has worked hard to create this plan and I look forward to reviewing their recommendations about the steps we need to take to go completely smoke free.”

The committee is a subgroup of the UNMC Wellness Council, which is headed by Kyle Meyer, Ph.D., associate dean of the School of Allied Health Professions.

“The committee put in a tremendous amount of work on this proposal,” Dr. Meyer said. “This is a thoughtful and comprehensive plan that will serve as a valuable resource as we move toward becoming a smoke-free campus.”

“UNMC will be a smoke-free campus. This committee has worked hard to create this plan and I look forward to reviewing their recommendations about the steps we need to take to go completely smoke free.” Don Leuenberger

Co-chairs Mohammad Siahpush, Ph.D., professor in the College of Public Health, and Jayme Nekuda, Ph.D., UNMC’s division director of benefits and worklife programs, lead the committee. The committee was composed of faculty, staff and students from each UNMC college and department. The committee also included some smokers and ex-smokers.

“We really appreciate the input of all the employees and students who helped us develop this plan,” Dr. Nekuda said. “It was truly a representative cross section of the campus community.”

Dr. Nekuda noted that the committee drew on some of UNMC’s own expertise in developing the plan, including that of Dr. Siahpush and Pam Jones, Ph.D.

Both Drs. Siahpush and Jones have done significant research into smoking cessation, which plays a large role in the proposed plan, Dr. Nekuda said.

“The campus going completely smoke-free presents a golden opportunity for tobacco users on campus who wish to kick the habit,” Dr. Nekuda said.

Employees who wish to quit using tobacco products before the campus goes completely smoke-free may want to use cessation products such as Chantix — a highly successful tobacco cessation drug and support program that is largely covered under UNMC’s benefits. Click here to see more information about Chantix.

With the exception of designated outside smoking areas, UNMC has been smoke-free for almost 20 years.

The smoke-free designation means smoking will not be allowed anywhere on campus, be it indoors or outdoors. When the transition is complete, UNMC will join many of the country’s other academic health science centers in going smoke-free

More information about UNMC becoming a smoke-free campus will be published in future editions of UNMC Today.