WVNCC to Become Tobacco Free

By action of its Board of Governors, West Virginia Northern Community College has been designated as a tobacco-free campus and becomes the first two-year institution of higher learning in the state and the first college in the region to do so.

College officials explained this means that all use of tobacco is prohibited on all college owned, leased or operated property, buildings and vehicles.

Dr. Martin J. Olshinsky, president of Northern, said the rule pertains to the Wheeling, Weirton and New Martinsville campuses. “The process used to arrive at the rule was a lengthy one. College staff and students were surveyed and the board was given detailed research about the issue,” he said.

Although the board approved the tobacco-free campus rule on April 26, the rule will not go into effect until Nov. 15, the date of the Great American Smoke Out this year. The rule will be phased in during the next few months and the college will provide educational and informational sessions to employees and students.

Additional information will be provided to staff, students and the public at a later date concerning specific strategies and support activities but Olshinsky pointed out college staffers already have begun planning material for targeted pages on the college website, www.wvncc.edu.

Organizers and those attending public events held on college property, according to the rule, will be required to abide by the tobacco-free campus rule.