February 4, 2008

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:

After careful consideration, I have decided to accept the recommendation of the Smoking Policy Review Team that the University of Iowa campus should become entirely smoke-free by July 1, 2009. A smoke-free campus will provide a healthier environment for employees, students, and other constituents. I believe, as well, that a smoke-free environment can play a significant role, along with other important support mechanisms, in helping smokers quit. Finally, I expect that this action will contribute to lower health care costs and increased employee productivity across the University.

I understand how difficult this change will be for employees and students who smoke. For that reason, I am accepting the Review Team's recommendation that full implementation of this policy be delayed until July 1, 2009. In the meantime, we will be taking steps to ensure that all employees and students have access to smoking cessation programs and services at no cost or at sharply discounted rates. I will be appointing a team to implement this policy, and the first task of that team will be to ensure that we are taking every step we can to help smokers quit.

I am grateful to the Smoking Policy Review Team and to the ad hoc committee that initially recommended a move to a smoke-free campus for their hard work on this issue. I am especially pleased that the Review Team consulted widely before making its recommendations and that its consultations included open-forum discussions of the issues, conversations with key stakeholder groups, and formal deliberations on this issue by Staff Council, Student Government, and the Faculty Senate. Though not everyone agrees with the Review Team's recommendations, it is clear to me that those recommendations were the product of a process that reflected the best traditions of shared governance at the University.

The Review Team's discussions with faculty, staff, and students revealed a number of issues that will need to be addressed as we move toward a smoke-free campus. I am confident that the implementation team will be able to resolve those issues to my satisfaction before full implementation of a smoke-free policy on July 1, 2009.

Sally Mason
President