Staben to appoint tobacco implementation committee in coming weeks
University of Idaho President Chuck Staben said he intends to create a tobacco implementation committee in the coming weeks to begin work on a revised tobacco policy for UI.
Currently, Staben is tasked with making the final decision on a Tobacco Task Force proposal that would ban all tobacco products from the UI campus. Staben has not yet approved or rejected the ban, nor has he appointed any specific individuals to the implementation committee.
Staben said an implementation committee would allow for a range of ideas to surface about a tobacco policy that best fit the university’s needs.
“We want to ensure the health and welfare of the students, faculty, staff and the public who visit our campuses without imposing upon people,” Staben said.
Staben said he intends to include interested students, faculty and staff on the committee. He also said he is interested in involving members of the Idaho Tobacco Compromise, another group proposing a different tobacco policy that would establish designated smoking areas on campus, rather than ban all tobacco products.
“(The committee) needs to encompass some range of viewpoints so that we ensure that all the people are well served by whatever policy we side upon and implement,” he said.
While Staben said he doesn’t favor one tobacco policy over another, he thinks the Tobacco Task Force’s proposed ban has more support from the UI population than the Idaho Tobacco Compromise’s proposed compromise policy.
“If we look, we’ve had surveys on campus, we’ve had other groups meeting like the ASUI that have endorsed a tobacco-free policy,” he said.
Emily Tuschhoff, a member of the Tobacco Task Force, said the task force intends to move forward with whatever decision Staben makes on UI’s tobacco policy.
“We’re not going to go out on a tangent,” Tuschhoff said. “I think the task force did what we could do. We presented this to President Staben, and now it sounds like he’s getting ready to make a decision … We’ll follow the route that we need to take.”
Erin Bamer can be reached at [email protected]