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The Nova Southeastern University tobacco-free campus policy is effective July 1, 2012. As a member of the NSU community, you may encounter someone smoking or using tobacco on NSU property. We strongly encourage all campus community members to view this as an opportunity to inform and educate the importance of respecting the campus environment as well as other faculty, staff and students.

In the event you encounter an employee, student, visitor, volunteer, contractor, or vendor using tobacco anywhere on NSU University property, following are the attitudes we desire to convey and the suggested language you might use if you decide to approach the person:

Attitude

Our goal is to respect the environment and our campus community members. We also want to protect the health of everyone while they are at Nova Southeastern University. It is important that individuals respect these goals and NSU policy. These communication guidelines provide language to inform and educate violators to stop using tobacco products on university property without provoking a confrontation or creating bad feelings. In every case, exhibit a caring, positive attitude.

Suggested Language

1. If the person using tobacco appears to be unaware of the university's ban, you might begin by saying something such as... "You may not be aware, but smoking and/or using tobacco is not permitted at Nova Southeastern University. It's part of our commitment to protect the health of everyone while they're here."
2. If the person does not respond by discontinuing his or her tobacco use, you might say
   something like... "We are a tobacco-free campus and it's important for the health of all of our students, faculty, staff, and visitors that you not use while you are here. Thank you very much."
3. If the person continues, you can pleasantly but firmly make one more try, saying
   something like... "The ban is in place for the well-being of everyone at NSU University. We would appreciate your cooperation. If you prefer to continue to use tobacco, you'll need to move to a location off our property where smoking is permitted. Thank you. "
4. If the person still refuses to abide by the tobacco-free policy, let the matter drop and report the encounter to NSU Public Safety
5. If the person becomes confrontational or abusive, please walk away. If you fear for your safety – call 954-262-8999.

Staff should feel free to use their own words to express the suggested language. These notes are provided simply as a guideline.