Predictors of support among students, faculty and staff for a smoke-free university campus

•Successful implementation of smoke-free campus policies is not well understood•72% of students and 77% of faculty/staff supported a smoke-free campus policy•Due to the smoke-free policy, smoking activity shifted to the campus periphery•Predictors of policy support included neversmoker status and exposure to campus SHS•Other predictors of support included perceived policy support and female gender

ObjectivesStudents, faculty, and staff at a Pacific Northwest public university were surveyed one year after enactment of a smoke-free campus policy. Objectives were to assess levels of support for a smoke-free campus, ascertain exposure levels to outdoor tobacco smoke, and identify correlates of policy support.MethodA 2013 Web-based survey included 5691 students (response rate 26%) and 2051 faculty/staff (response rate 43%). Measures included support for a smoke-free campus, smoking status, exposure to secondhand smoke, and perceptions of levels of policy support and campus smoking. Logistic regression was used to examine predictors of support.ResultsSeventy-two percent of students and 77% of faculty/staff supported a smoke-free campus. Respondents reported limited exposure to smoke near building entrances, but exposure near campus boundaries was reported by majorities of students (77%) and faculty/staff (55%). Predictors of students' policy support included never-smoker status, perceived support by peers, perceived student smoking prevalence, campus smoke exposure, and female gender, among others. Predictors of faculty/staff support included never-smoker status, perceived policy support by students and peers, campus smoke exposure, female gender, and age.ConclusionStudents, faculty, and staff were strongly supportive of the existing smoke-free campus policy. However, the policy led to smoking activity shifting to the campus periphery.