A Tobacco-Free Campus Ambassador Program and Policy Compliance

Abstract

Objective: Assess impact and feasibility of a Tobacco-Free Ambassador Program on campus policy compliance. Participants: Trained Ambassadors made 253 visits to campus sites over 15 months to observe and/or approach violators. Methods: Policy violators were observed at 23 locations during Wave 1 (April–June 2012) and/or Wave 2 (April–June 2013). For locations with at least 5 visits, average violators per visit were compared between the 2 waves using a paired t test. Attributes of violators were summarized. Cigarette butts were collected over 3-day periods in 4 campus hotspots during each wave. Personnel time and cost to implement the program were determined. Results: There were declines in observed violators per Ambassador visit and number of cigarette butts over time. Rate of violators per visit declined from 5.47 to 1.93, a 65% decrease. Personnel time was equal to 1.5 full-time equivalents annually. Conclusions: The Ambassador Program was a feasible and potentially effective strategy to increase policy compliance.

Keywords:

• college
• compliance
• policy
• tobacco control
• tobacco-free

FUNDING

The project described was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health [Grant Number UL1TR000117]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and did not require Institutional Review Board approval.

NOTE

For comments and further information, address correspondence to Melinda J. Ickes, PhD, Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion, University of Kentucky, 111 Seaton Building, Lexington, KY 40506-0219, USA (e-mail: [email protected]).