Miami Dade College (MDC) invites students, faculty, staff and guests to live, learn and breathe as it institutes a recently announced new policy that all college facilities are now tobacco and smoke free.
“It is a matter of improving our college community’s health,” said Dr. Eduardo J. Padrón, president of MDC. “We are committed to providing a healthy environment and to supporting our students’ and staff’s health, and this is good step in the right direction.”
Adopting a tobacco and smoke-free policy aligns with MDC’s growing commitment to environmental sustainability and health. In fact, one of the college’s core values is its commitment to sustainability practices that distinguish the college as a leading innovator in educating students as contributors to a healthy planet, and as an institution that accepts its responsibility to preserve the natural environment.
The policy further supports the college’s commitment to providing an exceptional work environment that makes MDC the “employer of choice” for an exemplary, diverse workforce that is engaged in and accountable for the quality of the college’s learning environment, and that benefits from excellent support, state-of-the-art technologies, growth opportunities and a competitive compensation program. In fact, MDC is a multiple winner of the Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Great Colleges to Work for” recognition.
MDC’s move toward becoming tobacco and smoke-free follows a national trend. The college is the third higher education institution in the state of Florida and one of more than 380 campuses across the nation to adopt the policy. To spread the message, a public awareness campaign has been launched that explains the new policy and shares information on quitting and getting help. What’s especially newsworthy about MDC’s announcement is that it applies to the nation’s largest institution of higher education.
The ban applies to all college property, including buildings, parking garages and lots, plazas and courtyards, among others. It also applies to all college visitors and contractors. The full policy can been viewed online at www.mdc.edu/smokefree/.
