EH&S Announces Designated Smoking Areas on Campus

Based on feedback from a 2018 survey of faculty and staff who smoke, the Healthy U Wellness student survey of 2016, and the recommendations of a faculty, staff and student committee, 13 of the 39 designated outdoor smoking areas on campus will be discontinued, effective Aug. 1. The remaining 26 designated outdoor smoking areas are identified by signage and can be found on the Environmental Health & Safety website.

The areas where smoking will no longer be permitted are:

• Cyert Hall;
• Wean Hall, 1^st floor entrance;
• Robert Mehrabian Collaborative Innovation Center;
• Wean Hall, north side on Roberts Drive;
• Newell-Simon Hall and Hamburg Hall;
• Hamburg Hall;
• Warner Hall;
• Tennis Courts;
• East Campus Parking Garage;
• Scaife and Roberts halls;
• Baker/Porter Hall, southern portion of the patio;
• Skibo Gymnasium; and
• Mushroom Park, west of the Cut.

In addition to using the survey results, which identified the frequency that locations were being used, the committee moved to eliminate smoking areas outside non-residential buildings, near doorways and building entrances, and near health and athletic facilities. The committee also took into account complaints received about specific locations and the proximity of several designated areas.

Signs will be posted at the 13 discontinued locations to notify smokers and to provide information about tobacco cessation resources that are available to members of the university community. GuidanceResources, CMU’s employee assistance program, provides free personal counseling and support to help quit smoking and stay tobacco-free. You can contact GuidanceResources at 844-744-1370 for confidential assistance.

Highmark, UPMC and Aetna health plans, and the CVS/Caremark prescription program also offer tobacco cessation programs for its members. Contact your health care provider for more information.

Carnegie Mellon’s Smoke-Less Campus Policy, approved in August 2017, prohibits smoking in all university buildings and facilities, and limits smoking to designated outdoor areas.