At the beginning of the effort, it is critical to gather data to assess the campus community. That helps you to understand the campus community’s views about tobacco use and what their opposition to going tobacco-free might be. The most common mistake I’ve seen made is assumptions about the campus culture without good evidence.
There will be those who don’t believe that tobacco use is an issue on their campus. The assessment results will give you valuable insights–and often show that a majority of people support a policy change. The assessment findings will help you educate the community by revealing facts, such as which tobacco products are most commonly used on campus.