Sixteen people have registered the second tobacco cessation support session for faculty, a program that has been very successful so far, its director said.

A lot of the people that are still attending the first session have already quit smoking, said Cynthia Cary, director of smoking cessation at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University. And we still have two weeks left.

The second group will begin meeting on March 2. The group will meet every week and the constructors will help the participants get through the process of quitting tobacco smoking. On Jan. 26, Syracuse University began offering a free six-week cessation support group program for faculty and staff, and one for students began on Feb. 17.

Cynthia Cary, director of smoking cessation at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, runs the program and is in charge of the sessions. She said she anticipates additional enrollment in the program as the implementation date for a tobacco-free campus gets closer.

She said that the content of the classes will remain the same for the second session, but the discussions might change in order to tailor it to the needs of the participants.

Angelica Rodriguez, a sophomore broadcast and digital journalism and international relations dual major, said she thinks the program is a good method, but only for people who are committed to quitting smoking.

Programs like this are usually helpful for people who are willing to completely change their lifestyles, Rodriguez said. But for those who aren’t, I think the university should find different mechanisms that motivate students to stop smoking.

On Nov. 11, 2014, SU announced that it will become a smoke-free campus in an effort to promote public health. Some people did not react positively, but others thought it was a great idea.

Angela Herrera, a junior entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major, said that she thinks this new trend going around aiming to limit tobacco smoking is great, considering how many people on campus smoke cigarettes.

At first it started with the new smoke-free campus policy, then CVS stopped selling cigarettes and now this support group, she said. I think it will help people get used to the new policy and get them thinking more cautiously about their health.

A third faculty session will take place on May 26, and Cary said she sees the program continuing on in the future.

Published on February 24, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Zeena: zssaifi@syr.edu