“Our Health Sciences Center campus has been smoke free since January 2008,” said Provost Shirley Willihnganz. “Smoking harms both the smoker and those around the smoker. This is a public health matter. It’s time that all of the university is smoke free.”

There will be a grace period between Nov. 19 and June 1 on Belknap and Shelby campuses. Smokers will be allowed to smoke in designated areas until June 1.

During the grace period, Willihnganz said, the employee health management program Get Healthy Now and student Campus Health Services will work to connect students, faculty and staff who want to stop smoking with classes and smoking cessation products.

Enforcement of the smoke-free policy at the Health Sciences Center campus will take effect Nov. 19 because employees on that campus have had plenty of notice, Willihnganz said.

Sanctions could accompany refusal to comply with the policy, she said.

The provost cited three main reasons for instituting the policy:

  • Public health
  • Employee satisfaction – More UofL employees are complaining about walking through smoke to enter buildings
  • Inequity – HSC employees have pointed out the inequity of a smoking ban only on one campus

Willihnganz notified students, faculty and staff of the policy Sept. 3. in an e-mail. She said that more details about the smoke-free plan, including its effect on athletic facilities, will be communicated to the UofL family in the coming weeks.