Smokers will receive up to $250 in fines if they smoke within 15 feet of building entrances, walkways, operable windows and areas near ventilation systems.

The new policy, which is modeled after the Smoke Free Illinois Act, will take effect Jan. 1, 2008, and applies to NIU and all of its satellite campuses.

Debra Bryant, assistant to the associate vice president of operations of finance and facilities, said that enforcement of the ban will be up to the individual.

“We’re relying on all members of the campus community, including students, faculty and staff,” Bryant said. Bryant is the chair of the Campus Security and Environmental Quality Committee, whose policy regarding the smoking ban was unanimously passed by the University Council Wednesday.

“So if I see this happen, I should, in the spirit of cooperation, go out and tell [the smoker] that we have a new policy regarding smoking,” Bryant said. Bryant said that first offenses would be verbal warnings, but repeated offenses will amount to fines between $100 to $250, as stipulated by the Illinois law.

“If it’s a persistent problem, the student will have to go through the judicial system,” Bryant said.

According to the law’s text, local health departments and law enforcement agencies will enforce the ban. Steve Cunningham, associate vice president of Administration and Human resources, said that University Police are aware of the statute changes. However, Bryant said that she is calling the Illinois Department of Health to get further clarification regarding enforcement.

In accordance with the new smoking policy, Cunningham said “No Smoking” signs are placed by all entrances on campus. In addition, the policy also mentions outlining exactly where smoking can and cannot take place. The committee is currently working on adding “no smoking” zones on the NIU maps Web page, Bryant said.

NIU’s 600 smoking urns have been or are being moved, Bryant said. In some cases, however, the urns are being moved beyond 15 feet.

“We wanted to make it easy on the facilities staff,” Bryant said. “We’re going above and beyond the legal requirement, but we want everything to be efficient.”

Bryant said they are also considering an idea mentioned by Faculty Senate President Paul Stoddard, who suggested building smoking shelters.

“I worry about people who are going to smoke anyway standing out in the rain, cold, snow and ice and getting sick and not being able to come to work,” Stoddard said in a Northern Star article Thursday.

The initial interpretation of the Smoke Free Illinois Act may prohibit the construction of such shelters, Bryant said.