Starting this summer, the residence halls on campus will become smoke free.

Currently, 58 out of the 141 floors in the residence halls are smoking optional.

Students were informed during the sign-up process and hall councils about the smoke-free halls, said Willard Draper, director of residential life.

“We’re trying to increase the health of the student population,” Draper said. “There’s also a safety component to it.”

Smoke is hard to confine to one part because it gets into the air intake system and can affect people with allergies, he added.

“Students can also get lower renter’s insurance rates because they’re living in a smoke-free environment,” said David Dunlap, coordinator of marketing and public relations for Student Housing and Dining Services.

For the convenience of smokers residing in the residence halls, smoking areas with seating and concrete ash trays outside the entrances to residence halls are being created, Dunlap said.

Students found smoking in the residence halls will face a fine and judicial action, Draper said.

This move will help reduce rug damage, as less rugs with cigarette burns will have to be replaced, he added.

Fifteen percent of the students polled in the residence halls are smokers, and many prefer not to live on smoking floors, Dunlap said.

“I go outside to smoke,” said Missy Hudson, a freshman dance major. “I don’t want my room to be smoky all the time.”

She said the move would not affect her as she lives on a non-smoking floor in Neptune Hall, but it would be hard for students who live high in Grant Towers.