Tobacco-Free University

Scope

All Indiana University property.

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Policy Statement

The use or sale of tobacco, tobacco products, and smoking related products is prohibited on Indiana University property.

The use or sale of tobacco, tobacco products, and smoking related products is prohibited in university-owned, university-operated, or university-leased vehicles.

The use of tobacco, tobacco products, and smoking related products is permitted inside privately owned vehicles.

Limited exceptions may be approved in writing by the campus chancellor or provost or relevant vice president and must be in accordance with state law.

In accordance with Indiana state law, signs prohibiting smoking must be posted at all public entrances.

In accordance with Indiana state law, managers or officials in charge of a public building must ask an individual who is smoking in the public building or within 8 feet of the entrance of a public building to refrain from smoking and to cause that individual to be removed if the individual then fails to refrain from smoking.

In accordance with Indiana state law, ashtrays or other smoking receptacles are prohibited in public buildings or at the entrances to public buildings.

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Reason for Policy

Indiana University is concerned about the toll that smoking and tobacco use has on the health and well-being of the university community. As a public institution of higher education with units that research and treat the effects of smoking and tobacco use, IU believes it has an obligation to exercise leadership by promoting a healthy, smoke-free environment for its students, employees, and visitors.

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Definitions

Tobacco and smoking related products - all tobacco-derived or tobacco containing products including, and not limited to, cigarettes, electronic cigarettes and vaping, cigars and cigarillos, hookah smoked products, pipes, and oral tobacco (e.g., spit and spitless, smokeless, chew, snuff) and nasal tobacco (e.g. snus). It also includes any product intended to mimic tobacco products or the smoking of any other substance.

Indiana University Property - Buildings, grounds, and land that are owned by Indiana University or controlled by Indiana University, via leases or other contractual arrangements.

University vehicles - include all licensed vehicles owned, leased, or rented by or for Indiana University.

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Sanctions

Enforcement of this policy will depend on the cooperation of all faculty, staff, and students not only to comply with the policy, but also to encourage others to comply, in order to promote a healthy environment in which to work, study, and live. Civility and respect are expected by all members of the university community in regards to this policy.

Violations of the policy should be referred to the appropriate administrative office for review and action: for academic employees, the campus office of academic affairs; for staff, University Human Resources; and for students, the campus office of student life.

Violations may also result in a citation by law enforcement in accordance with state law.

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History

In February, 2007, the Trustees mandated that smoking and the sale of tobacco products would be prohibited on all university property no later than January 1, 2008. The policy was revised in 2013 to add to the list of prohibited products, refer to Indiana state law enacted in 2012, and to reformat the policy into the IU template.

On October 2, 2023, the policy was renumbered to reflect a change in the responsible office from Public Safety to the Office of the Chief Health Officer. A substantive review of the policy was conducted with no substantive revisions made to the policy.

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