The tobacco task force’s policy statement was approved by NKU’s Board of Regents last Wednesday.

So far, only the policy statement has been approved, said NKU’s Dean of Students Jeffrey Waple. He said the recommendations found on the task force’s report that was released Wednesday are still subject to change.

While the tobacco ban begins on Jan. 1, Dean Waple said the upcoming spring semester will devote a lot of time to educating students and staff.

According to Waple, the first violation results in a warning and the second results in a meeting in Dean Waple’s office.

“If they don’t comply to the policy, there may be a fine to that,” Waple said.

Waple said that students and staff will be monitoring for violators rather than the campus police.

“We’re going to ask everyone to be that watchdog for us,” Waple said.

The recommendations report says that the temporary tobacco signs seen across campus are scheduled to be removed in July. Waple said they will be up longer, likely until the beginning of the 2014 fall semester.

“We also have a longer range plan for when we’re going to take the majority of the signs down. They’ll still be some up, but they will be a little subtler,” Waple said.

For anyone wanting to quit smoking, Quit Now Kentucky (1-800-784-8669) line covers NKU. Waple said the Healthy Monday Quit Clinics will continue next semester for in-person support. The clinics are on Nov. 18, Feb. 17, Mar. 17 and April 21 in the Student Union from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Dean Waple said he would be meeting with the compliance and marketing subcommittees of the policy task force on Monday to discuss some of the recommendations found on the report such as the compliance policy, signs and whether cessation products can be sold on campus.