De Anza College Health Educator Mary-Jo Lomax presented the "Smoke-Free Policy Promotion Campaign" to the student senate last Wednesday.
She invited students to join a committee to develop effective means to inform students of the no-smoking policy.
Until next September, the smoke-free policy will be administered through a program called "Enforcement Through Education." This program will encourage students to better understand the policy without punitive measures, said Lomax.
"The reason for the phase-in process is to familiarize people with [the policy] and to reduce the number of smokers who will become upset or need to be penalized. This has been effective in most colleges that have used this type of phase-in."
Lomax will premiere the campaign she has developed thus far during Club Day this Thursday.
Student senate president Anna Callahan said, "This is not an official committee right now, and I would like to call it more of a task force. It could be as simple as wearing a button or a T-shirt."
According to the campaign flier Lomax is distributing, the responsibilities of the committee will be to "create fun, positive activities to promote the smoke-free policy" and to hold planning meetings.
Lomax plans to distribute "quick kits," which include candy, gum and information on how to quit smoking. She also mentioned the possibility of distributing umbrellas to smokers during the winter.
"It’s not perfect, but I think it’s positive," Lomax said.