Photo by Kevin H.

Mid-study session smoke-breaks will soon be a thing of the past, at least at the University of Maryland. The Diamondback reports that the university’s Board of Regents voted last week to largely ban smoking on campus:

The policy, which will take effect June 30, 2013, prohibits smoking on the campus’ grounds, outdoor structures and school vehicles of all University System of Maryland institutions. USM spokesman Mike Lurie said the measure allows for “narrow exceptions to the smoking ban with the presidents’ approval” and that each university president will be able to designate a “very limited area” where smoking could occur without interfering with the health of others.

“There was a consensus among the presidents that it was beneficial to the health of all the campus communities for the system to adopt a policy that would ban smoking on university property and otherwise promote smoke-free campus environments across the system,” Lurie said.

Salisbury University and Towson University have been smoke-free since August 2010, while Frostburg State University joined the trend last summer, and Montgomery College is also smoke-free.

According to the Americans Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, there are 774 smoke-free campuses across the country. In D.C., the only smoke-free educational institution is the Georgetown University Medical Center, though business-owners and office buildings on the George Washington Campus campus can post no-smoking signs and require that any smokers stand at least 25 feet from their entrance.