NIU board chair favors more study of response to shootings

DEKALB, Ill. -- The head of Northern Illinois University's Board of Trustees says she wants a task force appointed to study the school's response to the deadly Valentine's Day shootings on campus.

She also says the board must discuss whether an exhaustive review of the psychiatric history of gunman Steven Kazmierczak (kaz-MUR'-chehk) is warranted.

Board chairwoman Cherilyn Murer tells the Chicago Tribune she plans to ask NIU president John Peters to create the task force at a meeting later this week.

She calls violence and mental illness on college campuses "a national issue."

Following the Virginia Tech shooting rampage, that state's governor appointed a panel to investigate. That investigation exposed flaws in the state's mental health system and communications problems on campus.