DeKALB | A team of senior officials from different NIU departments meets weekly to discuss students. Though you may not know it exists, this team works to keep the NIU campus safe.

Campus threat teams – which identify students whose behavior might be threatening to themselves or others – are present on more than half of the 4,500 colleges and universities in the United States, but often operate “below the radar of students,” according to a Jan. 13 New York Times article.

Every institution of higher education in Illinois is required by the Campus Security Enhancement Act to have a campus threat team.

The Act went into effect on July 1, 2009 and was passed in response to the Feb. 14, 2008 shooting at NIU, said Kelly Wesener, assistant vice president for Student Services.

Student Threat Assessment Teams are made up of mental health professionals and campus representatives from law enforcement, student affairs and legal counsel, according to state legislation. Wesener said the Student Threat Assessment Team at NIU reports to the vice president for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.

Threat assessment is a process of evaluating behavior of individuals and the context of that behavior to determine whether that individual might become violent, according to the legislation.

Micky Sharma, executive director of the Counseling & Student Development Center and a member of the Student Threat Assessment Team, said threatening behavior can be any action that causes anyone on the NIU campus to feel unsafe.

Wesener said behavioral assessment is “connecting the dots,” or looking at an individual’s behavior across multiples settings of campus life.

Each member of the team receives information about “student situations,” Sharma said. Each member can bring one case before the entire team for discussion and each also routinely gives reports on student behavior.

If it is deemed appropriate, the team will come up with a plan to reach out to the student to provide them with resources and referrals, Wesener said.

“Ultimately, we are trying to provide the support needed to make each member of our community successful during their time at NIU,” she said.

Sharma said response to the team’s outreach efforts is high because students are approached “in a student-centered and supportive manner.”

He said it is the responsibility of the whole campus to identify students who may pose a threat to themselves or others.

“It is the responsibility of all members of the campus community – faculty, staff and students – to alert the appropriate faculty or staff…about individuals they are concerned about,” Sharma said.

Wesener said there was no threat assessment team on campus prior to the Feb. 14, 2008 shootings.

According to a report released by NIU on the Feb. 14 shootings, “There would have been no reason for the university to have known or suspected that [shooter Steven] Kazmierczak had mental health challenges.”

Sharma and Wesener said immediate concerns about safety, should be directed to the NIU Department of Police and Public Safety.