NIU Board of Trustees Chair Cherilyn Murer will seek the formation of a new task force to investigate the Feb. 14 shootings, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.

The request, to be made of President John Peters, will come when the full board of trustees meets Thursday. The new task force is expected to focus on the school’s response to the incident.

Murer also told the Tribune the board will discuss whether a more thorough review of the psychiatric history of gunman Steven Kazmierczak is warranted.

Murer called violence and mental illness on college campuses “a national issue.”

Details slow to be released

The expected formation of the new task force comes as NIU’s response to the shootings has been questioned of late. Though law-enforcement officials were lauded for their quick response on the day of the incident, further details of the investigation have been slow to come out.

Many law-enforcement officials involved in the investigation concede there is no timetable for its completion, the Tribune reported.

Indeed, a spokeswoman for the university confirmed Peters still will not accept requests for interviews.

Several NIU officials, who declined to be named for the Tribune article, suggested NIU Police Chief Donald Grady has made it difficult for further details to be released because he has kept a tight grip on details of the investigation.

“It’s an open-and-shut case,” Grady told the Tribune. “There’s nothing that could be done that would top what we’re doing.”

No official inquiry ordered yet

Still, NIU’s response contrasts to that of Virginia state officials following the deadly shootings at Virginia Tech University last April. On the day of the shootings, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine formed a panel to investigate the incident and later ordered an inquiry examining campus security, the gunman’s past and gun laws.

A detailed report was released four months later that included the gunman’s medical history and an account of his movements around campus the day of the shootings.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has, to date, ordered no such report be prepared. Blagojevich’s only response to the incident thus far has been the announcement of a controversial plan to raze Cole Hall and spend $40 million to construct a new academic building.

NIU officials are in the process of seeking student and faculty input on the future of Cole Hall.