After the tragic events that occurred at Virginia Tech last month, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle announced plans Wednesday to form a task force aimed at developing safety practices for all Wisconsin colleges.

According to Carla Vigue, spokesperson for Doyle, the governor appointed University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Chancellor Bruce Shepard and River Falls Police Chief Roger Leque to head the force.

Shepard said the task force is a little bit broader than what UW System President Kevin Reilly proposed for the system but added they would likely work in conjunction with one another.

Vigue said Doyle would work to appoint a team of 20 people comprised of students, parents, law enforcement agents and university administrators from the University of Wisconsin System, Wisconsin Technical College System and the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Doyle's plan, Vigue said, is to bring together students, parents and campus administrators from both private and public schools to address the issues of safety and communication between the individual campuses and local law enforcement agencies.

"The campuses with the best ideas regarding safety can share their plans with other campuses," Vigue said. "All schools may have a different perspective on the issues, and the best approaches can be chosen and implemented on the campuses."

Shepard said the formation of the force is just in its beginning stages, adding that the other members have yet to be identified.

"The task force is working to identify the best practices for campus safety, bringing together all professionals, faculty, student and housing administrators," Shepard said. "It is an intriguing multi-intellectual issue."

Vigue said the governor outlined both short-term and long-term goals for the force and hopes it would be able to address some of the issues by fall 2007, in time for the next school year.

In the short term, Vigue said the governor wants the task to coordinate communication between law enforcement agencies and campus administrators to determine the best way to contact students in case of an emergency.

Based on the governor's recommendations, Shepard said the task force, in the long run, would work to identify and aid mentally ill students who may be subjected to violence.