The coming round of final exams might not be as important to any NIU student as it will be to suspended Huskie quarterback Stacey Robinson.

Robinson was suspended by head coach Jerry Pettibone last week for failing to make “academic progress,” a sketchy term that was made clearer this past week.

Robinson, NIU’s hope for the Heisman Trophy who last season led the nation’s quarterbacks in rushing, is on academic probation. If he does not raise his cumulative GPA above 2.0 before the fall semester, he, like any student, could be dismissed and thus athletically ineligible for the 1990 campaign.

Robinson’s situation underscores the recent push in college athletics to crack down on academically suspect student-athletes.

Robinson told The Northern Star Friday only one class stands in the way of his fall eligibility. Pettibone “just ran out of patience.”

“Basically, it was his decision to (enforce) the team rules, follow through on team rules (with) no exceptions for any players,” Robinson said. “It can happen to anybody.”

NIU requires student-athletes to earn a cumulative 1.7 GPA before the second through fourth semesters after their first academic year, 1.85 before the fifth and sixth semesters and 2.0 prior to the seventh through 10th semesters.

The NCAA also requires a student-athlete to either: complete a cumulative average of 12 hours per semester toward a degree, or complete 24 hours toward a degree from the start of the last season of competition to the start of the next and remain in the institution’s good academic standing.

Sources reveal Robinson had 57 hours before this semester. If he passes all his classes this semester, he will have 70 credits, two shy of the required number. To satisfy the second standard, Robinson, based on his fall grades, would need 12 hours of 3.0 work this spring and summer.

Pettibone said Robinson will go to summer school to satisfy the NCAA number and Robinson said final grades will determine whether he goes to summer school.

ichard Durfee, director of NIU Registration and Records, said at the end of each semester, the university’s computer selects those students it would dismiss based on NIU’s academic criteria. Durfee said because NIU does not want a computer to decide students’ fates, the files are sent to the respective college for review. It is then decided whether probation is given/extended.

A student can use summer-semester grades toward eligibility or GPA improvement, said Bob Brigham, special intercollegiate athletics assistant to NIU President John La Tourette. If a student does not raise his GPA above probation level in the spring, the probation would have to be extended for summer attendance, said Don Bramlett, coordinator of athletic counseling.

Sue Doederlein, assistant dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said probation is most likely extended if the review committee thinks the student will raise his GPA in the extra semester.

Wes Swietek and Greg Rivara contributed to this report