A main sponsor of the bill to require increased teaching hours for college and university professors backed away from the legislation Monday, saying he will now oppose it.

"On this bill, I did not do my homework as well as I should have," said Senate Minority Leader Scott N. Howell, D-Sandy.The bill's other sponsor, Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, vowed "to push for the bill with everything I've got. It's time for accountability in higher education."

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Howell said he decided to drop sponsorship of the bill - and has tried to talk Stephenson out of it, too - after he learned that the Higher Education Assessment Act, passed by the 1992 Legislature, requires the schools to collect data on faculty teaching loads and report it to lawmakers.

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