A bill introduced late last month in the North Carolina General Assembly has set faculties across the state abuzz with a bold suggestion: Require all professors in the University of North Carolina system to teach at least eight courses each academic year. Senate Bill 593 — titled "Improve Professor Quality/UNC System" — would reduce the salary of any professor who failed to hit that annual mark. Sen. Tom McInnis, a first-term Republican who sponsored the bill, said in a written statement that his mission was to "generate legitimate debate about the role of professors in the classroom."