The Regents also passed a policy for reviewing the work of tenured faculty at least every five years, with the possibility of merit raises for high-performing professors and discipline — including firing — for those that don’t meet standards and fail to improve. Each campus would determine its own standards for faculty productivity.

Before the changes in the budget, state law allowed for firing tenured professors only during a financial emergency or for just cause.

Behling said the new policies give faculty protections that are comparable to those at other universities, and borrow from the tenets of tenure rules at the universities of Michigan, Maryland and California, among others.

He also said the policies will not infringe on academic freedom.

But they ensure professors are held accountable for meeting teaching and research standards, Behling said — something he and others say lawmakers will be looking for when they decide whether to increase funding for the UW System after cutting it last year.

“These policies will help us demonstrate accountability, which is what the public wants to see from the System,” Behling said. “Without the demonstration of accountability our budget prospects in future years will not improve.”