The idea of tenure dates back to the Middle Ages, when scholars were supported by sometimes-fickle royalty, rather than by universities.

But a new proposal from the provost's office at Boston University (BU) aims to shake up the time-honored tenure system and keep professors from getting lazy.

"Given changes in the law forbidding mandatory retirement, people with tenure can continue forever and lose their effectiveness," said Fred K. Faulkes, professor of organizational behavior at BU and a member of the Tenure Discussion Group (TDG), the 10-person faculty committee formed by the provost to review the university's tenure policy.

The goal of the 10-page proposal, issued last month, is to increase faculty accountability--and in the process, to compromise the invincibility that is associated with tenure at most schools.

The report has drawn support from administrators and students, but has garnered opposition from some of the professors it will affect, who say that good teaching can't be quantified.

Sidney Redner, a BU physics professor, criticized the new policy for being too much of "a business model," and said he disliked its emphasis on efficiency and value.

The report, which was two years in the making, outlines a twofold purpose for the new policy: to improve the quality of education at BU, and, by linking salaries to performance, to control the surging faculty payroll.

The proposal calls for tenured professors to be physically on campus four days a week, eight hours a day.