A university can be a filter and a tuner, filtering out students who cannot make the grade and fine-tuning those who can.

In order to ensure the success of all students, about 50 faculty members attended a meeting yesterday to discuss a proposal to assist ill-prepared students as well as challenge well-prepared students.

The proposal, called "A White Paper," is the result of a challenge announced by University of Arizona President Manuel Pacheco and Provost Paul Sypherd for faculty to develop a core general education curriculum designed to benefit all students, regardless of preparedness before entering the university. About 31 faculty members participated in the creation of the proposal.

Michael Gottfredson, vice provost for undergraduate education, said there is a group of students at the UA who are not qualified to be here.

"We have students who have an 80 percent chance of being disqualified," Gottfredson said.

However, the proposal is designed to cater to all students' needs, regardless of major, and to ultimately prevent failure.

"For someone coming in who does not know which path to follow, it can be confusing and will eventually lead to discouragement," said Peter Strittmatter, astronomy department head and director of the Steward Observatory.

Strittmatter, who helped develop the proposal, said about 25 percent of all incoming freshman, if not adequately prepared, drop out after the first year. About 43 percent go on to graduate after five years.

"Everyone - students and faculty - are concerned," said Elizabeth Ervin, associate director for the School of Music and Dance. "We want it to be the best possible solution for all colleges in the university."

Ervin explained that the direction of the proposal is for faculty to address the different needs and levels of all students.

"There are those who come in minimally prepared as well as those who are adequately prepared," Ervin said. "You can't treat all incoming students as the same, because they're not."

But Victor Hruby, chemistry professor, disagreed, saying that all students should enter the university well prepared.

"People should come in at the matriculation level, period," Hruby said. "We have a number of community colleges designed to prepare the students (beforehand)."

Christopher Carroll, professor of English, expressed his enthusiasm about the proposal, which he said was the "best he's seen in 30 years" and would give students an education that would be beneficial at any level.

"It's the only plan I've seen that has any chance of meeting our obligation to students," Carroll said. "We owe an education to these students. This is a window of genuinely meeting our obligation."