MORGANTOWN — West Virginia University administrators showed "seriously flawed'' judgment in awarding Gov. Joe Manchin's daughter a master's degree she didn't earn, rushing to protect her and themselves from media scrutiny, a panel investigating the dispute says.
MORGANTOWN — West Virginia University administrators showed "seriously flawed'' judgment in awarding Gov. Joe Manchin's daughter a master's degree she didn't earn, rushing to protect her and themselves from media scrutiny, a panel investigating the dispute says.
But the erroneous decision does not signal widespread or pervasive problems in either record-keeping or the granting of academic credits in the College of Business and Economics, its report concludes.
Failures of process and leadership were "unique to this particular, high-profile case'' involving Mylan Inc. executive Heather Bresch, and there is no reason to question the legitimacy of any other executive master's of business administration degrees that have been awarded.
West Virginia University provost Gerald Lang (left) and WVU College of Business and Economics Dean Stephen Sears answer questions from the media following an open session of the school's Board of Governors on Wednesday.
After meeting in closed session today, the university's Board of Governors issued a charge to President Mike Garrison, telling him to accept responsibility for errors in judgment and procedure made by members of his administration.
The board ordered him to deliver a plan by its June meeting that will ensure "a situation such as this does not ever happen again,'' Chairman Stephen Goodwin said. It also called on him to inform Bresch of the panel's findings and advise of her right to appeal. Her academic record, meanwhile, will revert to its original state.
Bresch issued a statement saying that while she continues to believe she did what was required to earn her degree, she will accept the panel's conclusion out of respect for her alma mater.
"To put this issue behind us is the best course of action for everyone,'' she said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Therefore, while I am not waiving my privacy rights, I will not challenge action by the university implementing the panel's recommendations.''
Bresch's parents also issued a statement expressing pride in their daughter.
"All I can hope for as a parent is that WVU's leaders will correct whatever problems that led to this situation so that no other student will have to go through this kind of ordeal in the future,'' the governor said.
Garrison said he regrets the university has been embarrassed and pledged to exceed the board's charge.
"West Virginia University is strong, and this process -- and our honest response to it, both from our office and the board of governors -- makes us stronger, and shows that we are a university whose governance is both shared and open,'' Garrison said.
Garrison said no decisions have been made yet about discipline, but he accepts responsibility.
"There is no substitute in any administration for personal responsibility,'' he said.
The damning 95-page report is harshest on Provost Gerald Lang and business school Dean R. Stephen Sears, who the panel said had no academic foundation for retroactively granting Bresch the 1998 degree.
However, the report stopped short of recommending any specific disciplinary action against anyone, advising only that WVU "take appropriate action.''
"Mistake was compounded by mistake. An unnecessary rush to judgment, spurred in some measure by an understandable desire to protect a valued alumna and to respond to media pressure, produced a flawed and erroneous result. It didn't have to happen this way,'' the panel concludes.
Rather, the university "should have done just what they said they were doing: They should have treated Ms. Bresch like they would or should have treated any other student who was raising such a complaint about the accuracy of his or her attendance and/or graduation records.''
They should have been "more deliberate, more discerning and more detached,'' and relied more on records than verbal assertions, the panel concludes.
MORGANTOWN — West Virginia University administrators showed "seriously flawed'' judgment in awarding Gov. Joe Manchin's daughter a master's degree she didn't earn, rushing to protect her and themselves from media scrutiny, a panel investigating the dispute says.
But the erroneous decision does not signal widespread or pervasive problems in either record-keeping or the granting of academic credits in the College of Business and Economics, its report concludes.
Failures of process and leadership were "unique to this particular, high-profile case'' involving Mylan Inc. executive Heather Bresch, and there is no reason to question the legitimacy of any other executive master's of business administration degrees that have been awarded.
After meeting in closed session today, the university's Board of Governors issued a charge to President Mike Garrison, telling him to accept responsibility for errors in judgment and procedure made by members of his administration.
The board ordered him to deliver a plan by its June meeting that will ensure "a situation such as this does not ever happen again,'' Chairman Stephen Goodwin said. It also called on him to inform Bresch of the panel's findings and advise of her right to appeal. Her academic record, meanwhile, will revert to its original state.
Bresch issued a statement saying that while she continues to believe she did what was required to earn her degree, she will accept the panel's conclusion out of respect for her alma mater.
"To put this issue behind us is the best course of action for everyone,'' she said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Therefore, while I am not waiving my privacy rights, I will not challenge action by the university implementing the panel's recommendations.''
Bresch's parents also issued a statement expressing pride in their daughter.
"All I can hope for as a parent is that WVU's leaders will correct whatever problems that led to this situation so that no other student will have to go through this kind of ordeal in the future,'' the governor said.
Garrison said he regrets the university has been embarrassed and pledged to exceed the board's charge.
"West Virginia University is strong, and this process -- and our honest response to it, both from our office and the board of governors -- makes us stronger, and shows that we are a university whose governance is both shared and open,'' Garrison said.
Garrison said no decisions have been made yet about discipline, but he accepts responsibility.
"There is no substitute in any administration for personal responsibility,'' he said.
The damning 95-page report is harshest on Provost Gerald Lang and business school Dean R. Stephen Sears, who the panel said had no academic foundation for retroactively granting Bresch the 1998 degree.
However, the report stopped short of recommending any specific disciplinary action against anyone, advising only that WVU "take appropriate action.''
"Mistake was compounded by mistake. An unnecessary rush to judgment, spurred in some measure by an understandable desire to protect a valued alumna and to respond to media pressure, produced a flawed and erroneous result. It didn't have to happen this way,'' the panel concludes.
Rather, the university "should have done just what they said they were doing: They should have treated Ms. Bresch like they would or should have treated any other student who was raising such a complaint about the accuracy of his or her attendance and/or graduation records.''
They should have been "more deliberate, more discerning and more detached,'' and relied more on records than verbal assertions, the panel concludes.
"They should have had the courage to accept the fact that they might have to reach a conclusion on the evidence that they did not like or want. They should have assumed the responsibility as academic leaders to make the decisions that needed to be made,'' the report states.
Lang defended his conduct, saying he and Sears made the best decision possible with incomplete data. Although Lang acknowledged the panel had access to the same data, he said they reached a different conclusion. He declined to say whether he disagrees.
"There were two decisions. We made a decision in October and the panel made a different decision,'' he said. "I'm willing to accept the panel's decision.''
The report does not conclude that Bresch herself did anything wrong in seeking clarification of her situation. Nor does it directly fault Garrison, Bresch's longtime friend.
It does, however, indicate a failure of leadership at high levels within the administration and suggest there was pressure from Lang and "representatives of the president's office'' to accommodate Bresch.
"There was no pressure placed on anyone to make any decision,'' Lang insisted.
Garrison also said no pressure came from his office, and vowed that new procedures will be created to insulate anyone at the university from feeling such pressure.
Lang, as chief academic officer, bears the brunt of the criticism for running the one-hour, Oct. 15 meeting where the decision to grant the degree was made. Also attending were Sears, WVU chief of staff Craig Walker, general counsel Alex Macia, communications director Bill Case and three educators from the business school.
"The panel believes the prevailing sentiment at the meeting, evinced by the actions and comments of the provost and the representatives of the president's office, was that a way should be found to justify the granting of the degree, if at all possible,'' the report says.
"Although the provost asked all four B&E participants at the meeting directly whether they agreed with the final decision to award Ms. Bresch an MBA, the panel believes that the actual or perceived pressure to go along with this decision, not to 'rock the boat,' was palpable.''
Critics of the university have long pointed to Bresch's political connections: The chairman of Mylan is a major benefactor of her father and the university. But Bresch has denied asking anyone for favors.
The panel took pains in its report to stress that Bresch's situation was unique. While some administrators have referred to other students "with anomalies in their records,'' the panel said it found only a few incomplete grades that were not properly transferred and no other case like Bresch's.
The panel, led by two WVU faculty members, was formed after questions about the degree arose last fall. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette claimed Bresch was short on the required credits, but she recently argued she'd earned her degree fairly, substituting work experience for her final semester.
Her program adviser at the time, Paul Speaker, told The Associated Press he did not recall ever allowing outside work to replace classroom work.
Both Speaker and Bresch shared their recollections with administrators, but there were few records to back them up. When asked why he believed Bresch over Speaker, Sears responded, "She had a witness.''
Sears also said the business school will take several steps to refine its procedures, including: hiring a records assistant for graduate programs; creating a policy for dealing with and documenting independent study agreements between faculty and students; and making the certification process for awarding degrees more stringent.
Keep it clean. Comments that are obscene, sexually explicit, racist or offensive will be removed. If you wouldn’t say it to your mother, don’t post it here.
Be civil. Don’t threaten to hurt anyone. Personal attacks, insults or harassment of any kind are subject to removal.
Be truthful. Don’t lie about a situation or person.
Keep it brief. Keep your comment to one post. Redundant or multiple posts in a row aren’t allowed.
Stay on task. Stick to the topics relevant to the story and discussion.
Let us know about offensive comments. Click the “Report Abuse” button if you think a comment is against the rules.
Read the panel's full report (PDF)
Post a comment