| The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who issued a Freedom of Information request to WVU, continues to report on the issuance of a Masters Degree in Business Administration to Heather Bresch, daughter of Gov. Joe Manchin, and a chief executive with Mylan, Inc., one of Manchin's leading supporters. An ongoing investigation will confirm or deny Ms. Bresch was issued the MBA when she only had about one-half the required credits:
M.B.A. Query Caused Flurry Of Calls Among WVU Administrators
Thursday, March 27, 2008
By Len Boselovic and Patricia Sabatini
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
www.post-gazette.com
The top aide to West Virginia University President Michael Garrison had multiple phone conversations with Mylan Inc. executive Heather Bresch over five days in October -- a period when university officials were deciding to award her an M.B.A. degree even though official university records showed she did not earn it.
The aide, chief of staff Craig Walker, has disavowed playing a leading role in granting the degree to Ms. Bresch, the daughter of West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin. The decision is now being reviewed by a committee appointed by the faculty senate.
Telephone and e-mail records obtained by the Post-Gazette under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that nine phone calls between Ms. Bresch and Mr. Walker were made from Oct. 11 through Oct. 15, when WVU said an investigation determined Ms. Bresch had earned a master's degree in business administration in December 1998 despite official records that showed she had completed only about half of the 48 credits required.
The decision to grant the degree retroactively -- done following Post-Gazette inquiries to Ms. Bresch and the university about the M.B.A. she claimed to have received -- apparently was made with little involvement from business school Dean R. Stephen Sears, who only attended one meeting on the subject, held just hours before a statement drafted by Mr. Walker and others was released to the newspaper explaining that officials determined Ms. Bresch earned the degree.
Mr. Sears was given a copy of that statement by WVU's communications office, but did not provide any input until after it was released to the Post-Gazette.
The phone calls between Mr. Walker and Ms. Bresch include a nine-minute conversation Thursday, Oct. 11, after WVU's registrar told the newspaper she did not complete her degree. Mr. Walker and Ms. Bresch also talked for seven minutes shortly after 8 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, when Mr. Walker summoned Mr. Sears, Provost Gerald Lang and other officials to his office to discuss the matter. About three hours later, a draft of a statement explaining a records discrepancy was circulating among the group. It was approved by Ms. Bresch.
The five-member investigative panel was appointed in January after a Dec. 21 story by the Post-Gazette raised questions about how the university went about awarding the degree. Ms. Bresch has insisted she earned the degree. She has declined to provide a transcript or other documentation and has declined further comment.
The newspaper found that WVU officials added six classes, including grades, to Ms. Bresch's transcript and changed two classes that had been marked "incomplete" to show letter grades. The newspaper's research indicated the classes were added without records showing that Ms. Bresch registered, paid or did the work for them.
"We found all of the pieces of the puzzle and were able to verify that all the class work was completed. She did all 48 hours," WVU spokeswoman Amy Neil told the Post-Gazette Oct. 15.
Following the Post-Gazette's Dec. 21 story, both Mr. Lang and Mr. Sears acknowledged that they lacked the records to show Ms. Bresch finished her degree.
Mr. Lang said the odds that Ms. Bresch did not earn the degree were 50-50, while Mr. Sears said in an e-mail obtained by the Post-Gazette that "the only truth at this point ... is that there are more questions than answers" surrounding Ms. Bresch's M.B.A. course work.
Ms. Bresch also had a six-minute conversation with Mr. Walker on Oct. 19, the same day Mr. Walker and others were reviewing a letter Mr. Sears would send to WVU's Office of Admissions and Records explaining that the university did not have evidence of Ms. Bresch earning the degree because the business school failed to transfer her records. Mr. Walker had asked two days earlier that the letter be written.
The timeline of phone calls is incomplete. WVU redacted details of more than 20 calls made between Thursday, Oct. 11, and Monday, Oct. 15. The school also failed to produce itemized land-line or cell phone records for Mr. Garrison, a high school classmate and former business associate of Ms. Bresch, and longtime Manchin family friend.
The failure to turn over those records and other documents prompted the Post-Gazette to notify the university March 13 that it intends to sue the school for violating the state's open records law. West Virginia law requires that state agencies be given 30 days notice before they can be sued.
What records have been provided indicate Mr. Walker, Provost Lang, and associate business school dean Cyril Logar met several times Friday, Oct. 12, to discuss Ms. Bresch, who is Mylan's chief operating officer. The Cecil generic drug maker was co-founded by Chairman Milan Puskar, WVU's largest benefactor.
E-mails indicate Mr. Sears did not attend the Friday meetings, but wanted to meet with business school administrators early the following week to discuss whether additional research might be needed. He also offered to assist Mr. Walker and Mr. Lang if needed. Before that could happen, Mr. Walker summoned them to his office early Monday morning, the same morning he talked with Ms. Bresch. A few hours later, the university issued its explanation.
In a Jan. 11 statement, Mr. Walker said the problem with Ms. Bresch's records "was handled and we responded like we would with any other student inquiry."
He said he did not lead the rewriting of Ms. Bresch's transcript. Dean Sears and Provost Lang agreed.
"Neither Craig Walker or the president's office was involved in revising or suggesting the revision of the transcript," the business school dean said in the statement released by the university.
Mr. Sears has said the school lacked the records to show Ms. Bresch had completed the program. The business school dean accepted responsibility for the decision. He told faculty members he did not have enough information but felt pressured to make a decision quickly.
The investigative panel is expected to report its findings by mid-April, the committee's chairman WVU Professor Roy Nutter said yesterday.
Len Boselovic can be reached at lboselovic@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1941. Patricia Sabatini can be reached at psabatini@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3066.
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