West Virginia University's chief academic officer said yesterday he did not know what, if any, records were used to retroactively grant a master's of business administration degree to Mylan Inc. executive Heather Bresch, daughter of West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin.

WVU Provost Gerald E. Lang said he accepted the word of R. Stephen Sears, the dean of the College of Business and Economics, that the degree should be awarded to Ms. Bresch, the chief operating officer at Mylan, whose chairman, Milan Puskar, is WVU's largest benefactor.

Mr. Lang and other university officials originally said the university's records did not reflect that Ms. Bresch earned her degree because the business school failed to transfer records for nearly half of her required course work. Mr. Sears told the Office of Admissions and Records in October that his school's records "indicate that Ms. Bresch met all the requirements." Other students were affected by the problem, Mr. Sears said then.

Yesterday, Mr. Lang acknowledged that those records are lacking and that no other students have reported problems with their records since a Dec. 21 story by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette raised questions about how the university went about retroactively granting the degree to Ms. Bresch, a longtime friend and business associate of WVU President Mike Garrison.

The degree was issued in October, nearly a decade after Ms. Bresch left the program and just days after university officials originally told the Post-Gazette that she did not earn an MBA.

Ms. Bresch has insisted she earned the degree in December 1998.

Last week, Mr. Lang appointed a three-member panel to investigate the decision, including how school officials reconstructed Ms. Bresch's academic record given the lack of information available.

"There were no records or the records were lost at the time and I want the panel to investigate that," Mr. Lang said yesterday.

"I believe [that Dean Sears] did what was appropriate given the information available," Mr. Lang said.

When asked what records showed Ms. Bresch completed her degree, Mr. Lang replied, "I don't know." School officials said the degree was awarded "after much research" by the business school, including Mr. Sears, whose position is endowed by Mr. Puskar.

Mr. Sears, who declined earlier requests for an interview, did not respond to another request yesterday.

The panel members are computer science professor Roy Nutter, foreign language professor Michael Lastinger and Bruce Flack, a high-ranking executive of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission controlled by Mr. Manchin.

A number of faculty members say they have great respect for the two professors.

"I'm comfortable with the members that were put on this group. They'll find out what happened," said Dallas Branch, an associate professor of physical education and former member of the faculty senate.

Some feel the investigation should be conducted by outside authorities because of the political and corporate connections involved. Independent educational authorities and editorial pages, including the Post-Gazette's, also have called for an outside investigation.

Mr. Lang said yesterday that insiders were in the best position to do the job.

"The faculty have responsibility for oversight of the degrees and the degree-granting process. They are the ones best able to investigate," he said, adding that panel members have the freedom ask for outside input if they wish.

Mr. Lang discounted the view that Mr. Nutter and Mr. Lastinger may have difficulty being impartial while investigating the actions of their boss.

"I don't think these individuals report to me directly in any way whatsoever," he said.

The Post-Gazette found that WVU officials retroactively added six classes, including grades, to Ms. Bresch's record with the registrar. In addition, two classes that had been marked "incomplete" were changed to show letter grades. Together, the revisions were worth 22 credits in the 48-credit-hour program.

The Post-Gazette's research indicates officials made the changes without evidence that Ms. Bresch registered or paid for the classes, and without consulting the professors who taught the classes.

Mr. Lang said "it's usually the policy to consult with faculty members" when altering a student's record and entering grades but said all issues would have to be sorted out by the panel.

When asked to explain how a mix-up involving 22 credits worth of work could occur and what evidence there was that Ms. Bresch took any of the classes added to her record, Mr. Lang again deferred the matter to the panel.

Mr. Lang indicated the university would abide by any recommendations the panel makes. He said he would share the findings with the WVU faculty senate and the university's board of governors. The findings also would be made public, "except those protected by federal privacy laws," he said.

Mr. Lang did not issue any deadlines but said he hoped the panel would begin its investigation immediately and work quickly to produce a report.

"I didn't want to artificially constrain them with a time due date," he said.