A five-member panel probing whether West Virginia University acted properly in awarding Mylan Inc. executive Heather Bresch a master's of business administration degree in October delivered its findings yesterday to the person responsible for the university's action, Provost Gerald Lang.

Mr. Lang, the university's top academic officer, said the report will be reviewed by WVU general counsel Alex Macia to determine how much of it can be released because of federal privacy rules protecting Ms. Bresch, daughter of West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin and high school friend and former business associate of WVU President Michael Garrison.

It is not known how long it will take for the eagerly anticipated report -- possibly just portions of it -- to be made public. Before that happens, it will be reviewed first by WVU's board of governors, Mr. Lang said, and then the faculty senate, the body that elected the majority of the panel members in January.

Ms. Bresch broke months of silence on the matter in recent weeks by reiterating that she earned the degree in December 1998. Even so, Ms. Bresch has told the university she will not allow full disclosure of the report to the public, sources close to the situation told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The panel, chaired by WVU professor Roy Nutter, was appointed after a Dec. 21 Post-Gazette story raised questions about how the university awarded the degree to Ms. Bresch. In a brief statement issued yesterday, Mr. Nutter said he and other panel members will not comment on the report but that they "will of course continue to be observant and will be watching the unfolding of future events."

The newspaper's review of university records found that after the decision was made, WVU officials added 22 credits to Ms. Bresch's transcript, nearly half of the 48 credits the degree required. The changes included adding six courses, with grades, that previously were not on her record and changing two course "incompletes" to letter grades. The newspaper found the changes were made without documents showing she had registered, paid or done the work for the classes.

Since the Dec. 21 story, WVU officials have offered various, often contradictory, explanations of how they made the decision -- including acknowledgements by Mr. Lang and business school Dean R. Stephen Sears that they lacked the records to show Ms. Bresch completed the degree.

Mylan did not return phone calls or an e-mail yesterday seeking comment from Ms. Bresch, chief operating officer of the Cecil generic drug maker.

This month, she told other news media outlets she made arrangements in September 1998 with WVU finance professor Paul Speaker, then head of the M.B.A. program, to substitute work experience for 10 credits she needed to graduate. WVU records indicated she needed 22 credits at the time.

Mr. Speaker has declined to talk specifically about Ms. Bresch, citing federal privacy rules on students records. But he has said he could not recall any instance in the history of the program when the school allowed work experience to substitute for course work.

Ms. Bresch has told university officials they do not have her permission to release to the public any information that is protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, sources told the Post-Gazette.

The law, known as FERPA, generally prohibits outside access to student records unless they are released by students or their families. But an expert on student privacy laws said the regulations should not prevent the panel's un-edited report from being shared with all 116 members of WVU's faculty senate.

"The main issue here is for the faculty to be satisfied that nothing inappropriate occurred," said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Nassirian said WVU would not violate Ms. Bresch's FERPA rights by turning the entire report over to the faculty senate.

"They certainly have a direct educational interest and every right to review the case without consent," he said.