MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia University President Michael Garrison apologized for "failures" that led to the award of a master's degree that Mylan Inc. executive Heather Bresch did not earn, but said he would not step down amid a scandal that yesterday triggered the departure of a second top administrator.

R. Stephen Sears, dean of WVU's business school since 2005, announced his resignation in the wake of a report released last week that is sharply critical of university officials for granting the degree.

Provost Gerald Lang, WVU's chief academic officer, announced his resignation Sunday in a memo to university deans.

Both resignations are effective June 30.

Separately, WVU's faculty senate scheduled a special meeting for Monday to consider motions responding to the crisis engulfing the state's flagship university, including a call for Mr. Garrison's resignation.

"I have no plans to resign," Mr. Garrison said during a news conference following his appearance at a faculty senate executive committee meeting. "I removed myself from this process immediately," he said. "I don't know why the decision was made or how it was made."

In a separate statement, Mr. Garrison accepted responsibility for the "failures that led to the award of unearned credits and grades to a former student."

"I am personally very sorry that this situation has occurred," he said.

Mr. Garrison, Mr. Lang and Mr. Sears have faced growing criticism for their apparent lack of contrition since an investigative panel issued its report last week concluding that officials granted the degree without any basis in a decision rife with favoritism.

Until Mr. Garrison's statement yesterday, no top administrators had apologized publicly or acknowledged mistakes. Mr. Lang and Mr. Sears had defended their roles, maintaining that they would make the same decisions again.

Left: Gerald Lang, provost. Right: R. Stephen Sears, business school dean.

Mr. Sears recommended, Mr. Lang approved and Mr. Garrison has said he supported awarding a master's of business administration degree retroactively in October to Ms. Bresch, the daughter of West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin and a longtime friend and former business associate of Mr. Garrison. Her boss at Cecil-based Mylan, Chairman Milan Puskar, is WVU's biggest benefactor.

A five-person panel appointed by Mr. Lang and the faculty senate concluded that WVU officials made a hasty, "seriously flawed" decision in awarding the degree, reflecting "failures of process and failures of leadership" at the university. It said administrators falsified Ms. Bresch's transcript to make it appear she had finished the degree by adding courses to her record that she did not take and by entering grades "simply pulled from thin air."

The panel was formed after a Dec. 21 story by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette raised questions about how officials went about granting the degree.

Yesterday, Mr. Garrison said that he had thoroughly reviewed the report and agreed with the panel's findings, but that he did not exert any influence on Mr. Lang, Mr. Sears or anyone else involved in the decision.

"I did not ask any person, either directly or indirectly, to award any credit, grades or degree in this case," he said.

"Like the members of the panel, I believe the decision that was made in this matter was wrong. Like every member of the university community, I reject the idea that we should award any degree or credit not earned by the student."

Mr. Garrison's statement yesterday contrasted with his initial response last week, in which he only accepted responsibility for "implementing recommendations of the panel."

The decision to grant the degree was made after the Post-Gazette made a routine call to the registrar Oct. 11 to confirm Ms. Bresch's academic credentials. The registrar's office told the newspaper it had no record of her finishing the degree.

Panel members said Mr. Garrison's office "reacted immediately" after Ms. Bresch called him and Craig Walker, Mr. Garrison's chief of staff, to dispute the registrar's statement. She stated she had earned the degree in December 1998.

Days later, officials said the registrar's records were wrong due to a record-keeping error and that documents discovered within the business school showed definitively that Ms. Bresch earned her degree.

WVU records reviewed by the Post-Gazette indicated, however, that she was 22 credits shy of completing the 48-credit hour program.

The report, released Wednesday, prompted numerous calls for resignations from faculty, alumni, newspapers and others.

"I wonder how I can properly deal with a student accused of academic dishonesty when officials in the highest circles of the university are accused of the same," WVU physics professor Boyd F. Edwards wrote in a letter to Mr. Garrison, Mr. Lang and Mr. Sears, encouraging them to resign "for the good of the institution."

"Your roles, large or small, in the Heather Bresch [M.B.A.] scandal -- and it is a scandal of the highest order -- taint your abilities to continue to lead WVU effectively," Mr. Edwards said.

One prominent alumnus, Peter J. Kalis, a Rhodes scholar and chairman of Pittsburgh's Kirkpatrick & Lockhart/Gates law firm, also is seeking the resignation of board of governors Chairman Steven Goodwin, who headed the search committee that recommended Mr. Garrison to lead WVU, a controversial appointment that Ms. Bresch worked to help Mr. Garrison win.

Associate political science professor Kevin M. Leyden spoke in support of Mr. Garrison at yesterday's senate committee meeting, urging people to be "much more constructive" in responding to the panel's report than calling for resignations.

"I'm just trying to provide some balance," he said. "Most people believe Michael Garrison has performed his duties beyond expectations."

Ms. Bresch, who has not spoken with the Post-Gazette since October, has insisted she earned the degree in 1998. Early this month, she told other news media that she finished her degree by arranging a deal with Paul Speaker, then head of the M.B.A. program, to substitute work experience for course work. Mr. Speaker, a WVU finance professor, has denied such an arrangement.

After the panel's report, Ms. Bresch issued a statement to The Associated Press saying she still believed she earned her degree, but would not oppose the panel's findings. She added that she would not waive her student privacy rights and allow WVU to release the full report.

Mr. Lang has said he will rescind the degree based on the panel's recommendation. Last week, Mylan removed the reference to the degree from the biography of Ms. Bresch posted on the company's Web site.

In the months since the Post-Gazette's initial story, Mylan, the generic drug company Ms. Bresch joined 16 years ago as a data entry clerk, has largely remained silent on the issue. The company issued a brief statement Dec. 21, saying "Mylan stands behind the integrity of its longtime employee." Since then, it has cut off communication with the Post-Gazette, declining to respond to any inquiries.

The company yesterday did not respond to phone calls or an e-mail asking for comment on the resignations at WVU or whether the company would amend filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise Ms. Bresch's academic credentials.

In October, shortly after the Post-Gazette first asked about the degree, Mylan sent a letter to the newspaper saying the company had confirmed that Ms. Bresch completed her M.B.A.

The Oct. 20 letter, signed by Mylan attorney Stuart Williams, said she had "completed all the credits" but that the necessary paperwork documenting the degree had not been processed due to an "oversight."