Carnegie Mellon University has rescinded a master's degree awarded in 2004 that led to the sudden resignation this summer of the dean of the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management.

Acting on the recommendations of an internal review committee, the board of trustees voted Tuesday to rescind the degree, which contained transfer and independent study credits that far exceeded university limits.

The report placed blame for the degree on Dean Mark Wessel, alleging that he bent school rules in hopes that the recipient of the degree would take action to benefit the Heinz School.

"The sole reason the dean took this action was that he believed that [the student's] experience and qualifications could be valuable to the Heinz School in its expansion efforts at a time of fiscal stress in the school," stated the report. "Indeed, the dean understood that the degree was proposed by [the student] because [the student] felt it would enhance [the student's] credibilities in [the student's] endeavors to market the Heinz School."

Citing federal privacy rules, spokesman Ken Walters declined to comment further on the student's identity or whether the student took any actions to raise funds for or promote the Heinz School. He also declined to comment on whether the student was a CMU donor or an employee.

The report noted that neither Mr. Wessel nor any other university employee received any personal benefit from the awarding of the degree.

Committee Chair Joel Tarr, the Richard S. Caliguiri professor of history and policy and former acting dean of the Heinz School, declined yesterday to comment further on the report.

The other three members of the committee were Alfred Blumstein, former Heinz School dean and J. Erik Jonsson, professor of urban systems and operations research; Richard Tucker, interim dean of student affairs and Paul Mellon professor of applied linguistics; and Richard Stafford, a distinguished service professor and alumnus of the Heinz School.

The committee's report recommended that because "this was a singular error by a person of otherwise strong integrity," Mr. Wessel should remain a member of the Heinz School faculty. Since he stepped down from the deanship in August, he has held the title of lecturer.

The committee also recommended that the student should be offered the opportunity to complete the credits required for the degree and that the Heinz School improve faculty oversight over the granting of degrees.

Despite a spate of degree scandals in the past year at universities such as West Virginia University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Louisville, it is extremely rare for a school to rescind a degree, said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director for external relations at the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

He praised CMU for its general handling of the scandal.

"You've got to give them some credit," he said. "They've acted fairly decisively, and they have now taken the ultimate step in maintaining the integrity of their credential. It's a much more appropriate way of handling it than things have been handled elsewhere."

Mr. Nassirian did express surprise at the report's characterization of Mr. Wessel's motives for granting the degree, noting that while individuals offering financial assistance to institutions are sometimes rewarded with honorary degrees, tickets to athletic events or even a namesake building, academic degrees are unquestionably inappropriate.

"It really strikes me as weird," he said. "I'm struggling to see how a conversation like that even gets started. It's so far outside the normal experience of things that are possible."