What Did The Governor Know, And when Did He Know It?

[genlock]

The Associated Press
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After a private, three-hour discussion, West Virginia University’s Board of Governors says it’s not ready to take any action on embattled President Mike Garrison.

Chairman Stephen Goodwin says the board takes the master’s degree scandal involving the governor’s daughter seriously.

But for now, he says the board is unlikely to recommend action until Garrison presents a corrective action plan on June 6.

Monday’s meeting comes after faculty members voted on May 5 and then again on May 14 to demand that Garrison resign.

Garrison has steadfastly refused to resign over his administration’s decision to retroactively award an executive master’s of business administration degree to Heather Bresch.

Solution:
Appoint a Special Prosecutor and convene a Grand Jury.
Question all concerned.
Alteration of state records is a misdemeanor.
Lie to a Grand Jury and it is a felony.
Those Professors won't give up freedom and pensions for Manchin, Garrison, Goodwin.

[Hoosier Daddy]

More in an Editorial posted to HuntingtonNews.net

May 19, 2008

EDITORIAL: Following WVU's MBA Controversy, Why Is (Governor Manchin) Smiling?

Governor Joe Manchin has hurt himself politically lately, despite his easy re-election win in the Democratic Primary last week.

Take a look at the Governor's reaction to his daughter's serious credibility problem with her claim of an MBA, despite being short over twenty hours of course credit. After all that time, money, and energy spent by WVU to declare the obvious, what does Governor Manchin do?

Does he do like any other Governor in America would do and get out of the limelight after a brief statement? No. Does he let the public outcry run its course, allowing friends of WVU to naturally release their intense feelings about the degradation to their beloved institution?

No again. Instead, Manchin lectured the West Virginia public and defended WVU President Mike Garrison at a time when the only prudent thing for Manchin to do was to sit down and stay mum. After all, it was his family member who brought this migraine to the public's eye.

Have the Manchins ever stopped for even one minute and asked themselves if maybe, just maybe they're a little overexposed lately?

Apparently not. They are in our faces, 24/7, oddly even more so when they make the gaffe of the decade, at least when it comes to higher education in West Virginia. Now why would Manchin act this way? Is he just foolish, after all these years in state politics?

That seems hard to believe. So what is it?

There is an old, true rule in politics that says if an otherwise sharp politician is doing something ill-advised, the only reason he is doing it is because he's afraid even worse of the consequences if he doesn't do it. In short, Manchin has the look of a man who feels trapped. If distracting the public, even in an unpopular way, helps him to at least hide the worse problem, then it is worth it.

There can be only one reason for Joe Manchin to make a fool of himself lately by doing everything he can to prop up the sagging WVU administration. Manchin is too experienced a politician to take such unnecessary hits for Garrison and WVU Board of Governors Steve Goodwin--unless he feels he has to take those hits to keep them happy and in place.

For some reason, Governor Manchin senses that he's got a lot to lose if Garrison has to go. Maybe this explains why it is proving difficult to get the Governor to turn over his own phone records during the time of the fateful decision last year to give his daughter a fake MBA degree.

He could clear a lot of this problem up if he would just do that: complete landline phone records, complete cell phone records that the Governor used in the weeks leading up to his daughter being awarded the fake degree.

Why won't Manchin produce those for the public? We are hereby asking him to do that to clear the air as to his role, if any, in this mess. We aren't resorting to the Freedom of Information Act; we'll leave that to others. Rather, we think it would help the Governor, if he gives complete and accurate phone records, to the press and public, to help support his claim of not being involved in helping his daughter get her phony MBA.

The people deserve to know that their Governor is not micromanaging the state's public college and universities, especially to benefit his family members.

[Lester]

Someone want to explain to me why this is such a big freakin' deal?

Honestly?

[genlock]

It is really no worse than some "third-rate burglary".
Governors have lost their jobs for a lot less.

[Lester]

I guess since I'm not following it that closely, did Manchin have anything to do with it, or did WVU take it upon themselves to try and butter up the man?

More importantly, if they'll admit to it, how many people outside the public limelight have used "life credits" to get a degree (Bach. or Masters.) Plenty of schools use the life credit program, how is this so wrong?

[Hoosier Daddy]

As I understand it, she didn't do ANYTHING to get the credits, including submitting a portfolio to be evaluated. She was the Governor's daughter, and that alone qualified her for a Master's degree in Business, despite the fact she had almost a year of studies left to complete. Life experience credits for college are OK if you actually had the life experience that matches up with what you'd learn in the classroom if you went ahead and completed those courses. She didn't have it.

Governor Manchin has been overly defensive about and protective of WVU President Mike Garrison from the beginning, almost as if he's scared that Garrison will start talking about God knows what if Manchin doesn't cover his ass and keep him in a well paid, highly visible job he obviously isn't qualified to have.

One wonders when we'll hear "the REST of the story." It could get interesting.

[genlock]

Plenty have used "Life Credits" for a Board of Regents Degree.
This is a different animal.
A degree was manufactured using grades and classes pulled from thin air.
A graduate degree.
This is the state primo University that awards Engineering degrees as well as Medical degrees.
Of course, you must pass state board exams to qualify for professional status with those.
This University also presents Law Degrees. Until a few years ago, It was not necessary to pass a bar exam
to practice law in WV if you had graduated from WVU. It was just granted. This was changed, I think, due to the
embarrassing quality and alarming quantity of West Virginia's lawyers. I do not know if comity applied to
these legal graduates. I think it does apply to medical and engineering graduates.

The actions of the WVU leadership, the WVU Board of Governors and the State Government leave quite a few questions to be answered.

1. Was this a common practice?
2. How many degrees were granted in this fashion? Undergrad, graduate or professional?
3. How long has this been going on?
4. Are other state institutions involved in this practice?
5. Has the integrity of the state's certifying boards been compromised as well?
6. What does it cost to get a BS degree in dollars, cash money, no questions asked?
7. Is it true that Pac-Man Jones signs WVU degrees?

Appoint a special prosecutor and convene a grand jury.
We will never get to the bottom of this depending on statements to the press.

[Dr. Whiplash]

IMO, the differences are (1.) high-ranking admins actually cooked the books, and (2.) it smells really rotten: the guv, his daughter, the prez and the university's largest corporate sponsor all connected at the hip and then, whoops, who changed these grades?

If the insinuation in the Huntington News editorial proves true, this scandal could bring down an executive of considerably higher rank than university president.

[Hoosier Daddy]

The latest, from HuntingtonNews.net

Pressure Builds for WVU President to Resign
Board of Governors Delays Decision Until June 6

By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter

Huntington, WV (HNN) –

Following a three hour executive session by the West Virginia University Board of Governors, board chairman Steve Goodwin indicated that no decision had been made on the future of WVU President Mike Garrison.

Garrison has been under intense scrutiny following the E-MBA degree scandal involving Heather Manchin Bresch, Gov. Joe Manchin’s daughter.

“We’re going to wait for his report on June 6,” Goodwin stated during a reporter’s conference call. The President had previously stated that he would correct institutional problems which had been recommended by an investigative panel.

In his April 24 blog, Garrison wrote the report “is not pleasant reading for me, nor for anyone associated with our University.” Lauding the value of a WVU degree, he stated the institution would implement recommended changes by the panel:

“This includes developing standard operating procedures for making decisions about academic concerns, strengthening academic record management policies, reviewing procedures for making and tracking changes to grades and transcripts, and training all employees who deal with academic records in Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act regulations… I take full responsibility for implementing the changes needed to ensure that this never happens again.”

Ironically, Justin Selbert, writing at http://www.directom.com, on April 28 revealed that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which was one of the first newspapers to break the discrepancy involving Bresch’s MBA, carried a Google content ad on it site the same day the allegations broke: “Master’s Degree in MIC, exclusively on line at WVU. Succeed on your terms.” According to a May 19 posting, the ad was removed several days after the scandal hit the media. (http://www.directom.com/internet-market ... l_224.html)

A Charleston attorney --- Greg Chiartas, a WVU Law School graduate --- has been approached about a class action suit against WVU, pertaining to the devaluation of degrees from the Morgantown institution. They have advertised to determine interest in such proposed litigation and received twelve calls, according to a television website.

The ad stated, “Attention Graduating WVU Seniors --- Do you feel that the Heather Bresch scandal has reduced the value of your college degree?”

On Monday afternoon, May 19, Mountaineers for Integrity and Responsibility (MIR), a grassroots movement of WVU faculty, staff, alumni, students and friends working to restore the University’s reputation for academic integrity, issued this statement following the Board of Governors meeting:

“We assume that the confidential personnel matter discussed by the WVU Board of Governors today pertains to Mike Garrison’s presidency. If so, we are glad that the Board appears to take seriously the concerns raised about Mr. Garrison’s position. We understand that this must be a difficult issue for the Board, and we are not surprised that they could not arrive at a decision in a single meeting.”

The release came from Boyd Edwards, MIR chairman, and Michael Perone, MIR vice-chairman. Earlier Monday, Perone, chair of the WVU Department of Psychology, met with Garrison and urged that he resign.

For more information on the group, visit their website, http://www.wvumir.org.

Gov. Joe Manchin also released a statement regarding “continuing discussion regarding the report from the independent panel examining the E-MBA program and his daughter’s degree at WVU.”

Manchin explained that he found himself confronted with two separate perspectives as both a father and governor:

“"As a father, I must admit that I was hoping that the controversy surrounding my daughter’s E-MBA coursework at WVU would eventually resolve itself and subside. However, as a Governor, I recognize that is not realistic.

"In both roles, it has been extremely difficult for me to watch this controversy unfold. As governor, my natural instinct in a crisis is to do my very best to dive in and help bring all sides together to find a resolution. However, because of my family’s involvement in this particular situation, I feel that this is one time in which I am not in a position to follow that instinct, because it is likely that one side or the other would be inclined to question my ability to remain objective,” Manchin said.

The governor continued, “From our perspective, this controversy all started because our daughter sincerely believed that she had her degree, because of a meeting that everyone admits took place with the program’s director in 1998, and when she contacted the university last year, she was simply asking them to find the records that she believed would confirm that.

"Had they told her that after looking through their records they didn’t have the proper documentation on file, we honestly believe that while she may not have liked that answer, she would have accepted it and moved on with her life.

"At no time would she have asked anyone to either 'guess' as to her records or to fabricate grades on those records. As a result, Gayle and I are both angry, in particular, at the fabrication of grades that took place, because it unfairly damages our daughter’s reputation as much as it does the University’s. It was absolutely wrong and, in my mind, completely unacceptable.

"Although I remain confident in President Garrison’s ability to follow the recommendations of the independent panel’s report, I am also fully aware of the concerns that have been raised by the faculty, staff, students and alumni of WVU and recognize that they must be addressed in some meaningful manner. WVU needs to find a way to begin to heal the wounds that have been created over these last few weeks, and it will take all parties working together to achieve that goal.”

The governor emphasized that Board of Governors members are not under his control and remain free to make individual and collective decisions. Stating that he himself has compromised objectivity, the governor and father declined to intervene in the issue.

“I consider this matter one that should be decided by the members of the Board of Governors based upon their own insights and beliefs and information, and as governor, I will continue to support whatever direction they believe is in the best interests of WVU both now and in the future."

At one point on Monday, a rumor spread from a Charleston media source suggesting that the resignation of Garrison was imminent; however, it has not been given credence.

[Lester]

Well bummer... I was hoping to see him run as a VeeP.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Well bummer... I was hoping to see him run as a VeeP.

Now that's funny right there. I don't care who you are ...



[/Larry the Cable Guy]

[Lester]

I don't think it's too political an op-ed I saw on the matter... when I find it, I'll post it up. (It's just more factual observation, and up until now it made pretty good sense.)

[Oldiesdude]

Gee, I don't have a degree.... as you can tell from my past posts to the board, but can they just not take away or void the MBA. Do what they want to do with whom ever and get on with life?

[Arp2]

I just continue to be amazed that you people continue to be amazed. Like I said, this is who these people are all the way down to the DNA. For them, power, rewards, and credentials are things to be handed down from them on high to their chosen, not to be earned by individuals themselves from the bottom up.

And, by the way, I thought this thread was going to be about Ohio, the place current officials are trying so hard to turn it into a West Virginia ten times the size of the original that they're pulling muscles and dislocating joints.

[Hoosier Daddy]

WVU Faculty Leaving in Wake of Bresch Scandal
Three Departing Faculty Members Cite Garrison’s Failures of Leadership as Factors in Decision

By Huntingtonnews.net Staff
from news release

Morgantown, WV (HNN) —

Three West Virginia University faculty members say they are leaving the university -- in part because of WVU President Mike Garrison’s role in the Heather Bresch scandal and his mishandling of its aftermath.

Dr. Aina Puce, a professor and Director of Neuroimaging in the Center for Advanced Imaging, Department of Radiology, has accepted a position at Indiana University. “Some weeks ago I tendered my resignation as a senior faculty member from the WVU Health Sciences Center,” Dr. Puce says. “I resigned as I have no confidence in the WVU leadership, most particularly the current university president and the Board of Governors….I will move my federal research funding and lab to an institution with excellent academic integrity and a university leadership who are exemplary role models for faculty, staff, and students alike.”

Dr. Steve Zdatny, the chair of WVU’s Department of History and a winner of outstanding teaching awards from both the Eberly College of Arts & Sciences and the WVU Foundation, received an offer from the University of Vermont to be its history department chair. “But the truth is that, without the events of the last year, I might not even have applied for another job,” Dr. Zdatny says. “As it is, despite the many wonderful colleagues and students I leave behind, I am glad to be going. And I think it’s fair to say that a lot of them wish they were leaving too.”

Brian Gerber, an assistant professor in the Division of Public Administration of the School of Applied Social Sciences, recently accepted an offer at Louisiana State University. While his decision to leave WVU wasn’t based entirely on the Garrison-Bresch situation, it was a definite factor. “I like it here,” Dr. Gerber says. “I like WVU. It offered me a great opportunity to grow as a scholar. But one of the factors I had to consider [in my decision] was the leadership of the university. The Garrison situation sets a negative climate. His actions have called into question the integrity of the university.”

Dr Aina Puce can be reached at 304-293-6898; email: apuce029@gmail.com.

Dr. Steve Zdatny can be reached in France at 011 33 142413792; email: szdatny@wvu.edu.

Dr. Brian Gerber can be reached at 304-293-2614 ex. 3154; email: Brian.Gerber@mail.wvu.edu.

Mountaineers for Integrity and Responsibility (MIR) is a grassroots movement of faculty, staff, alumni, students, and friends of WVU joining to restore the University’s reputation for academic integrity in the wake of the Bresch scandal, in which the daughter of West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin was awarded a graduate degree that she did not earn. MIR advocates systemic changes to WVU’s governance to ensure WVU’s future as a respected academic institution. For more information, please visit our website at www.wvumir.org.

from HuntingtonNews.net

[Hoosier Daddy]

WVU president presents corrective action plan to board
May 30, 2008 @ 03:35 PM
Herald-Dispatch.com


MORGANTOWN (AP) --

West Virginia University President Mike Garrison has given the school’s board of governors a plan he says will help WVU recover from a master’s degree scandal involving the governor’s daughter.

While Garrison discussed the plan in general terms for over an hour on Friday, his administration did not immediately release a copy of the report. Garrison said the plan would be posted online later Friday.

Garrison says his plan will require “zero tolerance for error, misstep or poor judgment.”

It aims to strengthen record keeping, grading policies and other procedures in graduate programs.

Instead of discussing the plan, the board went into closed session to discuss what Chairman Steve Goodwin called personnel matters.

Source: HeraldDispatch.com

[Lee]

So in other words, it's business as usual?

[genlock]

WVU President Garrison confirmed in his presentation that there are 70 more
eMBA degrees that are problematic. That's 10% of the total ever granted. Missing or destroyed records, classes faked,
grades pulled from thin air. 70 more, in just the business department.
The Board of Governors will not ask for the President's resignation and, for once, the Governor of the
state is staying out of University's business.
Should have been called ezMBA.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Surprised no one has posted this by now ...

WVU President Mike Garrison will resign Sept. 1
Jun 06, 2008 @ 11:25 AM
Herald-Dispatch.com


CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)

West Virginia University President Mike Garrison said Friday he will resign in September to end the controversy surrounding the improper awarding of a master's degree to the governor's daughter.

"After careful reflection, I have determined I am the one person who is uniquely situated to stop this dialogue with my decision," Garrison told the school's Board of Governors. "It is the most difficult decision I have ever faced. But it is a clear decision with a clear outcome."

The 39-year-old Garrison's nine-month administration has been dogged from the start by the degree scandal and the sudden departure of former football coach Rich Rodriguez that triggered a $4 million lawsuit by WVU over a buyout clause in his contract.

Last week, after meeting privately with Garrison and key staff, the Board of Governors declared Garrison had done nothing wrong in the matter of Mylan Inc. executive Heather Bresch.

Though an independent panel found there was no evidence that Garrison interfered, it was on his watch last fall that WVU administrators added courses and grades to Bresch's incomplete transcript, awarding her a 1998 executive master's business of administration degree she'd been claiming on her resume.

The controversy has prompted newspapers and alumni to call for Garrison to resign. Also, a growing number of alumni have said they would not donate until Garrison left.

Despite two faculty votes demanding he resign, Garrison said he stayed because he was asked to by the board and because it was what he believed a leader should do.

The board called Garrison's decision to leave "unselfish."

"Your decision today should initiate a call to heal divisiveness and to move forward," said Steve Goodwin, the board's chairman.

"Sometimes this great university and that public trust are far more important than any one individual and any one issue," Goodwin said. "Mike Garrison demonstrated that by his unselfish action."

There was no immediate word on what Garrison would do until his resignation takes effect Sept. 1, or when the Board of Governors would start looking for a successor.

"I will always stand with this university. I will stand in whatever way I can serve," Garrison said. "And I ask that Mountaineers everywhere stand together, now more than ever, to move West Virginia University forward."

Gov. Joe Manchin said he understood how difficult it was for Garrison to resign and he should be commended.

"Today's actions were obviously taken with great care, and it is my sincere hope that all who truly love WVU will appreciate the president's and the board's efforts and will work with them in the coming months to continue to move the university forward," Manchin said in a statement.

English professor Lisa Weihman was among the dozen faculty members at the meeting.

"I don't think anyone is celebrating this," she said. "It's a very sad occasion."

Weihman said Garrison's departure should be a first step toward changing how the university is governed. She urged the board to make the presidential search "inclusive and transparent."

The announcement overshadowed what Garrison saw was his greatest achievement: The largest pay raise for faculty and staff in recent memory. Garrison made pay increases a priority last year as he lobbied to become president.

Under the $26.4 million plan, faculty salaries would increase an average of 7.3 percent, or $4,590. The board did not take immediate action on the proposal, which Garrison said was crucial to recruit new faculty from across the country.

Source: Herald-Dispatch.com

[DJSHOCKLEY]

This is such a disaster for WVU. A few years ago their law school drops to tier 4, the hospital problems and now this..