Iowa State reaches retirement settlement with assistant to its outgoing president

AMES — The longtime executive assistant to Iowa State University’s president has signed a settlement agreeing not to sue and to retire by March in exchange for compensation recognizing her “years of commitment and service to the university.”

Shirley Knipfel — who since her appointment two decades ago has served three ISU presidents in Gregory Geoffroy, Steven Leath and then Wendy Wintersteen — signed the agreement in late August to step into a lower part-time position before fully retiring in the spring.

Per the deal, Knipfel will voluntarily transfer to a three-quarters-time customer relations coordinator in the Office of Admissions on Nov. 1 and then reduce her employment to half-time, effective Jan. 1 — before fully retiring no later than March 1.

In exchange for Knipfel’s commitment to release and not sue Iowa State, the Board of Regents, or the state for “any and all known or unknown actions, causes of action, claims, or liabilities of any kind that have or could be asserted by Knipfel arising out of or related to her employment with the university,” Iowa State agreed to pay her in her new role the same amount she’d been making as executive assistant to the president.

Knipfel’s current salary is $112,270.

“The overall intent is to provide to Knipfel the same pay per month earned by Knipfel as an executive assistant to the president, prorated based on FTE, during the remainder of her employment with the university,” according to the settlement.

Other customer relations coordinators at Iowa State make around $40,000 a year, according to state records.

Additionally — conditional again on Knipfel’s commitment not to sue — Iowa State agreed to pay her an extra $40,000.

“This agreement is not, and shall not in any way be, construed as an admission of any of the parties that any of the parties violated any federal, state, or local laws or university policies,” according to the agreement.

Knipfel first arrived at Iowa State in 1967 as a freshman and started working there in 1998, according to state records, eventually climbing to executive assistant to the president in 2005, under President Gregory Geoffroy.

She continued in the role after Geoffroy left and Steven Leath became president in 2012, and she also served when Wendy Wintersteen stepped in as Iowa State’s first female president in 2017. Wintersteen earlier this year announced plans to retire by Jan. 1, and the Board of Regents is in the midst of a national search for her replacement.

The settlement didn’t provide additional details.

A search committee will interview semifinalists later this month, with plans to bring finalists to campus in early November.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com