Wintersteen first in Iowa to land pay raises upon hire

Iowa State University's new president is scheduled for a $475,000 deferred compensation payout in 2020 - year three of her five-year contract and the same year University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld is scheduled to receive his $1 million deferred compensation payout.

ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean Wendy Wintersteen, selected this week to become the 16th ISU president on Nov. 20, additionally is slated for stepped salary increases in each of her first three years. Her unique contract arrangement makes her the first regent university head in Iowa to receive scheduled pay raises upon appointment, a stepped deferred compensation schedule, and a package payout before the end of her contract.

With her base salary scheduled to swell from this first year's $525,000 - which matches former ISU President Steven Leath's pay when he left in May - to $550,000 in 2018, and $590,000 in 2019, her total compensation could reach $1.065 million in 2020.

If the board doesn't adjust Harreld' base pay of $590,000 before his contract expires in 2020, the Board of Regents that year will be paying its ISU and UI presidents the same for the first time in more than a decade.

Because Harreld's deferred compensation is worth $1 million, his total compensation in 2020 could be at least $1.59 million.

The highest-paid executive at a public or private college in 2015-16 - according to the most recent analysis by The Chronicle of Higher Education - was Arizona State University President Michael M. Crow at $1.56 million.

Wintersteen's projected compensation for 2020 would put her at No. 6 on that 2015-16 analysis of 1,200 chief executives at public and private colleges and universities.

When asked if the board scheduled the early payout and stepped increases to align presidential compensation for its two top research institutions, board spokesman Josh Lehman said the regents 'can address future compensation increases with any of the institutional leaders at any time.”

The board decided to provide Wintersteen with stepped deferred compensation contributions - $125,000 after her first year, $150,000 after year two, and $200,000 after the third year - to match the stepped salary raises, Lehman said.

'Each decision on compensation is unique, and this is what the board decided to do,” he said.

Wintersteen has been with Iowa State since 1979 and told a crowd during a candidate forum earlier this month she's had opportunities to leave but chose to stick in her role as dean of the ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, which boasts the No. 1 ranked agricultural and biosystems engineering program in the country.

Her uncommon salary and deferred compensation structure is laid out in an initial employment letter she signed Monday. But Lehman said the board is compiling a more comprehensive contract with Wintersteen, something it also did with Mark Nook following his 2016 hire as University of Northern Iowa president.

'Starting with the hiring of President Nook, the board decided in addition to employment letters, they would do more formalized contracts for all presidential hires going forward,” Lehman said.

Nook's more thorough contract is six pages and details presidential duties, expressly prohibiting him from providing professional services to any firm or person other than the board and requiring him to get permission to serve on corporate boards or committees. Nook's contract also details housing, transportation, and technology allowances; and it lays out possibilities for termination with and without just cause.

Because the board didn't previously craft the more formalized contracts, UI President Harreld's binding agreement is simply his initial one-page hire letter - which does not detail his presidential duties or termination and liquidation options, for example.

The Board of Regents typically considers pay raises, monetary incentives, and deferred compensation packages during annual presidential performance reviews in the summer, but Harreld, since arriving in fall 2015, has opted not to receive any raise - with the universities grappling with dwindling state support and rising tuition rates.

The last time the ISU and UI presidents earned the same base pay was in 2004, when ISU President Gregory Geoffroy and UI President David Skorton both made $293,250. Skorton's pay bumped up to $350,768 in 2006, while Geoffroy's went to $323,316. Former UI President Sally Mason continued earning more during her employment from 2007 to 2015 - even as Iowa State in 2013 surpassed UI as the largest university in Iowa.

Wintersteen's initial employment letter includes recognition of her existing tenured professor status and vows to uphold that in her new role. Nook, who previously earned tenure, also received that status upon his hire.

Harreld, a former IBM businessman who does not have a doctorate and had no academic administrative experience, has said he will not seek tenure.

As with the other presidents, Wintersteen's initial agreement requires her to live in Iowa State's presidential residence - called The Knoll. The Knoll, however, is scheduled for $750,000 in improvements to its first and second floors.

As her appointment is so new and the project is in its initial planning phases, ISU spokeswoman Annette Hacker said the university hasn't yet determined when Wintersteen will move in.

'They do have a home here in Ames and will remain there until they can move into the Knoll,” according to Hacker.

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