Special to the Chronicle

Medical University of South Carolina President David Cole receives $974,795 a year.

He is eligible for an “additional performance-based pay” of up to $150,000, along with $80,000 in deferred compensation, university spokeswoman Heather Woolwine said.

Why did Cole, a surgeon and former chairman of MUSC’s Department of Surgery, list only a university salary of $276,065 on his most-recent Statement of Economic Interests (SEI)?

Woolwine said Dr. Cole’s annual salary “comes from state dollars and MUSC practice plan funds,” adding the plan funds are based on “overall patient revenues.”

The State Ethics Commission doesn’t require the reporting of that income amount, she said.

“We follow the instructions on the State Ethics form, which requires reporting of governmental and foundation money,” Wool-wine said, noting that the MUSC practice plan funds are not foundation income.

State ethics law requires the “chief administrative official” of a state agency, including public college and university presidents, to report to the State Ethics Commission “substantial monetary value received from a governmental entity.”

Under a change that took effect in 2017, the law generally requires them to report the sources but not amounts of private income.

In SEIs filed this year by the presidents of 9 public colleges, we found 6 – Carolina, Clemson, The Citadel, Coastal Carolina, Francis Marion and Winthrop – reported foundation income.

The state Supreme Court in 1991 ruled that a USC foundation was a public body under the state’s open-records law “due to its activities involving public funds.”

In an email, College of Charleston spokesman Mike Robertson said college president Andrew Hsu receives an annual state salary of $241,782 and a $200,000 “foundation supplement.”

Megan Varner Price of Lander University said President Richard Cosentino is paid a $211,285 state salary, plus $100,000 from the university’s foundation.

Cosentino is “authorized to use” a foundation-owned Jeep Grand Cherokee and receives a $40,000 yearly housing allowance because the campus president’s house had to be “demolished due to significant structural issues.”

State Ethics Commission Executive Director Meghan Walker said state law doesn’t address whether foundation payments and benefits are public income, but foundation income appears to be private.