What Columbia University job perks made Panagariya quit as NITI Aayog vice-chief? All you need to know
Panagariya said that he informed Prime Minster Narendra Modi, who is also the chairman of the NITI Aayog, of his desire to move back to academics around two months ago.
In Short
- Panagariya resigned on Tuesday
- He said he would return to academia
- His last day on the job is August 31
NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya resigned yesterday. Panagariya said he would be returning to the US after completing his tenure on August 31. He said he would return to academia. Panagariya said that he informed Prime Minster Narendra Modi, who is also the chairman of the NITI Aayog, of his desire to move back to academics around two months ago.
The NITI Aayog vice-chairman said he had to make a choice as it would not be possible for him to get the job he had been doing at Columbia University. "If I were at 40, then I would have got job anywhere...the kind of job I have at Columbia is almost impossible to get at this age," he said.
According to information available on Columbia University's portal, these are the facilities which a faculty member gets there:
BENEFIT PROGRAMMES
Faculty and officers of research holding full-time appointments are eligible to participate in the University's benefits programmes for officers. Some of these programmes assist officers in meeting the cost of medical and dental care for themselves, their spouses, and dependents. Others help to compensate for the loss of salary if they become disabled, protect them if they are injured while travelling for purposes associated with their University responsibilities, or provide their families with financial assistance if they should die. Still others help them prepare for retirement; aid them in meeting educational costs they incur for themselves, their spouses, and children; or provide assistance with the purchase of homes.
In addition to eligible officers, the University provides benefits to their spouses and qualified children. To the extent permitted by law, the University permits qualified same-sex domestic partners to participate on the same terms as legal spouses. Eligible children include adopted, foster, and stepchildren of both the officers and their spouses or same-sex domestic partners.
RETIREMENT
The University's retirement plan is designed to assist eligible officers in realising their financial objectives in retirement. The plan is fully funded by the University; the individual officer is not required to contribute. Pension contributions on base salary and qualifying additional compensation are made on a monthly basis according to schedules that take into account the officer's age, tenure status, years of service, total earnings during the calendar year, and whether the officer is a member of one of the University's faculty practice plans. The University makes contributions, at the direction of the officer, into various retirement investment vehicles, each of which offers a variety of financial options. The retirement investments of faculty appointed in a professorial rank, including those with modifiers in their titles (clinical, of professional practice, at affiliated hospital or institute) are fully vested immediately. Faculty in non-professorial ranks start to participate in the retirement plan after completing two years of full-time service. Retirement contributions cannot be forfeited or lost for any reason.
The University offers eligible officers a choice among several medical care options. Officers with medical coverage from another source may elect not to participate in any of these plans. The University shares in the cost of its medical plans, with the officers' premiums deducted monthly from their paychecks on a pretax basis.
Anyone who participates in a University medical plan is automatically enrolled in its comprehensive prescription drug coverage programme. The plan permits participants to purchase eligible prescription medicines on the payment of a flat co-payment.
Under the dental care plan, eligible officers and their covered dependents may receive dental services from a network of dentists who are alumni of the University's College of Dental Medicine as well as from the network of dentists provided by Aetna.
Full-time officers who are unable to work due to an illness or injury may be eligible to receive their full salary and benefits under the University's salary continuation plan for up to six months in any consecutive 12-month period or until they return to work, whichever occurs first. If they are disabled after six months and their rights to salary continuation have been exhausted, the University's long-term disability (LTD) insurance plan is designed to replace a substantial portion of their salaries. Eligible officers are automatically covered by both of these plans at no cost. Officers may elect to buy additional LTD coverage under an optional plan through payroll deductions on an after-tax basis.
Full-time officers automatically receive basic term life insurance of one times salary up to $50,000 at no cost. They may purchase optional life insurance for coverage up to six times their base salary or $1,000,000, whichever is less on an after-tax basis. The election of more than three times salary, or more than $500,000, requires evidence of insurability. The monthly premium for the optional insurance is based on age and the amount of coverage elected.
Full-time officers may also purchase dependent life insurance for their spouses or same-sex domestic partners and dependent children. The coverage choices for a spouse are $10,000, $30,000, or $50,000; for dependent children the amount is $10,000. Officers pay the full cost of this benefit on an after-tax basis through monthly payroll deductions.
The University's long-term care (LTC) insurance financially assists current and retired officers when they or members of their families can no longer live independently due to chronic physical problems or mental impairment.
FAMILY SERVICES
Columbia has developed a wide range of policies, programmes, and services to assist faculty and other officers in meeting their family responsibilities while pursuing their careers at the University.
Faculty and officers of research may take various types of child and family leaves. These include medical leaves for disabilities arising from child birth; leaves to care for newborn or newly adopted children; and FMLA leaves whose purposes, as defined by law, include caring for children, spouses, and parents with serious medical conditions or dealing with needs arising from a family member being called to active military duty.
In addition, full-time faculty on the Morningside campus can participate in the Parental Workload Relief Programme, which provides a paid leave of absence for parents of newborn and newly adopted children. These options are described in the sections on "Leaves of Absence" in Chapters III and IV of this Handbook.
BACKUP CARE PROGRAMME
Full-time faculty and officers of research may experience temporary problems in making arrangements for the care of others. In some cases, the need to assume that responsibility is unexpected; in others, well-established care arrangements have been temporarily disrupted. To assist them, as well as other full-time compensated officers, non-union support staff, and doctoral students, so that they do not need to take time off from work or study, the University has developed the Backup Care Programmeme to provide up to 100 hours of support each year by qualified professionals.
The programme offers support any time, day or night, throughout the year. It covers both planned and emergency needs. The persons for whom care is required can range in age from infants to adult family members to the elderly. They may be healthy or ill and may reside with the officer or, in the case of adults, live separately anywhere in the United States. The care can be provided at home or in care centres. It can even be used so that a child or adult can accompany an officer who is travelling on professional business.
HOUSING
The University currently owns more than 160 residential buildings with almost 7,000 apartments. Most of these are located in or near Morningside Heights. A smaller number are located near the Medical Center or in Nyack in Rockland County, New York. The University manages these properties to provide convenient housing for its full-time faculty, other officers, and students.
Most of the apartments in the University housing system are assigned to graduate students. The supply of housing suitable for faculty and other officers is limited in comparison to demand. Therefore, eligibility for housing is restricted to certain categories of full-time compensated officers of instruction, research, the libraries, and administration.
PARKING
The University maintains several parking facilities and leases additional spaces in other lots for the use of its faculty and other officers. Certain lots at the Medical Center also accommodate students enrolled on that campus. Some of the University's parking facilities are dedicated to commuters living outside of Manhattan. Others may be used for long-term parking by eligible officers. City regulations do not permit overnight parking in garages and lots that are set aside exclusively for commuters.
Since demand for University parking greatly exceeds supply, eligibility for both 24-hour and commuter parking is limited. No one who does not meet the requirements stated in those documents may receive parking; no one who ceases to meet them after being authorized to park may retain those privileges. Both parking offices will assist individuals who are not eligible for University parking in finding space in a commercial garage in the area surrounding their respective campuses.
RETIREE BENEFITS
Faculty, officers of research, and other officers who retire from Columbia continue to enjoy a wide range of University privileges and benefits.
BENEFITS
Qualified retired officers may continue to obtain medical coverage for themselves and family members through the University. To participate in the medical plan for retirees, officers must be at least 55 years at the time of retirement and must have completed at least 10 years of full-time service after age 45. In addition, they must have actively worked at the University for at least 12 continuous months prior to retirement. This restriction does not apply in the following situations:
A faculty member has taken a terminal sabbatical leave; an officer has signed a retirement agreement that provides for a terminal leave, with or without salary; and an officer has been placed on a medical leave, with or without salary, during the final year of appointment.
HOUSING
By reason of their affiliation, certain faculty and other officers living in a University apartment at the time of retirement may be eligible to remain in their apartments, depending on when they signed their leases and retired, their former tenure status, how long they held full-time appointments, and how long they have resided in University housing. In all instances, their University apartment must be their primary residence, as determined by the Residential and Commercial Operations Department of Columbia University Facilities, or they will be required to vacate their apartment.
As a general rule, full-time professorial-rank faculty, including those with modifiers in their titles, may remain in their apartments for a maximum period of three years after retirement. All other tenants are given a reasonable period of time within which to vacate their apartments after they retire. The three years of post-retirement eligibility for full-time professorial-rank faculty who have signed phased retirement agreements commences from the date they fully retire.
PARKING
At the discretion of the University, retired faculty and officers of research may continue to park their cars in a University garage or lot if they had 24-hour parking prior to retirement. Those who had commuting privileges ordinarily may park in a University facility only on the days on which they are teaching.
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