1. To whom it may concern:
I am a Clinical Professor in the Department of Economics and the Coordinator of e-Learning for the
School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). I
teach the global online course Microeconomics Principles through Coursera.org, and I had the
privilege of working with Ankit Jain as one of my Community TAs.
The top students in this course are invited to apply for the Community TA position for the next
offering of the class. As a Community TA, Mr. Jain was trained in the Illinois community
management course to monitor forums consisting of over 10,000 participants. He helps students find
answers to questions, supports the course in running smoothly, and notifies staff of problems and
emergencies. Additionally, he helps to create a list of frequently asked questions, maintains the
course wiki, and helps maintain appropriate behavior in the forums. He also collaborates with a few
other Community TAs from around the world. Mr. Jain has been a Community TA for us for several
offerings of my course and engages hundreds of students around the world in online learning.
Mr. Jain demonstrates qualities that make him outstanding to work with. He exemplifies strong
leadership skills through managing course forums in Coursera and maintaining the course resources.
Additionally, he exhibits superb teaching skills through assisting the students in problem solving and
critical thinking. His excellent analytical and communication skills are evident in his clear
instruction of complex concepts to a diverse group of participants. He has also recently been helping
with the social media pages for the course. He has gone above and beyond what was required and is
an excellent asset to my course.
Mr. Jain has demonstrated the skills and abilities that will make him successful and an outstanding
candidate. I think that he will be able to contribute to your team in a positive and effective way.
Please do not hesitate to contact me via email should you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Dr. José J. Vázquez-Cognet
Clinical Professor, Department of Economics
Coordinator of E-Learning, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
vazquezj@illinois.edu
Urbana, IL 61801