Graduate Teaching Assistant, FIN-685/FIN-485 Economic & Financial Consulting (Student)

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This position is available only to enrolled American University students.

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Time Type:

FLSA Status:

Summary:

The Graduate Teaching Assistant will work closely with Prof. Chang Li to support FIN-685/FIN-485 Economic and Financial Consulting, a live online summer course designed to prepare students for careers in economic consulting. The course teaches students how to apply economic reasoning and data-based evidence to real-world business disputes, using consulting-style cases drawn from expert reports, court opinions, and market evidence. Students practice framing consulting questions, evaluating assumptions, assessing evidence, and communicating results clearly and professionally in contexts such as intellectual property, contracts, consumer demand, valuation, and antitrust. 

The Teaching Assistant will support course preparation, online class delivery, student engagement, grading, feedback, course-related research, and administrative coordination. This role is best suited for a well-organized graduate student who can communicate clearly, manage deadlines, protect student confidentiality, and help students connect economic and financial concepts to applied consulting problems. 

Essential Functions:

1.) Teaching and Course Support 

• Assist with preparation and organization of course materials, including casebook readings, lecture notes or slides, consulting-style assignments, discussion prompts, and assessment materials. 

• Support live online class sessions as assigned, including monitoring student questions, helping with breakout-room activities, tracking participation, and assisting with online learning technology. 

• Help students understand course expectations, consulting-style problem framing, evidence evaluation, and professional communication standards. 

• Hold virtual office hours, review sessions, or assignment-support meetings as assigned by the instructor. 

• Help maintain the course site and organize course communications, readings, deadlines, and resources. 

2.) Grading and Feedback 

• Evaluate assignments, short briefs, case analyses, participation, quizzes, exams, and other assessments using instructor-provided rubrics. 

• Provide timely, constructive, and professional feedback that helps students improve analytical reasoning, evidence use, clarity, and written or oral communication. 

• Maintain accurate records of grades, attendance, and participation, and promptly flag student concerns or academic-integrity issues for the instructor. 

3.) Course-Related Research and Consulting-Material Support 

• Assist in locating, summarizing, organizing, and verifying course materials related to economic and financial consulting, including expert reports, court opinions, market evidence, and business dispute examples. 

• Support basic data collection, cleaning, organization, and analysis for course examples, demonstrations, and applied exercises. 

• Help prepare course materials involving topics such as intellectual property, contracts, consumer demand, valuation, antitrust, and other applied finance/economics issues. 

• Assist with background research, literature review, and source checking that support class preparation and student learning. 

4.) Administrative, Online-Class, and Student Engagement Support 

• Coordinate routine communication with students about assignments, due dates, online-session logistics, and course resources. 

• Assist with planning and logistics for guest-speaker sessions or industry-career conversations when scheduled. 

• Track recurring student questions and provide the instructor with suggestions for clarifying course materials or assignment instructions. 

• Maintain confidentiality and comply with University, school, course, FERPA, and academic-integrity policies. 

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:

• Part-time.

• 10 hours per week.

Salary Range:

• $19.50 per hour.

Required Education and Experience:

• Current graduate student in good academic standing. 

• Strong written and verbal communication skills. 

• Ability to explain complex economic, financial, and data-based concepts in a clear and student-friendly way. 

• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple deadlines during a compressed six-week summer term. 

• Comfort interacting professionally with students, faculty, and staff in a live online course environment. 

• Ability to exercise sound judgment, maintain confidentiality, and follow course and University policies. 

Preferred Education and Experience: 

• JD students and PhD students are preferred. 

• Coursework or experience in finance, economics, applied microeconomics, business analytics, law and economics, valuation, strategy, or a related field. 

• Interest in or familiarity with economic consulting, litigation consulting, expert reports, court opinions, business disputes, contracts, intellectual property, consumer demand, valuation, or antitrust. 

• Experience as a teaching assistant, grader, tutor, writing coach, research assistant, or peer mentor. 

• Familiarity with Canvas or another learning management system, Zoom or comparable live online teaching tools, Microsoft Excel, and basic data analysis tools such as R, Python, or Stata. 

• Ability to evaluate written analysis and help students improve concise, professional, consulting-style communication. 

Additional Eligibility Qualifications:

• The course meets live online on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:00 PM to 4:10 PM ET, June 29, 2026 through August 8, 2026. 

• The TA should be available for some or all scheduled live sessions, as determined by the instructor, and for preparation, grading, office hours, student communication, and course administration outside class time. 

• Exact weekly hours, appointment dates, compensation, and eligibility requirements should be completed by the hiring unit in Workday according to University policy. 

Other Details

• This position is available only to enrolled American University students.

• Please note this job announcement is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

• American University is an E-Verify employer.

• Visit https://www.american.edu/hr/ for additional information about American University employment and benefits.

Current American University Employees

American University current employees (including those employed in student positions) must apply through their employee Workday account. If you are a current employee at American University, please log into Workday and select the Find Jobs report which will take you to our internal career listings.

Contact Us

For more information or assistance with the American University careers site, email theworkline@american.edu.

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