Dr Melanie Smith, Founder
Dr Melanie Smith is a leading academic in the field of EU law, and was a tenured Associate Professor of EU, Public and Administrative Law for over 13 years at Cardiff University where she also ran a writing course for faculty. Melanie has over 18 years experience of programme development, teaching and supervising students at all levels in Russell Group Universities in the UK. She remains an Emerita at Cardiff University for research purposes, and an active independent researcher, public speaker and EU law and policy consultant.
Melanie has taken forward her passion for helping writers everywhere create a happier, healthier relationship with their writing practice by founding Academic Coach which offers a number of services to corporations, individuals, and Universities.
The mission of Academic Coach is to provide clear, effective coaching and training to corporations, institutions and individuals who want to upskill their writing and thrive in their professional lives. She has delivered effective coaching programmes, and writing training programmes, to over 800 clients, institutions and private companies, all underpinned by the latest research into writing and writing productivity. Our Framework for Writing Success is woven through all training and coaching to guarantee successful transition from theory to practice, alongside employing innovative teaching pedagogy to suit different learning styles.
what kind of coaching do we offer?
The coaching profession can be a minefield. There are lots of coaches available out there, but how to choose which one is right for you?
First, what kind of coaching are you looking for? There’s coaching, and then there’s coaching.
Academic Coach is not an executive career coach, or a life coach. We will not ask you to colour in the wheel of life, nor are we in the business of moving your career from one profession to another. We provide specialist writing training - in academia and outside of it - to those who are looking to excel at this particular skillset to move their career forward. Good writing is the pathway to success in many careers. The main focus of our service then is writing; notoriously difficult to do well, efficiently and without procrastination or dull, prosaic text.
We provide specialist academic career training in addition to writing training because an academic career is rooted and tied to the quality and quantity of the writing that is produced. Besides that, academia is a peculiar field where the rules of the game are unintelligible to outsiders, so specialist career coaching requires someone who has worked in that particular environment for many years. We are not in the business of moving people from academia into other fields: that is a different skillset altogether, and there are excellent coaches already working in this field.
How to choose?
There are lots of free resources on the website, including videos of Academic Coach for you to get a feel for the kind of coaching on offer. Each product page shows you where that particular service fits within the suite of our products. We have the blog page offering lots of free resources and advice. It is important to have a coach that fits your style, and you should always interview a coach before taking on the 1-1 coaching service - it is important that you can determine if you are a good fit with your coach.
Besides that, experience matters. It is important you find a coach with the right academic qualifications, training and experience to provide the service you need to meet your goals.
Want more information as to why I coach?
Current writing projects
Books /Reports
M. Smith The Academic Coach’s guide to being a happier writer (2023)
Publications
Please click here to see my full publications list, including my professional consultancy work.
CV
Please click here to see my teaching qualifications and academic roles.
I have also trained with Patoss in ‘Enabling Students with SpLDs to Succeed in HE through Effective use of Study Skills Certificate’ in order to support writing and study skills for dyslexic and other neurodiverse students.
Continuing professional development is a core aspect of Academic Coach’s mission to offer the best coaching and teaching to our clients.