“Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.
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How universities benefit from this service
Academic writing is rarely centred in professional development courses for academics, yet it is key to academic – and University – success. Simple interventions like mentoring and professional coaching in relation to academic writing demonstrate a commitment on the behalf of the University to nurturing the extraordinary talents of their staff. Not doing this has a massive cost to an organisation as staff labour under increasing pressure without the tools to write high quality outputs in a time scarce environment.
Bringing in an external coach means that staff do not visualise this as yet one more task to pile onto an ever burgeoning list of things they are being asked to do by their employer. When Universities invest in a variety of coaching and training courses bespoke to their staff’s needs, these interventions are paid back 10-fold in staff productivity and overall commitment to research excellence. Academic Coach offers Universities a number of different services to propel the writing talents of their faculty forward.
workshops
Academic Coach offers workshops, or a series of workshops, to Universities wishing to provide writing support to faculty and PhD students to upskill their staff.
how workshops deliver results
Academic Coach offers a range of writing workshops that elevates writing skills to enhance the quality and quantity of outputs for faculty. Typically a workshop will last 3 hours. There are no standard workshops at Academic Coach, as I create a bespoke package that matches the exact challenges your department or faculty face. The workshops are based on the latest research into writing and writing productivity, and will follow the Academic Writing Course Framework. I am interested in results for faculty, not box ticking, and this is why I don’t just trot out the same old 2 hour workshop across the country to every discipline, department or University campus. Your staff matter, and the best investment is the one designed by them, for them.
Faculty workshops are co-designed by the institution. Academic Coach can survey participants in advance of the workshop in order to identify the particular requirements of the workshop participants so that the workshop can be designed in a way that has maximum benefits for that cohort and the institution.
Small group catapults university performance
Investing in the development of Early Career Researchers pays dividends to the University. These staff are the future producers of cutting edge scholarship. Internal mentorship might be unable to bridge the gap of what ECRs need to know in order to become efficient and successful researchers and writers. Specialist small group mentorship can really move ECRs forward, give them confidence and help them to achieve their short and medium term career goals. Academic Coach offers Universities a package of coaching sessions for Early Career Researchers, or a package of 1-1 sessions for selected staff. These sessions take the form of small groups (a maximum of 4 participants per group), or individual sessions. Each small group coaching session takes 1.5 hours, and a package is 5 sessions in total. Coaching is bespoke to the group.
Further information about the small group coaching package can be obtained by contacting Academic Coach.
long term coaching for stafffor maximum refability
Academic Coach can offer long term coaching for University departments. I regularly provide year long coaching programmes for Universities for specific interventions - for example, journal article writing would include access to my online curriculum plus live group coaching for implementation. Different institutions request different interventions - like my holistic Collective training, which tackles multiple aspects of writing including getting to the 4* level, building the rock solid habit and optimising for greater productivity and quality.
Writing retreats
Research into writing productivity shows that writing together, or social writing, is a key component of happy and productive academic writers. Retreats can be 1 or 2 days, and they provide a forum where faculty can come together and talk about the challenges and pleasures of writing, as well as sit together to write uninterrupted by the many and various tasks that pull academics away from they daily writing. This is not a replacement for a proper writing environment, but acts as a beneficial bonus to enable staff to focus purely on writing for a short intensive period.
The Academic Coach Writing retreat will be structured according to a programme designed in consultation with the department or faculty and facilitated by Academic Coach. Usually we will include a session where we focus on strategies to increase writing productivity and discuss the steps needed to become a happier academic writer. This short introductory workshop is based on research into writing productivity and is based on the principles set out in the Writing Accelerator. The rest of the day might include sessions where we choose which tasks to complete, then write in scheduled Pomodoro sessions alongside liberal breaks to ensure we are fed, watered and move around. Some positive cheerleading will keep you going! We will commit to concrete outcomes by the end of each period of writing. There will also be an opportunity for writers to have 1-1 coaching sessions with Academic Coach throughout the day. Programmes can be tailored to meet the needs of your institution.
contact us
For further inquires about work with Academic Coach contact me at coach@academiccoach.info.
Testimonials
“When I first approached Melanie about the possibility of developing a bespoke coaching session for our school, she was incredibly helpful and insightful around the possibilities for meeting the needs of a diverse group of academics. Throughout our planning meetings, I was impressed by her depth of expertise and experience in academia and her skill in applying this to academic coaching. My colleagues found the content and delivery of the half-day workshop engaging and very useful, and many still talk about the tips and strategies that they learned at the workshop and now use in their research planning.
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“Melanie is an excellent teacher and communicator, and is so insightful on all aspects of an academic career, not least academic writing. She offers clear and practical advice on all aspects of writing, as well as helpful materials, which can be easily accessed following her sessions. I love how well structured Melanie’s sessions are, the amount of content (which can be tailored to the individual needs of academic departments), and the fact that she allows enough time for participant questions and engagement.
I recommend Melanie highly to any faculty or individual - whether novice researcher or more experienced academic - looking to review their existing writing habits and develop new and more productive ones.”