Summer Writing Group 2023

For many faculty, summer means (trying to) prioritizing writing, whether it be that revise-and-resubmit you’ve been sitting on, the book idea you’ve been meaning to shape into a proposal, or a grant application that requires special attention and energy. But planning your summer writing goals and keeping to a schedule can be challenging without a system of prioritization and accountability.

In the agile academic summer writing program, you’ll get seven weeks and 10+ hours of writing structure, coaching, and accountability. This program is loosely on the Scrum project management framework popularized in my book Agile Faculty: Practical Strategies for Managing Research, Service, and Teaching, and I will teach you a proven system for meeting your writing goals as well as the provide support and encouragement of a group of other faculty writers.

This seven-week, 10+ hour summer program includes

• 1 two-hour Scrum intro and backlog setup/prioritizing/planning to prepare to meet your writing goals 
• 6 weekly 60-minute group coaching sessions in which you will share your progress, cheer on your fellow writers, and talk about different writing challenges and how to address them
• 6 mid-week asynchronous check-ins from accountability and encouragement
• 2 1-on-1 60-minute coaching sessions with me on the topics of your choice.

How Does the Coaching Work During the Group Sessions?

After a 15-minute check-in for accountability, the remaining 45 minutes will be a group coaching session that offers participants an opportunity to talk through different writing challenges that are important to group members at the time. Group members choose the topic every week, so the sessions are customized to group interests.

Why Spend the Summer Writing With Peers? 

It’s easy to feel like writing is a solitary and isolating experience. But working with a group of peers who can support, motivate, and hold you accountable to your goals can be invaluable! You’ll build a small community of fellow writers to bounce ideas off of, learn strategies from, and maybe even continue on with after the summer is over.

Why Work with Me This Summer?

• My education and teaching experience. I have an MA and PhD in rhetoric and professional communication as well as 17 years of experience teaching academic, business, technical, proposal, and persuasive writing. I am also a certified ScrumMaster through Scrum.org and have taught academics how to use Scrum project management for over 10 years.
• My academic publication record. I have successfully published in numerous disciplinary and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning journals, as well as the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and Academic Leader. Two of my peer-reviewed articles were written with undergraduate students. I have guest edited two journal special issues, one on students as partners in teaching research and one on design thinking in professional writing, and have worked closely with journal editors, so I know that they are looking for.
• My book publishing experience. I have successfully shepherded three book proposals to contracts with top-tier academic presses: the University of Chicago Press and Johns Hopkins University Press. My first single-authored faculty development book, Agile Faculty: Practical Strategies for Managing Research, Service, and Teaching, was published in 2017, and the collection I co-edited, Redesigning Liberal Education: Innovative Design for a Twenty-First Century Liberal Education, was released in 2020. My most recent book, Unraveling Faculty Burnout: Pathways to Reckoning and Renewal, was published by Johns Hopkins in 2022.

When Is the Summer Writing Group Running?
Saturday mornings, 11am – 12pm ET, June 3 – July 22 (June 3 session runs 11-1, no session July 2)

What Is the Pricing for the Summer Writing Groups?
$1000 for 10+ hours of coaching and accountability.

Ready to go all in on your writing this summer? Complete this form!