Nancy Whichard, Ph.D., PCC, is a nationally recognized dissertation and career coach in Falls Church, VA. She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Maryland, and for two decades she was on the faculties of George Washington University and American University where she taught writing.
A recovering academic, Nancy knows the importance of politics and diplomacy in negotiating the dissertation experience.
She loves working as a dissertation coach and has successfully coached to completion doctoral candidates from 40 major American universities and from many Western European and Canadian universities, as well.
Nancy also coaches postdocs who are transforming their dissertations into books, research foundation writers in need of leadership skills as they direct their staffs, research foundation writers in need of staffs, writers/editors who are working to build their businesses, and coaches setting up blogs and newsletters to market their businesses.
A Professional Certified Coach (PCC), certified through the International Coach Federation, Nancy is Director of Academic and Writing Coaching Programs at MentorCoach LLC (www.mentorcoach.com).
To find out if coaching might be for you, email Nancy at nancy@nancywhichard.com for a free coaching call.
Go to www.nancywhichard.com and get a free sign-up bonus when you subscribe to Nancy’s Smart Tips for Writers e-newsletter.
Nancy Whichard, PhD, PCC
Your International Dissertation Coach
nancy@nancywhichard.com
www.nancywhichard.com
http://www.mentorcoach.com/training-team.html#whichard
Dear Nancy,
I have a question for you. I am in the final stage of working on my dissertation. I have a FABULOUS advisor who replies the same day and spends a lot of time with me. I have no complaints. And, yes, I know how unusual I am. My questions is about editing. When I send my advisor a (close to final) section of my analysis, she edits it. I mean rewrites sections of it. She doesn’t change the analysis, but she rewrites how I say it and, of course, she does a better job than I have done. That is not in question. I know I need to learn the art of academic writing and that it comes more easily to her. What I am struggling with is — is it still my dissertation if she has written so much of it? and how does a scholar ever learn to write when she’s in grad school if she is always edited and not doing that kind of writing herself? I will let my advisor edit it and accept her changes because, frankly, she does a better job and we have worked so frequently and well together on the analysis that we agree on all of it. Besides, I suppose I could pay someone to do the same thing. Is this a common practice for advisors or is my very good working relationship with her the cause of her generosity? We work together on other things and I am of help to her in many ways, too. Your thoughts would ease my mind. thanks,
Justine
Dear Justine,
Thanks for writing. Because your ideas are so interesting, I thought I’d answer at length in a blog post.
Please watch my blog site– I hope that my comments will be of help.
All good wishes,
Nancy