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About The Academic Writers' Space

Our Story

The Academic Writer’s Space (TAWS) was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, when stay-at-home orders were issued, we saw a need for virtual coworking sessions to support our clients at The Dissertation Coach, our academic coaching and consulting company.
 
Since its launch in 2000, The Dissertation Coach has given us the opportunity to support and assist thousands of graduate students, researchers, and professors around the world. Through our work with our clients, we gained experience and developed the expertise to know and understand the needs and struggles of academic writers and provide sound solutions to the challenges they face. One of the major challenges in academia is how isolating academic work can be. The pandemic only intensified this isolation.
 
Inspired by our desire to provide the support, connection, and camaraderie our clients needed, we created a virtual coworking community for academic writers to work alongside each other and get real work done together. As we kept coworking, meaningful wisdom was emerging in our community and we were amazed at what can happen in a virtual coworking space. We were learning and discovering a thoughtful approach to academic research and writing that is effective and sustainable. We were learning how to work in a way that truly works!
 
Since September 1st, 2021, we have expanded this work, and now offer the opportunity to learn and practice this approach 7 days a week in The Academic Writers’ Space. Using relevant weekly themes such as intention, flow, boundaries, and commitment, our facilitators provide a conversation and context for reflection, awareness, and relaxed productivity. Experience a transformative approach to academic work in our virtual coworking space.
 
You are invited to join us and discover the difference coworking can make for you.

Gratitude to Our Early Coworkers:

We are grateful to clients of The Dissertation Coach who wholeheartedly participated in our early coworking sessions while we developed and created TAWS. It’s a joy to cowork with academic researchers around the world and learn how working in community can foster productivity, and reveal important wisdom about what it takes to develop an effective and compassionate approach to academic research and writing.

We believe every academic writer can learn how to work in ways that are effective, efficient, and sustainable. 

Alison Miller, Ph.D.

Alison is committed to helping graduate students and academics around the world achieve their goals and fulfill their professional potential. She created The Academic Writers’ Space to provide ongoing structure and a friendly community to all who need support and want results. During graduate school, Alison became very aware of the mental, emotional, technical, and time management challenges faced by graduate students struggling to finish masters’ theses and doctoral dissertations. Alison has seen professors and other academics struggle with similar obstacles to completing articles and books. She founded The Dissertation Coach as a way to help, and Alison and her team of caring experts have guided and coached over 10,000 students, researchers, and professors on their writing journeys to completed theses, dissertations, manuscripts, and books. Alison is in demand to lead dissertation workshops at universities across the United States, and is the author of Finish Your Dissertation Once and For All: How to Overcome Psychological Barriers, Get Results, and Move On with Your Life (Miller, 2009). Alison has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Cornell University.
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Ray Meek

Ray has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Tennessee. Ray worked with internationally recognized, award-winning architectural firms domestically and abroad for 25 years. His focus throughout his career was on the technical performance and project management aspect of his firm’s specialty of mixed-use commercial high-rise projects. In 2008, Ray joined The Dissertation Coach full time as the CFO to oversee the development and management of the company’s contractual and financial operations. Ray brings his skills in project management and oversight to The Dissertation Coach and is responsible for the well-developed financial system the company uses to run a sound business. Ray is highly committed to sound financial management, thus allowing our coaching and consulting team to focus their energy on serving our clients and helping them succeed.