Writing in the Discipline: A Writing Mentorship Program to Enhance Student Writing Skills in the Leisure Field

Written communication skills are essential in today’s world; yet, there is a perception (real or perceived) of a decline in the writing skills of undergraduate students. There is a recognition that there are systematic issues within the landscape of higher education that make teaching writing challenging at certain institutions. A writing program–based on the theoretical foundations of peer reviewing, scaffolding, mentorship, and authentic learning–was created to enhance undergraduate student writing skills while simultaneously train graduate students to teach writing as future faculty in the field. This article describes the program designed to improve overall undergraduate writing skills through a structured intervention, and will discuss ideas of how to move forward with similar programs.