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Will Flowers is ahead of schedule. When he became acting director of Student Programs/Leadership Development at the beginning of the fall 1998 semester, Flowers, with the help of his staff, put together a two-year plan to foster student leadership, nurture student organizations, and invigorate the general campus environment. Most elements of that plan have already been put into place, and the main force behind the forward movement is Flowers.Return to top
Part of what Flowers has done in his new position is to enlarge the services related to student leadership development through the creation of three leadership courses which are sponsored directly by his office. Along with being excellent resources for student leaders, the courses give them unit credits, and since unit courses show up on their transcripts, prospective employers can easily see proof of formal training in leadership.
Other new services include a 24-hour events hotline, a satellite office location in Housing, and an on-line form student organizations can use to register their group. All these changes contribute to the quality of the campus environment-something that Flowers believes he and his staff are responsible for. He proudly states, "We have a politically-charged reputation at this university that really follows us, and I want to raise our school spirit to a level that embraces and is equal to our reputation."
Upon receiving a bachelor's degree in the Integrative Studies Program at New York's Pratt Institute, Flowers, a Vallejo native, returned to the Bay Area. After interning at several local television stations, his first job was with the Bay Area Skills Bank working to get under-represented minorities jobs in broadcasting.
Since joining the SFSU staff in 1989, he has been an athletic academic advisor, an activities coordinator, and a career consultant. He has also taught several counseling classes including career development, and leadership and assessment in counseling. Just prior to his new position, he acted as project director for the Emerging Leaders Program.
Along with his work on campus, Flowers pursued and received a master's degree in Creative Arts Education. The link between the degree and his career may not be initially clear, but to Flowers it is quite transparent. "Art," he claims, "is the basis of almost everything." He believes the degree "dovetailed perfectly" with his interest in leadership because "leadership skills have their foundation in creativity." This philosophy carries over well into his current job, where one of his goals is to help student leaders on campus channel their energy into creative, worthwhile, and well-planned activities.
Sometime this year Will Flowers hopes to finish up his doctorate of education in the Organization and Leadership Program at USF. His dissertation is currently moving in the same two directions his career has: the philosophical orientation of career centers in the 90s, and the creation of a leadership minor within the CSU system. Flowers is also the president of the employment consulting firm Get That Job and the co-author, with R. Sanborn, of the 1996 paperback employment guide "How to Get a Job in San Francisco."
--William Morris
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