Pictured above: Florence “Flo” Johnson promotes the Housing Family Scholarship during a campus fundraising event. Johnson was instrumental in establishing the endowed book scholarship, which is awarded annually to a dependent child, grandchild, niece or nephew of a housing staff member.

Florence Johnson arrived at the university in the fall of 1990 as a work-study student at Carlson Terrace. Married, and with two small children, she found a new home in the close-knit family housing community that once stood on the south end of campus.

More than three decades later, “Flo” – as she is known across campus – is retiring from the top position at University Housing, having served as the department’s assistant vice chancellor since 2011.

A reception will be held in Johnson’s honor from 3-4:30 p.m. today at Adohi Hall, 187 S. Stadium Dr., in the community building known as “The Cabin.”

During Johnson’s time at housing, she oversaw sweeping technological change, a paradigm shift in what students expect from campus housing and the creation of new buildings that exemplify an aspirational student-first philosophy.

Johnson retires Monday, July 18, from her position. Takama Statton-Brooks, director of residence education, will become the interim assistant vice chancellor at that time.

Many across campus said they will miss her calm and encouraging presence in residential life.

“Thinking about Flo, she is a great professional, a strong supporter of students, someone very committed to the University of Arkansas – and she will be sorely missed,” said interim Chancellor Charles Robinson.

“Flo has had an amazing career at the University of Arkansas, and what a difference she has made here. She focused on student success right from the start. She is amazing,” said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment management and dean of admissions.

“Can we not talk her into a few more years?” McCray offered jokingly.

STUDENT SUCCESSES

Johnson studied sociology in her first years at the university. In 1994, she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and, in May 1997, she completed her Master of Education in higher education.

All that time, she continued to work in housing. She took on leadership roles as a hall director and led the early marketing and summer conferences areas as they grew in importance to campus housing. She served as the director of residence education, overseeing the community life of the growing number of residential students.

Prior to working in housing, she and her husband were business owners, and she brought to campus her savvy business acumen and an enduring focus on developing people to be their best. Many of those who worked for Johnson spoke about how she empowered them to achieve their own success and forge and follow their own goals and dreams.

Heather Schneller worked with Johnson in the former Fulbright Hall in the early 1990s. Under threat of closing, Schneller said Johnson told the Fulbright Hall team that they were free to do what they felt they should to save their hall.

Schneller said they contacted the White House during President Bill Clinton’s time in office and made a direct appeal to “Keep Fulbright Open.” They made it to the point of scheduling a call with the White House when it was decided that it was best to loop their supervisor into the effort.

“We went down to Fulbright’s front desk to let Flo know what we were working on, and the look on her face was priceless. She had empowered us to develop ideas to keep our beloved Fulbright Hall open. Still, Flo didn’t realize how far we were willing to go to make it a reality. We still laugh about it to this day.”

“What I hold on to almost 30 years later was the lesson she taught us about advocating for what you believe in, even if the odds don’t seem to be in your favor. By keeping silent, you might miss an opportunity for change.”

While Fulbright Hall did eventually close, Schneller remembers a supervisor who called her staff to be their best selves.

“Flo has always had a no-nonsense focus on helping students succeed academically, professionally and emotionally. Her mentoring has resulted in leaders within the university and across the nation—both inside and outside student affairs—that started their careers under her wing,” said university registrar Gary Gunderman, who worked with Johnson for several years.

His wife, Jill Gunderman, served as a resident assistant (RA) and worked with Johnson as her supervisor for several years. She echoed those thoughts.

“The years I spent working under Flo’s steady, supportive, optimistic leadership greatly influenced who I became as a leader in my career. Flo believed in my abilities, often when I didn’t believe in myself. She not only encouraged and challenged me, but she also modeled for me the way to show up for others. Flo has influenced thousands through her work at University Housing, and her legacy will continue to impact future students.”

‘SHOP AND SWAP’

During her time in marketing, Flo worked with University Relations to develop housing’s first website.

She’s never shied away from technology, but instead embraces data-driven decisions that enlist technology to serve students and staff.

The Shop and Swap software developed around Spring 2000 is an example of Johnson’s vision of making housing more accessible to students.

“She was dreaming up things that didn’t exist. She was making stuff up,” said Carla Martin, who worked with Johnson until 2014 before joining the Office for Institutional Research.

Shop and Swap offered students the ability to go online and view possible rooms and then shop for them. Further, there was a roommate profiler that helped students find other students that they might want to live with when moving to campus.

Housing now uses a software called StarRez that offers most of these functions, but 22 years ago they were unheard of in the space.

“You couldn’t buy it at the time. So, we built it,” Martin said.

Further, the idea of letting first-year students select their own rooms was considered apostacy in higher education housing circles at the time.

“It just wasn’t done,” Johnson said. “Housing staff thought they knew better than the incoming students who should decide where they lived.”

Martin said that Shop and Swap led the nation in pioneering new practices for student housing, empowering students to make their own choices about where they lived.

Johnson picked a team of folks to develop Shop and Swap who she knew thought differently. She wanted smart people who approached problems from different angles.

“We needed a creative sparkle and tension in the team,” Johnson said.

WITH HONORS

Johnson remembers the conversion of the high-rise Hotz building into the on-campus home for Honors College students as one of her favorite projects while leading housing.

Building Adohi Hall and the Housing Office are also projects she feels pushed the campus forward in positive ways, but the impact of renovating Hotz into exemplary student space resonates deeply in student’s lives.

“It’s a beautiful, comfortable building that students love,” she said. Early design decisions traded revenue-generating beds on the interior walls into two community lounge spaces per floor.

Suzanne McCray was working at Fulbright Honors at the time. Johnson invited her to attend a conference where they both discovered inspirational ideas that would become part of the Hotz Honors Hall model.

“We focused on how housing, and, in my case, honors housing, could make a difference in the undergraduate experience and, by extension, on retention and graduation rates. [Johnson] then assisted the Honors College in renovating Hotz Hall, which is now a shining example for what Honors housing should be,” McCray said.

Johnson said the Hotz Honors Hall model prioritizes community space for students, and that makes an enormous difference for students in the halls.

“It’s not just tanning beds and swimming pools that make a community,” Johnson said. “You don’t have to have every bell and whistle to create community.”

College housing is about offering students an opportunity to explore new experiences, encouraging young adults to try “different bubbles” of community and see what they embrace, she said.

By creating spaces that allow for interaction between students, staff and even faculty, the university plays its role of inviting curiosity and supporting diverse communities.

“People don’t always think about housing as being innovative, but we are. We’re so close to the students that we must be innovative,” Johnson said.

‘A VERY CALM SMILE’

Takama Statton-Brooks will move into the role of interim assistant vice chancellor for University Housing in mid-July. Johnson and Statton-Brooks have worked together since 2006.

“It has been amazing to see the transformation of the on-campus experience for students. [Johnson’s] leadership and vision for the department has provided the consistent reminder of our ‘why,'” Statton-Brooks said.

“Flo’s futuristic mindset has been the driving force in providing her leadership team, myself included, with the space to be innovative and to evolve alongside the needs of the students. Not only would I consider Flo an excellent leader, but she has shaped the way I view the concept of work-life balance.”

Statton-Brooks told how one evening at work, her two young children drew on the walls just below a whiteboard. She said she was prepared to come in and scrub the wall and even repaint it if needed.

“I gave Flo the heads up that I was responsible for the wall damage and the first thing she said was, ‘That’s OK, I like that you were able to bring your kids in to work. These things happen.’ The tone of that interaction has stuck with me for over 10 years and was the grace I needed as a working parent.”

Those who’ve worked with Johnson know that she makes personal and lasting connections with her co-workers.

Melissa Harwood-Rom, interim vice chancellor for student affairs, remembers long meetings with Johnson where they managed to keep one another’s spirits high.

“I most enjoyed having a good laugh with Flo at the end of the day. We were and are in and out of meetings for most of the working day, so I felt that we were almost always that last person each other spoke with at 5:30 or 6 o’clock. We always, to my recollection, left the office having found some humor in any situation,” Harwood-Rom said.

“If you are on a team with Flo, know that she will carry her share of the load and then some. She has a heart of gold, and I hope that the good that she has put out there in the world comes back to her ten-fold.”

Jeremy Battjes stepped into his role as associate vice chancellor for finance administration recently. He said Johnson had already made an impression on him.

“Her ability to recall the past and use that to adjust, plan and adapt for the future has made her an exceptional leader. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Flo’s leadership, management and ability to provide the absolute best experience for students,” Battjes said.

The theme of steadfast dedication with a strong spark of creativity is a hallmark many use to describe Johnson’s demeanor at work.

“I really loved working with Flo,” said Carla Martin. “No matter what challenge arose, she responded with a very calm smile. Sometimes we had big problems. That’s the nature of the work. She would smile and laugh, and that would relax everyone. She never wasted time pointing fingers. It was always, ‘Let’s make a plan and solve this.'”

This article was first published Thursday, June 30, 2022 in University of Arkansas News (Newswire).