Dr. Marla Franco

Finance and Strategic Partnerships

Council Term: 2023-2026

University of Arizona

Assistant Vice Provost, Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Initiatives

mfranco@AHSIE.org

Dr. Marla Franco serves as the Assistant Vice Provost for Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Initiatives at the University of Arizona. She has worked in higher education for over 20 years at public universities in California and Arizona, having served in various roles within academic and student affairs to champion greater college access and degree attainment among underserved and underrepresented students, which strongly informs her work today.

She is founder of the AZ HSI Consortium and co-founder of the STEM in HSI Working Group. As a scholar-practitioner, she has co-authored publications to inform improved practice at HSIs, including Transforming STEM Education at Hispanic Serving Institutions in the United States: A Consensus Report, Assessing the Readiness of Hispanic Serving Institutions to Serve Latinx Students: Moving Beyond Compositional Diversity and Engaging Community Partners to Improve STEM Education at HSIs.

Dr. Franco is a first-generation college graduate, having earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, a master’s degree in counseling from California State University, Long Beach, and a doctoral degree in higher education leadership from Azusa Pacific University.