Marla Franco

Dr. Marla Franco serves as Special Advisor on Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Initiatives at the University of Arizona, providing university-wide vision and strategy to bring the designation to life in ways that matter most to students, employees, alumni, and the community at large. She is also founder of the AZ HSI Consortium, which brings together all Arizona HSIs as a community of practice to engage collectively in professional development, support the exchange of evidence-based and student-centered practices, facilitate successful transfer pathways to Arizona universities, and collaborate across HSIs when seeking funding opportunities and other partnerships. She has worked in higher education for 25 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. She is a published author, a principal investigator on multi-million dollar grant funded projects, and a first-generation college graduate. She enjoys serving as an affiliate faculty, particularly on students’ dissertation committees on topics that can advance knowledge and practice at HSIs and partnering with graduate students on HSI-related research and praxis.