About The Speaker
Dr. Franklin has over 30 years experience in working at Community and Technical Colleges including Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas.  He has taught and performed a variety of administrative duties on campuses from 1,500 to 33,000 students.  He has taught classes ranging from psychology to sign language and administratively has been responsible for both student services and instructional areas.  He has written numerous grants and has been responsible for the establishment of many new programs including the Gallaudet University Center, programs for student athletes, students with disabilities and an interpreter training program.

Dr. Franklin has written chapters in numerous books and has spoken at over 100 conferences on topics such as community college leadership, The Americans with Disabilities Act, programs for academically under prepared students, legal issues in classroom instruction, organizing for institutional effectiveness, guidelines for student services programming, student success programs and institutional evaluation.

Dr. Franklin has also developed and produced over 20 different educational television programs and was a finalist for an American Cable Excellence (ACE) Award for educational programming.  He has served as a consultant to colleges throughout the United States and has an extensive history of volunteer activities in the community ranging from coaching baseball to serving on boards of various charitable organizations. He has also been on the boards of numerous national associations.

He was appointed by Secretary of Education Riley to serve on the Board of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New York where he served for five years.

He was appointed by Governor Huckabee to the Southern Growth Policies Board Council for a New Economy Workforce and was named to the Cisco Networking Academy Advisory Council. He also serves on the board of the Arkansas Mathematics Science and Technology Coalition.

Dr. Franklin is currently serving as the Executive Director and CEO of the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges where he provides information about the value and impact of two-year colleges while working as a liaison to various governmental and educational agencies.  He also helps provide staff development opportunities for faculty and staff and works with business and industry to help facilitate partnerships with the two-year colleges in Arkansas.