Dr. Genyne L. Royal serves as Assistant Vice President of Student Life and Engagement for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging and Assistant Dean for Student Success Initiatives at Michigan State University. Dr. Royal’s research explores how practitioners can develop academic skills and behaviors that support students’ ability to persist and how colleagues can create and sustain holistic environments that support these students in the postsecondary environment. Her work focuses on underserved and underrepresented and centers racial and ethnic marginalized student populations. She engages in this work both in the United States and internationally. As an experienced administrator, Dr. Royal has worked with colleagues across various campuses on issues associated with university governance and organizational structure; budgeting/budget reallocation; campus climates exploring the experiences and perceptions concerning diversity and inclusion; and the general aspirational direction of several higher education institutions. She has profound abilities in strategic planning, program/institutional assessment, and staff/department development. In addition, she is a passionate professor and presenter and facilitated learning opportunities on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Nationally, Genyne has presented on various subjects associated with access, equity, and inclusion, identity-conscious student success, student support, the development of the learning environment, and institutional/organizational structure for student success to highlight a few areas of her intellectual and professional domains. She maintains affiliation with national organizations, such as the National Association of Student Affairs Professionals (NASAP) and the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). She has actively engaged with leadership in professional organizations, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), and the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE), where she has also worked with the development of aspiring and new professionals in the field through various organizations, both formally and informally centering the identities of those within the community.
Dr. Genyne L. Royal is a graduate of Texas A&M University, where she earned her Ph.D. in higher education administration, a Masters degree from North Carolina A&T State University in counseling, and a Bachelors degree in vocal music from Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.