Faculty Profiles

Colleges and Departments

Dr. Cindy L Royal

  • Regents' Teacher - School of Jrnlism & Mass Comm
Portrait of Dr. Cindy L Royal

Biography and education

Dr. Cindy Royal is a Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, teaching digital and data-driven media skills and concepts. She has been teaching at Texas State since 2006, dedicating her career to preparing students to be innovative in their media endeavors. Dr. Royal completed Ph.D. studies in Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of Texas at Austin in May 2005. Her research focuses on data journalism, coding education and gender issues in technology. In 2020, Dr. Royal received Texas State’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Service. In 2013, Dr. Royal received Texas State’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching and the AEJMC/Scripps Howard Journalism and Mass Communication Teacher of the Year award. In 2018 and 2019, she was the recipient of Texas State's Everette Swinney Faculty Senate Teaching Award and was the University's nominee for Piper Professor in 2019. She was a 2014 Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, the first full-time academic to be accepted into this prestigious program. She enjoys live music, breakfast tacos and travel. Additional detail regarding her research, education and experience can be found at cindyroyal.com.

Teaching Interests

Research Interests

  • Carter, Kamarie B, Adi, Mohamad Nadim, Perkins, Alexandra Gonzenbach, Royal, Cindy L, Evans, Mark William, Burke, Patricia Jean, Shroff, Piyush Ravindra, Hustvedt, Gwendolyn, Rathore, Heena, Blasingame, Dale C, King, Jennifer Anne, Van Loan, Zengara A, Moon, KeriAnne Mauch, Forsythe, Michelle Elizabeth, Taylor, Adrienne, Mondal, Sejuti. CAP: Expanding AI Curriculum and Infrastructure at Texas State University to Advance Interdisciplinary Research and Grow a Diverse AI Workforce, NSF, Federal. (Funded: December 2024 - Present). Grant.
  • Qasem, Apan Muhammad (Principal), Royal, Cindy L (Co-Principal), Hewitt, Barbara A (Co-Principal), Dolezel, Diane M (Supporting), Omana Sudhakaran, Pratheesh O (Supporting), Lollar, Jonathan Ernest (Supporting), Booth, Chad (Co-Principal), Roundtree, Aimee Kendall (Supporting), Ekin, Tahir (Supporting), Cordero, Rafael A (Supporting), Lopez, Omar S (Supporting), Ashford-Hanserd, Shetay Nicole (Co-Principal), Sriraman, Vedaraman (Co-Principal), Forsythe, Michelle Elizabeth (Co-Principal), Mendez, Francis A (Supporting). STEM-CLEAR: Creating Contextualized Learning Pathways across Academic and Cultural Boundaries, National Science Foundation, Federal, $2646529. (Submitted: August 8, 2023, Funded: June 1, 2024 - June 2029). Grant.
  • Royal, Cindy L (Principal). Research Enhancement Grant, Texas State University, $8000. (Funded: May 2022 - Present). Grant.
  • Zmikly, Jonathan T, Royal, Cindy L. Teaching and Learning Technology Innovation Grant - Innovation Club, Instructional Technologies Support, Texas State University, $5000. (Funded: July 2019). Grant.
  • Royal, Cindy L. Texas State Service Learning Mini Grant, Texas State University, $500. (Funded: March 2019). Grant.
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  • Royal, C. L., & Kosterich, A. (2024). Coding Competencies Across Roles: Developing Computer Programming Practices in Media Organizations. Journalism Studies.
  • Kosterich, A., & Royal, C. L. (2024). Institutional Arbitrageurs: The Role of Product Managers as a Locus of Change in Journalism. Media and Communication.
  • Royal, C. L. (2023). Texas Tribune and the Analytics Hub. In Case Study Series - News Product Alliance. Retrieved from https://learning.newsproduct.org/casestudies/texas-tribune-and-the-analytics-hub/
  • Royal, C. L. (2023). Design Implications for a Burgeoning Digital Product Ecosystem: Roles, Culture and Engagement. Digital Journalism. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21670811.2022.2163676?journalCode=rdij20
  • Royal, C. L. (2021). From Boundary to Bridge and Beyond: The Path to Professionalization of Product Roles in Journalism. Journalism Studies.
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  • Award / Honor Recipient: Regents' Teacher, Texas State University System. August 8, 2024
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Everette Swinney Faculty Senate Excellence in Teaching Award, Texas State University. 2023 - November 2023
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Award for Excellence in Service, Texas State University. 2019 - 2020
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching, Senior Faculty, Texas State University. 2013 - 2014
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Journalism Teacher of the Year, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication/Scripps Howard. August 2014
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  1. Member

    News Product Alliance

  2. Other

    Media Innovation Lab

  3. Organizer

    SJMC Faculty Facebook Group

  4. Other

    Digital Media Innovation Major

  5. Member

    Personnel Committee

  6. Member

    Online News Association

  7. View all activities