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Students at San Diego State are used to taking gambles, whether it’s cramming at the last minute for an exam, staying up late to finish a research paper or asking out a classmate in English class. This fall, students may be given the opportunity to study the science of odds and gambling – perhaps even major in it.

SDSU students will be given the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism management with an emphasis in tribal gaming management. The program will be one of the few casino gaming degrees offered at a major university in the United States and will be the first to focus primarily on tribal gaming. Development of the Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming is nearing completion at SDSU.

The program, expected to graduate 25 students per year, is possible because of a $5.5 million donation given to SDSU last summer from the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation with hope to establish the Institute. After the donation – the largest single philanthropic gift to a university by a tribal nation in California – SDSU is working with casinos in Southern California to help develop the program.

“There’s no institute on tribal gaming as we conceptualized it anywhere at a major university,” said hospitality and tourism management program director Carl Winston.

Winston said there are several hurdles the program must clear before students can enroll. He said university administration is currently seeking someone to chair the program. While applicants are being reviewed, it is difficult to find qualified people because of a lack of experts in the field of tribal gaming.

“There’s people who have studied American Indian studies, but they don’t know gaming,” he said. “There’s a small number of people who’ve done gaming, but they don’t know Native-American culture.

“There are people who understand the law but may not understand the other two areas.”

In addition to seeking a program chair, there are also plans are to create a curriculum that integrates the three important aspects of tribal gaming: casino gaming, tribal culture and legal issues. Winston said research in the field is still relatively new.

“There’s an absolute lack of research in tribal gaming,” Winston said. “There’s lot of tribal issues; there’s lots of gaming issues.”

When a curriculum has been established, it must go through an approval process to the faculty senate and then the provost’s office.

Winston said he hopes the institute will launch this fall, but he anticipates it may take as long as 18 months to complete.

Because of heavy student interest, Winston said the College of Business Administration and College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts are working together on advising some students on what courses to take in anticipation of the program’s launch.

While there has not been a lot of negative feedback regarding the department and its nature, Winston said he anticipates some resistance when a curriculum is proposed.

He said that he hopes the program will slowly expand to national prominence, touching on the many issues surrounding tribal gaming and its affects on people.

“We’re pretty excited about it because we’re going where no one has gone before,” Winston said.