2 Schools May Help the Odds for Gaming Jobs

Here in the Indian gaming capital of California, the casino and the campus have entered into a marriage of mutual financial benefit.

Two local institutions of higher learning are planning certificate programs in gambling-ology to prepare students for jobs in one of the few growth industries in the state: Indian casinos.

Grossmont College in El Cajon hopes next month to get approval to award a certificate of achievement for students finishing courses in the program Tribal Gaming: Culture and Policies. Officials at the two-year college hope the program will evolve into an associate of arts program, with units transferable to four-year colleges.

Last week San Diego State University announced plans for courses leading to a professional certificate in casino gaming from the university’s College of Extended Studies.

Among the courses: Gaming Security and Surveillance, Table Games, Slot Analysis, Revenue Techniques, and Deterring and Detecting Casino Cheats.

For the gaming industry, the San Diego State certificate should mean an expanded pool of job applicants and something possibly even more significant, officials said.

“You have to admit that this legitimizes the industry in this community, which was a long time coming,” said Steve Penhall, general manager of Sycuan Casino & Resort.

For Penhall, the gaming industry has been a profit without honor in San Diego County, which has nine Indian casinos and six more in the planning stages -- more than any other region in the country.

According to an economic analysis done by the county government, the casinos attract more than 40,000 gamblers a day, have a cumulative payroll exceeding $270 million a year, spend $263 million a year on goods and services, employ more than 12,000 people -- and have become major players in local politics and charities.

Although other sectors of the local economy are sagging, casino gaming is booming, officials say. “There are more jobs in casino gaming than people to fill them,” Penhall said.

William Byxbee, dean of San Diego State’s College of Extended Studies, said the gaming program was geared toward practicality.

“It’s not going to be theoretical,” he said. “It’s going to be very practical.” For example, Byxbee said, the slot machine class would explore the complexities of how to make a slot attractive to the public. It’s more difficult than one might imagine, he said.

“It’s a whole mathematical construction, determining how much money has to be paid to make people want to play.”

Tentatively, the San Diego program will involve five classes at $240 per class. Internships at the casinos are a possibility.

“People need jobs, and the hospitality field is where the jobs are,” Byxbee said.

California tribal government employment grew 17.8% in the year ending in July, more than that of any other private or public sector of the economy, according to the California Employment Development Department. Most of the growth came in the casinos, resorts and hotels run by the tribes.

San Diego State already offers certificate programs in 28 employment areas, including construction inspection, contract management, the business of wine and fitness training.

Buddy Frank, vice president for slots at Viejas Casino, said the San Diego State program would be modeled after one at the University of Nevada, Reno.

As gaming spreads across the country, several colleges are offering related programs. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, offers a minor in gaming management in the College of Business Administration.

Colleges that have recently begun casino gaming classes include Tulane University, Michigan State University and the University of Massachusetts.

Each college has its own approach. At Grossmont, where courses have been offered for three years, the emphasis is on the culture, history, theory and legal complexities of Indian gaming, plus a course named Cross-Cultural Studies 178 in Gambling Behavior: Addiction and Problem Gaming. The decision on whether the program merits a certificate rests with the chancellor of the state’s community college system.

Like Penhall, Frank, who might teach one of the San Diego State courses, said that having the intellectual imprimatur of a major university would help the image of casino gaming.

“People have to realize that gaming is mainstream,” he said. “It’s no longer just guys in trench coats and dark glasses.”