Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming


The Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming at the San Diego State University College of Professional Studies & Fine Arts "focuses," its own words, "on research, policy studies, and education related to the area of tribal gaming management." As the institute's website goes on to put it: "The Institute, centered in the largest tribal gambling community in the world, is geared to studying tribal gaming within the broader industry of hospitality and tourism management."
In conjunction with educating students, professionals, tribal personnel and interested others for positions in the tribal gaming industry, the Institute conducts research in tribal gaming and collects benchmarking data. It holds an annual summit on tribal gaming that addresses policy, regulatory issues, trends, social issues and related matters, and conducts community lectures and symposia on topics geared to informing and engaging the community about tribal issues and community conflicts.

Endowment and administration

The Institute is managed and operated by the interdisciplinary Hospitality and Tourism Management Program at SDSU and supported by an endowment from the tribal council of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. The endowment was established in 2005 with a $5 million gift from the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, and continual payments of $474,000 on a yearly basis.

Academic curriculum

Under the terms of the endowment, the Institute has created an academic curriculum leading to a B.S. in Hospitality and Tourism Management with an emphasis in Tribal Casino Operations Management. The courses include casino operations, casino marketing and public relations, legal and regulatory issues and an introduction to tribal gaming's social, political and cultural context, along with elective courses on responsible gaming.

Research center

The Research Center is the portion "of the Institute that is focused on producing and disseminating unbiased research on tribal government gaming issues."