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Michael Shackleford interview part 2- Teaching at the UNLV

You worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Q: Are you still teaching at the UNLV and/or will you do so in the future?

A: Yes, I will be teaching the Casino Math course again the spring 2005 semester.

Q: What exactly do you teach at the UNLV? How does this fit in the overall gaming curriculum of the UNLV?

A: The title of the class pretty much says it all, casino math. It is an applied probability class that shows how to work out the odds of various games using probability. The course is part of the hotel and casino management curriculum at UNLV.

Q: What background do the people have that follow your classes? Do you enjoy working with students?

A: Unless I’m mistaken all my students majored in hotel and casino management. Aside from my class it is not a math intensive major, so many students found the class difficult because their math skills were rusty. On the evaluations about 80% complained it was too hard, but I make no apologies.

Yes, I love working with students. In 1989 I was at Cal State Long Beach getting my teaching credential to be a high school math teacher. At the same time I also was a substitute teacher for the Garden Grove, California, school district. However that scared me off from the profession, which is regrettable because I think I would have been good at it.

This interview continues with Part 3 - Gaming consultancy.