BDO has stepped up with a corporate sponsorship for the academic chair at the International College of the Cayman Islands in a strategic move to expand its business programme and raise the bar in higher education.

The corporate sponsorship of CI$4,500 covers a three-year period to help fund the academic chair for a full-time professor in accounting. An academic chair is a university designation given to a professor for specialised knowledge and research and is traditionally funded by either private corporations or foundations.

“BDO is excited and proud to support ICCI in the expansion of the educational opportunities available to Caymanians in the field of accounting.  The training and development of local accounting expertise is vital to the continued growth of Cayman as a world-leading financial services jurisdiction and is certainly important to the future success of our firm as we enter our second decade of operations here in the Cayman Islands”, said Paul Arbo, one of the partners at BDO.

As the global business environment continues its trend to being more productive with multiple skills, more students are enrolling in the business school to meet the demands in the employer’s market. This academic chair is the first of its kind in the Cayman Islands and is the next step in broadening the business programme offerings, explained International College President John Cummings, PhD.
“This new academic chair will provide students with more exposure to high quality instruction, research and the benefit of the professor’s industry experience,” said Dr. Cummings. “The timing for hiring a professor couldn’t be better as we just opened our new business building for the fall term, which will enable us to accept more students into our business programmes.“

A key part of what International College stands for is being accessible to all students who are academically-ready to earn an associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree, but who have limited financial means and may face work or family obligations that prevent them from attending an accredited university overseas.

As a non-profit, private institution, the International College has made it a priority to offer affordable tuition to both Caymanians and residents and still maintain its international accreditation, which undergoes a rigorous review every few years.

International College Dean Scott Cummings expressed his gratitude to BDO for their three-year sponsorship commitment to the academic chair.

“Having BDO’s support has significantly boosted our fundraising efforts for the academic chair, which will be invaluable in providing the best possible opportunity for success to our business and accounting students,” said Mr. Cummings. “We just opened our new business building this fall term so that we could accommodate more students so the timing for hiring a professor coincides nicely with the expansion of the accounting and business programmes.“

BDO in the Cayman Islands forms part of the international BDO network of independent member firms, the 5th largest accounting network in the world.  BDO has operated in Cayman since 2002, celebrating its ten year anniversary during 2012. The firm currently numbers over 40 staff and partners and provides audit and advisory services to over 600 clients in a variety of industries.