[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Dean Bates edited.jpg” caption=”Paul Bates, dean of the DeGroote School of Business, expressed his gratitude to PricewaterhouseCoopers for its $120,000 donation toward two high-tech digital classrooms. Jim Forbes (below), City Leader for the PwC Hamilton office, thanked DeGroote for providing PwC with exceptional business students and graduates. Photos by Susan Bubak.”]Thanks to a $120,000 donation from Pricewater-houseCoopers (PwC), two new high-tech digital classrooms are now open and ready for students and staff at the DeGroote School of Business. The classrooms were unveiled yesterday at a ceremony at DeGroote.

The classrooms have been retrofitted with the latest in digital technology, including new “smart” podiums, which allow faculty and students to use web-based technologies in their classes. The rooms also feature cameras to facilitate the broadcast of lectures and classroom activities on the Internet.

“These classrooms allow professors to engage our students in new ways,” says Paul Bates, dean of the DeGroote School of Business. “PricewaterhouseCoopers demonstrates their commitment to innovation and to DeGroote with this generous gift.”

The relationship between PwC and DeGroote can be traced back several decades. In addition to a PwC scholarship for accounting students and intern and recruitment programs for DeGroote students, PwC partners and staff have participated in the McMaster Board of Governors and the McMaster Alumni Association. PwC thought leaders also appear regularly as guest lecturers at the School of Business.

“The digital classrooms will give students the best possible environment in which to learn,” says Jim Forbes, City Leader for the PwC Hamilton office. “We view this gift not only as an investment in the future of DeGroote, but also in the future of the accounting profession and PwC. DeGroote prepares students for the real world of accounting and helps to build PwC's leaders of tomorrow.”

Some of the highlights in the classrooms include smart podiums, DVD players, VCRs, dual LCD display projectors and screens. Classes for both undergraduate and graduate business students are held in the classrooms.

The leading-edge presentation software and technologies ensure that DeGroote students have access to technology they need to begin their business careers with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed.

PricewaterhouseCoopers provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders.

In Canada, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and its related entities have more than 4,300 partners and staff in offices across the country.