Beet Sugar Process Schools

For more information, email director, Bill Gough
MIBST@bsdf-assbt.org

Purpose

The purpose is to instruct beet sugar company employees and other technologists in the fundamentals and beyond on factory processes, their application to factory operations and the details of the practical operations of the unit processes.  Beet End school focuses on the process from the beet pile to thin juice, and Sugar End covers the evaporator to packaging and storage of sugar. Major emphasis is given to the most used equipment and practices. Courses are designed to improve the student’s knowledge of the factory processes, increase value to the employer, and provide greater potential for advancement.

Eligibility

There are no higher educational requirements for students.  By necessity, instructors will enter subject matter involving mathematical, engineering, physical and chemical subjects.  Students with little background in these subjects will find that the instructors will be fundamental where necessary and all will benefit.

Students are enrolled on the proposal of regular or associate member companies of the Beet Sugar Development Foundation.  The BSDF Board of Directors approved attendance of non-member company students on the following basis:  Each student must be sponsored by a member company; in addition to the normal tuition, a surcharge of $750 per student per session will be assessed, and a letter of support from the sponsoring member company must be submitted to the BSDF office prior to registration.  Space will be allocated to member company students first.

Prospective students will pay and register online. Beginning in 2024, credit cards will be accepted upon registration. Click on the links below to register for Beet End and Sugar End schools, respectively. Registration for both schools closes on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.  

Beet End School 2024

Sugar End School 2024

Cancellation Policy

Beet End School – No enrollment changes will be permitted after May 21, 2024.  Any cancellation of any MIBST student enrollment received by May 21, 2024 for Beet End school, is fully refundable.  A fee of $500 per student will be charged for any cancellation after May 21, 2024.

Sugar End School – No enrollment changes will be permitted after June 25, 2024.  Any cancellation of any MIBST student enrollment received by June 25, 2024 for Sugar End school, is fully refundable. A fee of $500 per student will be charged for any cancellation after June 25, 2024.

BSDF reserves the right to cancel the entire school at any time for any reason. Tuition will be reimbursed should the entire school be cancelled.

General Information

Tuition Fees – The 2024 tuition for a BSDF member company student based on single occupancy is $3,500. A surcharge of $750 as described under Eligibility will be assessed to students currently employed by a non-member company. Tuition includes lodging for 11 nights at the Hilton Garden Inn – Fort Collins, instructor fees, supplies, breakfast, and light snacks on days when class is in session, and the final banquet dinner. There are no tuition discounts for making other lodging arrangements.

Meals – Breakfast, for students only, is included in the school tuition and is offered at the hotel. Breakfast vouchers will be given to students at check-in. Light snacks and drinks during the morning and afternoon breaks will be available to students while class is in session. In addition, the Graduation Banquet dinner, held on the second Thursday of Beet End and Sugar End schools, is also included in the tuition. Other meals and transportation are not included in this figure. Companies should provide students with an expense account for meals (e.g., lunch and dinner).  Reasonable meals are available at the hotel and in the nearby vicinity.  Please be aware that if a student chooses to bring their family, there will be an extra charge for breakfast that will be charged separately from the school fee.

Hotel Accomodations – Tuition includes rooming at the Hilton Garden Inn – Fort Collins for 11 nights, beginning the Monday before school starts and ending the last Friday of the session:

2024 Hotel check-in / check-out dates (included in tuition):

Beet End: Monday, June 3 / Friday, June 14 (11 nights total)

Sugar End: Monday, July 8 / Friday, July 19 (11 nights total)

Any additional hotel nights outside of the check-in/check-out dates listed above will be charged to the student at the daily hotel rate.

Unless other advanced arrangements are made with the BSDF by the sponsoring company, all students are expected to room at the Hilton Garden Inn – Fort Collins. It is imperative to let BSDF staff know by May 21, 2024 for Beet End and June 25, 2024 for Sugar End if a student has decided not to stay at this hotel, as BSDF must inform the hotel of the rooming list at that time.

General Plan of Courses

The instructors will assume that most of the students have no advanced academic background.  They will pass from elementary to more advanced material in such a manner to keep the class in stride. Following the lecture, written examinations will be given the following day for most courses.  These exams, generally, will be true/false or multiple choice.  Upon completion of the exams, the instructor will discuss the answers with the students. Graded examinations will be returned to the students. Emergency situations do arise and the MIBST staff is flexible on making up assignments. The student must notify the director if they cannot attend a scheduled class. The director will work with the student to arrange make-up options for the student. A Certificate of Completion will be given to the student only when all assignments/exams have been completed.   

Classes will be held in the classroom at the Hilton Garden Inn – Fort Collins. The typical daily class schedule will be as follows:

Class will begin at 8:00am on most days; however, class may start earlier on some days.

There will be two 15-minute breaks between 8 am and 12 noon.

Lunch will be from 12 noon till 1 pm.

There will be two 15-minute breaks from 1 pm to end of class that day.

Class will end between 4:00pm and 5:00pm, depending upon lecture length.

The session graduation banquet is on the last Thursday from 6 pm to 8 pm. (students are required to attend the banquet to receive their graduation certificate.)

Students will participate in a group project called “Future Factory”.  This project allows students to meet individuals from other cooperatives, companies, and regions, to share information and ideas and discuss lecture learnings to describe/diagram their beet end or sugar end “Future Factory.” On the last Thursday of the session, each group will present their “future factoriy” to the rest of the class and to a panel of judges.

Each student will receive the book, Sugar Technology – Beet and Cane Sugar Manufacture, as well as a compendium of instructors’ outlines and notes as part of their tuition. These have proven a valuable resource in forward years as a reference when encountering manufacturing situations and problems.

When making air travel arrangements, please note students are required to attend the graduation banquet the last Thursday of the session from 6:00pm – 8:00pm to receive a certificate of completion. Beet End students are required to attend class on Friday, June 14 until 11am. Sugar End students do not have class on Friday, July 19 and may travel home at their convenience on Friday. The hotel is approximately one hour from Denver International Airport. There are multiple transportation options to the hotel, including car rental, Uber, Lyft, group transportation, (e.g., Groome Transportation), etc. There are car rental facilities in Fort Collins, CO if the students want to rent a car over the weekend.

We look forward to seeing you in Fort Collins.

Bill Gough
Director – MISBT