Milling & Baking News - January 6, 2015 - 16

Industry Activities

GEAPS/K-State offering distance education
program for flour milling industry
Continued from Page 1

Mark Fedje, chairman of GEAPS International Board and terminal elevator
maintenance team leader at General
Mills, Inc. "The expanded partnership
will allow us to offer the grain processing industry high quality, focused and
practical courses - the hallmark of
our current program."
He said the new program will enhance support for the "P," or the processing component, of GEAPS membership.
Dirk Maier, head of the Department
of Grain Science and Industry and Director of the International Grains Program Institute at K-State, said a wide
range of milling employees would
benefit from the courses and credentialing program.
"They'll help train new employees
and improve the job skills of existing
employees - even up to veteran levels," he said. "They'll also help build
a career path for young people and
help build qualifications at the entry
level."
The GEAPS/K-State track record
with its distance education program is a formidable one. Since 2005,

enrollment in the courses has reached
over 2,900 students from 30 different
countries. Annual registration hovered around 100 during the program's
first three years but has exceeded 600
in each of the past two years. The fiveweek courses feature PowerPoint enhanced lectures and offer registrants

'We're building on success. The expanded partnership
will allow us to offer the grain processing industry high
quality, focused and practical courses - the hallmark of
our current program.'
- Mark Fedje, chairman of GEAPS International Board and terminal elevator
maintenance team leader at General Mills, Inc.

opportunities to network with faculty
as well as fellow students.
As of late 2014, 26 students had
earned the Credential in Grain Operations Management with 17 adding
on a Specialist Credential. Four have
completed all tracks to earn the Master
Credential in Grain Operations Management.
The combined grain handling and
processing operations curriculum has
grown to 27 courses, with work under

K-State/GEAPS partnership described
as key to program growth
KANSAS CITY - The success of facilities operators.' They were lookthe Grain Elevator and Processing ing at the demographics of the indusSociety in the early 2000s to expand try - aging. We are trying to find the
its professional development pro- best approach to bringing in the next
grams into distance learning would generation."
GEAPS initial partner in this effort
not have been possible without the
group's partnership with
Kansas State University,
Interest in distance
said David Krejci, executive
vice-president and internalearning on the rise
tional secretary, GEAPS.
(Distance Education Program enrollment)
607
Before the Distance Education Program was created,
the grain handling industry
353 338
had "nothing structured" in
279
terms of ongoing learning
220
139
opportunities for its opera61 89 92
tions management and technical support workforce.
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
"It was limited to one-off
conferences and the publication of this or that," Mr. Krejci said was not Kansas State University, Mr.
in an interview with Milling & Bak- Krejci said.
"First, we worked with Purdue," he
ing News. "But we were hearing from
grain executives, 'We need profes- said. "In 2002, we held a three-day consional development for grain handling ference in Illinois on designing, building
16 / January 6, 2015

Milling & Baking News

way on development of additional
Processing courses.
GEAPS has created an industry
oversight committee for the Grain
Processing Management curriculum,
comprising industry leaders and
educators from GEAPS and the International Grains Program Institute at
Kansas State.
"The committee structure and operations are based on the successful Distance Education Program Oversight

Committee, which provides leadership, oversight, planning and development of courses for the GEAPS/KState Grain Operations Management
program," GEAPS said.
Also like the grain operations program, the Grain Processing Management program came into being because of "an expressed industry need
for energized and enabled employees
in the grains, oilseeds and rice processing industries," the group said. MBN
and commissioning grain handling facilities. Dirk Maier, who at the time was
a faculty member with Purdue, said the
videotaped 36-hour program could be
adapted into a 20-hour distance-learning course using Purdue's delivery
technology."
The original course is still available,
Mr. Krejci said. When Dr. Maier joined
Kansas State as head of the Department of Grain Science and Industry, the program came with
him.
In the years that followed,
719
additional courses were created, dealing with topics such
as grain quality management
and operations safety. Ultimately, more than 27 courses
have been developed, most 10
hours in length.
"Grain executives want
courses packaged in a way
2014
to allow workers to demonstrate knowledge," Mr. Krejci
said. "That's where the credentialing
program comes in. To earn a Credential in Grain Operations Management requires the completion of six
courses. Since then we have expanded
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - January 6, 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milling & Baking News - January 6, 2015