At the finale of Northland Pioneer College’s (NPC) spring semester, six dedicated employees were acknowledged for their efforts and successful tenures as ambassadors of lifelong learning for students and communities across northeast Arizona. These employees were presented with Crystal Eagle emeritus Awards at the April and June 2025 meetings of the Navajo County District Governing Board (DGB).
NPC Dean of Nursing, Ruth Zimmerman, is retiring this summer after nineteen years of dedicated service to the college. She has led NPC’s nursing education initiatives, not only as the dean of the department but also as an instructor, administrator, colleague, and beloved friend and role model for students and staff alike. Over the years, Zimmerman has guided NPC’s nursing program through many successful and rigorous accreditation visits and reviews. Now, NPC’s nursing program remains one of the best in the state. NPC’s Dean of Career and Technical Education, Dr. Jeremy Raisor, presented Zimmerman with the Crystal Eagle emeritus award at the June DGB meeting. He explained, “It is an honor to speak to the amazing work that Ruth has done at the college over the years. Working with students individually to help them learn the skills they need to become nurses is just scratching the surface. She has made a difference in the lives of so many people. The students who learned those skills, who learned true patience and care, are just a reflection of the compassion and dedication that Ruth has given to her program and to the college,” he said. “Her vision for her program and for the success of not only nursing, but of NPC, and more importantly of her students and the future generation of nurses in our community is extremely admirable.” He concluded, “The success of NPC’s nursing program is really just a testament to the wonderful person that she is and how lucky we are at NPC to have had her as a part of our family for so long.”
Fellow emeritus recipient Mike Colwell was also acknowledged with a Crystal Eagle emeritus award. Colwell has spent the last fourteen years as an academic advisor at NPC’s locations in Apache County. He has provided academic guidance to countless students from the St. Johns, Springerville, and Eagar areas and served as the lead advisor for NPC’s All Arizona Academic Team scholarship program, which provides NPC students full tuition waivers to the state’s three universities each academic year. Cyntha Blevens, NPC’s St. Johns Center Manager, Donna Krieser, NPC’s Lead Advisor at the White Mountain Show Low campus, and NPC Director of Student Services, Josh Rogers, presented the award to Colwell. They remarked on his dedication to the students and communities of Apache County. Blevens said, “I’ve known Mike for many years. My daughter was one of the students Mike helped through the process of entering NPC while in high school. I was impressed with his knowledge and the care he put into getting my daughter ready for her first day of class,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed working with Mike, and I will miss him.” Krieser began working with Colwell in 2011 when they would proctor the paper the pencil tests for the GED together. She said, “We learned from each other. I had a weakness in power plant knowledge. He was an advisor in Springerville and St. Johns, so he knew all about it. He had a weakness in nursing, so we would work together, and it made us stronger.” Josh Rogers, Director of Student Services, said, “Mike made it his mission to keep students on track to graduate, even when they tried their best to wander off or to register for the exact same course they had just successfully completed the previous semester,” he jokingly laughed. “Mike has always been willing to go above and beyond for our students,” he said. “Thank you, Mike, for the 30,343 hours minus PTO and holidays that you spent not only helping students but helping NPC learn how to best serve our students.”
In addition, NPC presented Crystal Eagle emeritus awards to three departing employees who, like their co-workers, have made a tremendous impact on the lives of students at NPC. Faculty in Biology, Dr. Susan Hoffman, has been a beloved teacher to many. She retired this summer after seven years of teaching at NPC. Long-time employee Frank Pinnell has also retired. He earned the NPC Crystal Eagle emeritus award after serving the college for 21 years as a champion for NPC’s Career and Technical Education department. Fellow emeritus awardee, Dr. Judy Yip Reyes, has been instrumental in leading NPC’s accreditation efforts with the Higher Learning Commission. She has worked for the last eight years as NPC’s Director of Institutional Effectiveness and retired earlier this summer
In a culmination of this year’s fond farewells, Betsyann Wilson, the executive director of NPC Friends and Family, the college’s non-profit organization, is retiring after twenty-eight years of selfless service. NPC Friends and Family supports students through scholarships and the advancement of programs and services at NPC. Through Wilson’s efforts, NPC Friends and Family has raised tens of thousands of dollars in scholarship monies that have gone directly into students’ pockets, empowering them to achieve their dreams.
NPC Faculty in English, Ryan Jones, presented the Crystal Eagle award to Wilson during the June meeting of the DGB.
Wilson has served as the Director of NPC’s non-profit foundation since 2014. Former NPC President, Dr. Jeanne Swarthout, shared, “One of the first things facing me as president of NPC at that time was the failure of the NPC foundation. Betsy accepted the challenge of reviving the foundation with enthusiasm and commitment, and, in short order, took the organization from doing nothing for NPC students to being a rapidly growing fund source for student success.” She explained, “To sum it up, Betsy can be credited with hundreds and hundreds of student success stories at NPC.”
Jones echoed the praise. “Prior to Betsy, fundraising at NPC was largely reaching out to local businesses who were already struggling and having a hard time. They were being asked by every non-profit in the region to give.” He said, “So instead, Betsy transformed the effort into making ‘Friends’ through events like Pedal the Petrified.” During her tenure, the Pedal the Petrified cycling tour has grown from 45 riders to a fully packed field of over 200. Jones explained, “Betsy has always said Pedal the Petrified is not only a great fundraiser, it’s a great ‘Friend Raiser.’”
Wilson’s work with NPC Friends and Family is just a fraction of her contribution to furthering student success at NPC. Jones shared how she has impacted NPC and students’ lives in so many other ways. He explained, “In total, Betsy has served what is close to three decades at the college.”
Wilson originally began her journey with NPC in 1997. Over the years, she held various positions. First, as curricular coordinator for the Northland School to Work system, teaching area K-12 teachers how to implement the program. In 1999, Wilson took on the role of Interim Coordinator for NPC’s Department of Disability Resources and Access (now NPC Student Accommodation Services) and later, as Coordinator of Admissions. She traveled throughout NPC’s large rural district to recruit high school teachers to teach concurrent enrollment college courses through NPC. In late 2001, she became Coordinator of Business and Industry Training (which is now NPC’s department of Community and Corporate Learning) and established partnerships with neighboring power plants to provide training and direct-to-work pathways for NPC students.
From 2002 to 2014, Wilson worked on a consulting basis with NPC as she raised her children. During that time, she conducted program reviews. She also wrote grants.
Jones said, “This is where her heavy lifting really began.” Wilson’s work writing and securing grant monies for NPC started with the college’s first Title III grant acquisition in 2001, which was used to fund the digitization of NPC’s library assets. Jones explained, “With Betsy at the helm, the college has received Title III funding for critical projects every five years since.” The results of those efforts include building distance learning classrooms at all nine NPC locations (2005) and improving NPC’s Wide Area Network (WAN), which enables the college to deliver high-speed cyber and networked services to students across NPC’s 21,158 square mile service area (2010). In 2015, Wilson helped secure another Title III grant. Those funds helped develop NPC’s Technology Advanced Learning Outcomes, or TALON program. Through the TALON program, NPC delivers free college courses to hundreds of area high school students throughout Northeast Arizona. In 2021, Wilson played an instrumental role in the acquisition of the A Relational Model for Student Success or ARMSS grant. This model has further bridged the divide between students in remote areas and NPC staff and services.
“In short,” Jones explained, “since 1999, Betsy has played an enormous role in developing NPC’s distance learning technology.” Which, he laughed, “as she points out, is ironic since she has to rely on her husband and her kids to help her with her cell phone.” And, Jones added, “In typical fashion, Betsy doesn’t want to take credit for anything. In fact,” he said, when receiving praise for her success with grant funding, Betsy always said, “A grant writer is just a scribe who works for a great team.” He laughed, “Nobody she worked with on those grants ever agreed.” Jones has been at NPC since 1998. He said, “We were both here for the 25th anniversary of NPC and got to know some of the people who founded this college in trailers, with bailing wire, bubble gum, and a lot of hope.” He asserted, “We’ve just celebrated NPC’s 50th, and in the second quarter century of NPC, I don’t think anybody has done more to make this institution what it is today than Betsy.”
Dr. Gary Passer, the first president Wilson ever worked for at NPC, had this to say in recognition of Wilson. “Everyone who passes through NPC is going to leave memories behind. Some memories, like footprints, will be barely legible and will fade away quickly. Those that run deeper remain for many years, imprinted on so many lives that they actually change the culture of the college. Those are the memories left behind by only a very few special individuals who have affected so many hearts and minds that their impact creates a legacy. Betsy’s efforts over the years have become part of the fabric of NPC, a legacy.
Indeed, all six of these departing NPC employees have cultivated a legacy of success at NPC. The impact they have made by educating, training, supporting, and transforming students’ lives and the communities NPC serves will be felt for many years to come.
