NJC honors faculty and staff, including Sterling artist Mandy Ritter

Mandy Ritter, Dr. Debora Stump, Cindy Piper and Mike White were among the Northeastern Junior College employees recognized for work that reaches well beyond a plaque or campus ceremony. For Sterling families, the honors point to the people behind the classes, advising, student services and day-to-day operations that keep NJC running and keep local students moving toward degrees and jobs.

The college named Stump, a professor of anatomy and physiology and biology, its Faculty of the Year. Piper was selected as Classified Staff of the Year, White as Professional/Technical Employee of the Year, and Ritter as Adjunct Instructor of the Year. The recognition came through the Colorado Community College System’s ninth annual Commitment to Excellence Awards, which celebrated more than 50 employees from 13 community colleges and the CCCS System Office at History Colorado in Denver on April 8, 2025.

Ritter’s recognition carried particular local weight. NJC describes her as a Sterling-based artist, hobby farmer and adjunct art instructor who has taught at the college since 2022. She began her art career as a concurrent student from Sterling High School, a path that ties her directly to the same local pipeline many Logan County students use now. Her work in public art and her past service on Sterling City Council have also made her a familiar name beyond campus.

That connection matters at a college the size of NJC. The school says it is based in Sterling and serves about 900 full-time students and more than 2,000 part-time students from around the world, with more than 80 programs of study and residence halls for more than 575 students. It also offers residence life, student housing, athletics and performing arts, making employee recognition about more than internal morale. It highlights the people who touch a student’s schedule, a family’s budget and a graduate’s next step.

The college’s April 17, 2025 news release said the honorees were celebrated at an Advisory Council meeting and identified Stump, Piper, White and Ritter as the local award winners. For a community that depends on NJC as both an educator and employer, the awards underscored how much of Sterling’s civic and cultural life still runs through the college’s classrooms, offices and studios.