Cable in the Classroom managing director Megan Hookey said last week that she has resigned her position effective Dec. 31.
The four-month transition will help to keep the nonprofit organization-which links the cable industry with teachers-focused during its busy back-to-school season.
Hookey said her decision to depart CIC has left her with mixed feelings-both excitement about encountering new career challenges and a great respect for what CIC and its member companies have been able to accomplish in its 11-year history.
A 10-year CIC veteran, Hookey joined the organization as associate director in June 1990 and was promoted to managing director in 1996. Prior to joining CIC, she worked for the National Cable Television Association (then the National Cable & Telecommunications Association) as director of industry affairs.
Hookey has spent 19 years in cable, including an early stint as a customer-service representative. She said last Tuesday that she hopes to continue working within the industry, although she had not yet begun an official job search.
The association's board of directors will begin a formal search for a new managing director next month at its annual meeting, CIC chairman and Discovery Communications Inc. president Judith McHale said in a press release.
McHale also called Hookey "a driving force behind the cable industry's educational initiatives."
Although Hookey said she will not be directly involved in choosing her replacement, she will likely offer a list of attributes and responsibilities the job requires. The most important trait needed, she added, is "someone with the ability to be an effective bridge between cable and the teaching community."
Teaching experience is not necessarily a requirement, Hookey said, noting that she did not come to CIC with a teaching background. Many of her colleagues at CIC, however, do have teaching experience, and that has been a valuable aid to her and the organization.
Hookey called her role at CIC "a wonderful job," adding that it has been gratifying to work with both operators and programmers. She said 2001 promises to be a big year for CIC as it continues its push to teach educators how to best incorporate the Internet into their classrooms.
Hookey's work at CIC won her an NCTA-issued "Vanguard Award" for young leadership, as well as the Cable Television Public Affairs Association's "President's Award."
