Madeline Flannery to retire from HCTC after 34 years

Professor of Communications Madeline Flannery is retiring from Hazard Community and Technical College (HCTC) on May 30. 

Professor Flannery began her career at HCTC in August 1989. She was first hired as the Extended Programs Coordinator. In this role, she visited off-campus sites and taught different General Education classes. A short time later, Flannery coordinated a pilot welfare-to-work program with the Cabinet for Families and Children. She was in that position for five years before joining the faculty as a full-time Professor of Communications. 

“Feedback from the instructor helped me to reach a higher potential that I thought I didn't have,” one student said. “I have gained a lot of valuable information and feedback from this course that will help me with my future career goal,” the student continued. 

Throughout her career as an educator, Flannery taught classes such as Basic Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communications, Intercultural Communications, Mass Media and Society along with Marriage and Society, Appalachian Studies and Sociology. 

“I worked hard to create a community in my classes. I insisted on learning all my students' names within the first two weeks, and I required the students to learn each other's names because I tested them on it,” Flannery said.  “Despite their initial resistance, students often told me they made their first friends in college because of that. Everyone is expected to share something from the week's reading or assignment, and we really get to know each other. I've attempted to create that sense of community in my online classes, but it's much harder,” she noted. 

Before her extensive career at HCTC, Flannery attended graduate school in New York City at Teachers College, Columbia University. She worked full-time in the education and communications field while completing her Master of Arts and Master of Education degrees. While studying in those fields, she edited videos for a pilot project between the Children’s Television Workshop and United Cerebral Palsy and taught at the College for Human Services in NYC. 

Flannery returned to Eastern Kentucky in 1986 and worked for TV 12 in Hindman before she was hired by HCTC. 

“I am honored to have been able to teach two, sometimes three, generations of families over my 34 years at HCTC,” she said. “I take great pleasure in seeing graduates go on to achieve their dreams. I'm especially proud of some of the young women I worked with as teen parents in the 90's who are employed in jobs they love and are able to provide safe and comfortable homes for their children and grandchildren,” she added. 

During her retirement, Professor Flannery plans to spend time writing, gardening, supporting flood relief efforts and traveling.