Earlier this week, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers reduced its staff by three as part of an ongoing effort to bring more of an engineering focus to the organization.

Debra Swann, vice president of marketing and business development; Louise Games, vice president of membership services; and Cheryl Taylor, administrator, are no longer employed by the SCTE.

“It's always tough to part ways with employees, but SCTE is realigning to place significantly greater focus on the core engineering activities that the cable industry requires,” according to a statement released by the SCTE. “The ultimate goal is to consolidate all outreach to the cable technology community and move additional resources into the engineering sector.”

A spokesman for the SCTE said a search is currently underway for a person who would take on the combined responsibilities that Swann and Games previously handled.

Swann was hired by the SCTE in January 2007 after working for nearly 30 years with Verizon Communications in Philadelphia before accepting early retirement in 2004.

Games was hired by the SCTE in August of 2007. Prior to the SCTE, she was vice president of marketing and membership at the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI).

Since taking over in January as the new President and CEO of the SCTE, Mark Dzuban has stated that he wants to broaden and deepen the SCTE’s focus on engineering-related initiatives, including engineering economics, energy management, disaster recovery, more certification, network operations and developing IT/IP expertise.