05/01/2025
Karen Diescher M ’07 is the new director of the SUNY Cortland Child Care Center, a campus institution that is a source of child care for the community and hands-on learning for Cortland’s students.
A longtime center employee who has been recognized for her achievements as an educator, Diescher said she’s looking forward to heading the licensed, accredited nonprofit.
“I chose to pursue the director position because I am proud of the high-quality care that the center provides the campus,” Diescher said. “I want to continue to help the center grow and be a vital part of our community.”
Diescher’s work at the center began in 2005. She was the teacher in the three-year preschool classroom until January 2024 when she became interim director. She was selected as the permanent director this March after a full search process.
Diescher previously worked as a substitute teacher after getting a degree in elementary education from SUNY Oswego and a graduate degree in literacy from Cortland. Diescher also uses her decades of experience to be an adjunct instructor at Cortland, teaching early childhood education courses.
During her career, Diescher twice won the national Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Teacher of the Year Award, made to celebrate the achievements of exceptional child care professionals and bring attention to the role these teachers play in the lives of their students.
“I love watching the children grow and develop skills and I enjoy supporting families navigate the challenges of parenting,” she said. " I have a passion for spreading the word about the importance of quality child care and the value of early education.”
The SUNY Cortland Child Care Center began in 1993, with a professional staff that collaborates with the university’s Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department, giving students a chance to gain field experience in their future career. It serves students and staff of the university, state employees, alumni and members of the wider Cortland area.
SUNY Cortland, itself with a long history as a teachers’ school, has the largest comprehensive teacher education program in New York state, and the tenth biggest among public institutions in the United States.
According to Kate McCormick, chair of the center and associate professor of early childhood education, the search committee was impressed with Diescher’s education background, history as an early childhood educator, and her understanding of child care regulations and policies that create the best care and education environments for children.
In her new role Diescher said she wants the Center to continue to be a place relied on for exceptional child care, while giving students hands-on experiences in early education and supporting staff in their growth.
“I do not have plans to make any policy changes, but I do want to ensure that the policies that we have in place align with a play-based learning philosophy that the center is known for.”
It’s a method, built from activities made with the children’s own interests in mind, that is the most effective way for them to learn, according to Diescher. And she’s seen it scale well to the older students who work at the center.
“I actually do think that our little students and our big students learn in similar ways,” Diescher said. “I see the excitement in the college students when they are in the classroom, learning through real experiences.”