April was an integral part of not only the TBR system office but of the colleges as well, as she worked closely with campus Human Resources officers. She joined TBR in January 2011 as Director of Human Resources (with, at that time, 22 years of Higher Education experience) to lead a staff of three. Over the years, she helped lead the successful transition and expansion of the HR & Payroll Services team that resulted from the Shared Services Initiative, which moved many of those essential functions from the TCATs and some community colleges to the system office. She helped with the enormous task of quickly transitioning to remote work early in the Covid-19 pandemic, to ensure that vital support services continued.
She always greeted everyone with a friendly smile and delighted in helping plan employee events and activities. In the days before remote work, when snow and inclement weather threatened, she was up hours before dawn assessing conditions and advising on whether to close the office. She staffed innumerable Presidential Search Committees. She helped with the FOCUS Act transition and led our office’s move to its current location in 2016. She helped realign our retirement system and our performance evaluation systems.
April also worked closely with the Board of Regents, especially in consulting with the Personnel and Compensation Committee and helping prepare materials and minutes for Members’ review.
She was a native New Englander, earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Human Resources at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire and her Master of Public Administration at the University of Idaho.
Each November, April was passionate about initiating a donation campaign among TBR staff to collect funds for a different charity each year, including in recent years supporting the Food Pantries on our campuses – helping to raise thousands of dollars in support of students with food needs.
Beginning in November, this annual campaign will be called the April Preston Holiday Food Pantry Campaign.
During this time of April’s passing, in lieu of flowers, her family has requested that any memorial donations be designated for children’s cancer research at St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The Foundation for the College System of Tennessee will take donations in memory of April and will send all collected donations to St. Jude in April’s name.