Fred Perry Oral History

Fred Perry was a faculty member in the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Program of the American University in Cairo’s English Language Institute (ELI) from 1986 to 2010. He outlines his life living in the Middle East for a number of years before coming to AUC in 1986. Perry describes the ELI’s units structure and leadership, and characterizes what he saw as a lack of necessary change there, such as in the role of ELI’s various programs and their student assessment methods. He addresses ELI’s relationship with the Writing Program, and makes observations about AUC students, including on academic integrity and cheating. Perry also discusses the TEFL program and its students and the TEFL teaching Fellows. He outlines English language placement and other testing at the university, which he had supervised in his capacity as coordinator of the Testing and Evaluation Service under AUC’s Office of Planning and Institutional Research until 2005; Perry discusses the leadership of that office. He comments on Provosts and Deans of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in his time at the university as well. Perry covers his service on the University Senate, including terms as Chair, discussing the Senate’s relationship with AUC Presidents and its Board of Trustees, and delves into faculty issues the Senate addressed. AUC’s relocation to its new campus is covered, with the impact of the move for faculty and students, and he contrasts ELI’s new facilities with those on the old downtown campus. Perry also speaks about life in Cairo as a foreign resident