The first major activity of the New Visions project was the Planning Meeting held June 17-20, 1999 at Aberdeen Woods Conference Center near Atlanta, Georgia. Some forty invited participants representing a broad range of foreign language associations explored the organizing question "What could we do?" Participants worked with Al Bertani, a consultant on change management, and began the dialogue on what the profession might do about the many critical issues affecting us.

These discussion papers are draft documents and works in progress meant to stimulate discussion by foreign language professionals representing as many languages, levels, organizations, and geographic areas as possible. During the 1999 ACTFL Convention these discussion papers will be on the agenda of the ACTFL Delegate Assembly and the topic of a special Focus Session. The discussion papers will also be sent to a Board of Reviewers for comments and suggestions; the Board of Reviewers is composed of persons nominated by foreign language associations.

These discussion papers will serve as a catalyst for refinement and redirection of the issues and, as a result, will continue to evolve. A more finalized version of the papers will serve as the point of departure for the discussions that will take place at the New Visions 2000 Conference to be held June 15-18, 2000 near Washington, DC. At that time some 200 participants will consider these same issues and will select from the possible alternatives those actions that seem best suited to our needs and goals.